Re: [xml] [Proposal] How about write a book for LibXML2?

["Elvis Stansvik" <elvstone gmail com>]

2008/11/11 Elvis Stansvik <elvstone gmail com>:
> 2008/11/8 Elvis Stansvik <elvstone gmail com>:
>> 2008/11/7 Elvis Stansvik <elvstone gmail com>:
>>> 2008/11/7 Daniel Veillard <veillard redhat com>:
>>>> On Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 09:25:55AM +0800, Yang Songxiang-a22301 wrote:
>>>>> Hi, all,
>>>>>
>>>>> I used the libxml2 package recently, found it's a perfect XML parser.
>>>>> The example codes/document are good for a newcomer to use the LibXML2,
>>>>> but they lack of enough detail information. I had to dig into the
>>>>> sources code if I want more furthermore details. I think we can write a
>>>>> bible book, give a complete introduction for LibXML2 package, not only
>>>>> it's calling convention, but also including it's design framework.
>>>>
>>>>  I had been approached a few years ago about writing a libxml2 book,
>>>> but it's a lot of work, I didn't had the time (and not much more now)
>>>> and it was made relatively clear that financially that may not be very
>>>> interesting.
>>>>  I don't have much time, so when i have some for libxml2 I prefer to
>>>> focuse on bugs or improvements that other contributors are less likely
>>>> to provide.
>>>>
>>>>> My draft idea:
>>>>> 1) Generate a DocBook framework,
>>>>> 2) Anyone can select a chapter that he/she interested.
>>>>> 3) Organize all chapters into a complete LibXML2 bible book.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> I think this would help a lot for many C/C++ programmers who're the
>>>>> first time using LibXML2, and would make LibXML2 more popular in C/C++
>>>>> domain. Maybe the book can be published by O.Reilly if it's good enough.
>>>>> :)
>>>>>
>>>>> What's your opinions?
>>>>
>>>>  Sounds better than a wiki in my opinion, I'm fine adding this to CVS
>>>> and integrating patches to the docs as they come.
>>>
>>> I think personally a wiki would be better, and then content could be
>>> taken from that and integrated into a more "official" DocBook in CVS.
>>> I heard you had tried setting up a wiki some years ago but had
>>> problems with SPAM, but surely that's a problem that can be solved?
>>> E.g. by only allowing e-mail confirmed registered users. Anything else
>>> that speaks against a wiki? It would be easier to contribute, and
>>> easier to make small fixes with less maintenance than sending patches,
>>> IMHO.
>>
>> Just to throw something out there, I sketched out a preliminary layout
>> that could be used (and of course improved upon) as a skeleton for a
>> DocBook or Wiki:
>
> I have now taken the liberty and set up a MediaWiki installation and
> started adding some content. It's available at:
>
> http://libxml2wiki.dose.se
>
> I'm blocking search engine robots in robots.txt at the moment.
>
> As you can see I've styled the wiki to look similar to xmlsoft.org. If
> you want the regular MonoBook skin, just change it in the preferences.
>
> I have started to reconsider the structure of the main content (yet to
> be written). Maybe it should be more task oriented and not sectioned
> by the different APIs?
>
> I also added created a tag extension so you can use e.g.
> <api>xmlNode</api> and it will turn into a link to the libxml2 API
> documentation. This extension uses information from the
> libxml2-api.xml generated from libxml2 2.7.2 at the moment. I'm also
> planning on patching the syntax highlighting extension I'm using to
> automatically identify libxml2 symbols within <source /> tags and turn
> them into API documentation links.

This has now been added, libxml2 API symbols used inside <source />
are now automatically turned into links to the API documentation.

