gary>>This is exactly the wrong way to approach XML and XML-like
structured
documents.
Sure, this kind of scripting can get the data, but it's a lot of
clutter for
no benefit. It's too specific to be a useful suggestion for any
real scripting
of XML extraction.
In the world of Application scripting that kind of solution is
often just
what's needed.
It's bad practice as it fails to account for the full complexities of
XML - e.g. text encoding, character entities - and makes unsafe
assumptions about the data being read - e.g. the value's type. While
hacks [unfortunately] have their place, they should treated as a
last, rather than first, resort, and when resorting to them it's wise
to go in with a clear understanding of the potential risks and
pitfalls that they present. As the Perl monks say, laziness is a
virtue, and nothing's lazier than using a robust, mature library such
as libxml2 to do all the work for you.
The other part of the discussion that Wayne has brought up, as did
Has in an
earlier thread, is something that I think just about everyone can
agree on"
There should be a collection of simple, easy to understand, working
AppleScript samples that make arriving at a solution like Has' as
easy as it
should be.
Better official API documentation (including example code) would be
my first want, and folks that feel the same shouldn't be shy about
filing feature requests with Apple. Beyond that, there's plenty that
individual members of the AS community can do to help out - e.g.
MacScripter.net includes a Code Exchange section where anyone can
post useful tested example code for others to benefit from and/or
help to improve the examples already there. (BTW, I need to go do
Ruby appscript stuff now, but please feel free to post my plist
examples to it.)