Elvis

>
> If anyone feel like helping out, just register and edit away! A simple
> thing is to add installation instructions for your platform, as I've
> only added it for the platforms I'm familar with.
>
> Hope to get some response on this!
>
> Daniel, what is xmlsoft.org running on? Would you consider again
> making a wiki.xmlsoft.org for this? I'd be willing to maintain the
> MediaWiki installation and handle security updates to it, as well as
> combat any SPAM problems that might arise. The server I'm running this
> on now is on a dynamic IP DSL line in Sweden, which is not really
> optimal.
>
> Regards,
> Elvis
>
>>
>> The libxml2 Library
>>
>> Introduction
>>  History
>>  What is libxml2?
>>  What libxml2 Is Not
>>  libxml2 Architecture
>>
>> Getting started
>>  Installing libxml2
>>    Binaries
>>      Linux
>>        Ubuntu / Debian
>>        OpenSUSE
>>        Fedora
>>        Gentoo
>>      FreeBSD
>>      OpenBSD
>>      Windows
>>      MacOS X
>>    Building from source
>>      Download libxml2
>>        Stable Version
>>        Subversion
>>      Configure Options
>>      Building
>>        Linux / BSD
>>        Windows
>>        MacOS X
>>  Quick Start
>>    Hello World
>>    Building Your Program
>>
>> The libxml2 APIs
>>  Choosing the Right API
>>  The Tree API
>>    Introduction
>>    Basic Example
>>    Complex Example
>>    Common Problems
>>  The Reader API
>>    Introduction
>>    Basic Example
>>    Complex Example
>>    Common Problems
>>  The SAX2 API
>>    Introduction
>>    Basic Example
>>    Complex Example
>>    Common Problems
>>  The HTML API
>>    Introduction
>>    Basic Example
>>    Complex Example
>>    Common Problems
>>  XPath API
>>    Introduction
>>    Basic Example
>>    Complex Example
>>    Common Problems
>>  XPointer API
>>    Introduction
>>    Basic Example
>>    Complex Example
>>    Common Problems
>>  XInclude API
>>    Introduction
>>    Basic Example
>>    Complex Example
>>    Common Problems
>>  Utility APIs
>>    String Handling
>>    HTTP / FTP
>>    XML and SGML Catalogs
>>    String Dictionaries
>>    Hash Tables
>>  Putting It All Together
>>    (Some more complex "task oriented" examples exercising
>>     the various APIs and using XML found in the wild)
>>
>> Validation
>>  Introduction
>>  DTDs
>>  XML Schemas
>>  RelaxNG
>>  Schematron
>>
>> Namespaces
>>  Introduction
>>  Basic Example
>>  Complex Example
>>  Common Problems
>>
>> Error Handling
>>  Introduction
>>  Basic Example
>>  Complex Example
>>  Common Problems
>>
>> Threads
>>  Introduction
>>  Thread Safety
>>  Basic Example
>>  Complex Example
>>  Common Problems
>>
>> Language Bindings
>>  Perl
>>  PHP
>>  Python
>>  Ruby
>>
>> Appendix
>>  A See Also
>>  B Acknowledgements
>>
>> As you can see the sections for the various APIs are pretty sparse and
>> repetitive, with just an introduction to each API along with some
>> examples, the idea being that the current examples on xmlsoft.org can
>> be taken and improved upon, and as people (hopefully) contribute more
>> hands on and anecdotal information, those sections could be fleshed
>> out.
>>
>> Any comments? I've probably left something out.
>>
>> Are you dead against giving a wiki a try again Daniel? Even a
>> "registration required" one? If so, I could arrange this skeleton into
>> a DocBook XML instead and send it over.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Elvis
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>>  Best Regards
>>>>> -Scord
>>>>>
>>>>> Motorola Software Center
>>>>> [x] Public
>>>>> [ ] Internal
>>>>> [ ] Motorola Confidential Restricted
>>>>
>>>>  Heh, finally a smart non threatening way to label expected recipient
>>>> for mails issued by a corporation. Nice !
>>>
>>> Yea I jumped at that too! Finally! :)
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Elvis
>>>
>>>>
>>>> Daniel
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Daniel Veillard      | libxml Gnome XML XSLT toolkit  http://xmlsoft.org/
>>>> daniel veillard com  | Rpmfind RPM search engine http://rpmfind.net/
>>>> http://veillard.com/ | virtualization library  http://libvirt.org/
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> xml mailing list, project page  http://xmlsoft.org/
>>>> xml gnome org
>>>> http://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/xml
>>>>
>>>
>>
>