Friday, October 30, 2009

HTML 5, Curl and presentation

I thought it might be helpful to post the "tags" used as text-formats in the Curl language (at least those in the package CURL.GUI.TEXT-FORMATS)

Curl also allows the creation of user-defined formats, text-procedures and macros so the power of Curl for markup and markdown goes far beyond these expressions.

HTML 5 is expected to drop so-called "presentation" elements such as those using the tag "br". CSS and possibly XSLT are required to achieve such simple text formatting for "presentation".

In Curl, text itself is treated as a Visual object and with Curl 7.0 additional classes and expressions were added to strengthen this alternative one-language approach to presenting structured content whether in the browser or in a desktop application.

The 6.0 version of the text-formats can be found on-line at developers.curl.com (click "show" in the upper-left corner of that page to open the full browser view.)

The Curl 7.0 list of text-format tags follows:
big
blockquote
bold
br
browse-url
bullet
cell
center
copyright
default-browse-url
definition
definition-list
degrees
destination
elaborate
em-dash
en-dash
enumerate
full-copyright
full-rte-copyright
header-cell
header-row
heading
hrule
huge
image
italic
item
itemize
left-justify
line-through
link
marker
monospace
no-break
numbered-heading
page-break
pre
quote
registered-trademark
right-justify
row
small
subscript
superscript
table
term
text-part
tiny
title
trademark
underline
In the above list "link" corresponds to the HTML "a" anchor tag.

{text-part some text of ours} is particularly interesting as an example of the difference between the Curl approach and the X/HTML approach to web content.  When the expression is evaluated by the Curl runtime engine, a Visual object is returned which can then be passed into other expressions, macros or procedures.
In those contexts, the .add method - common to all descendents of Visual - can be used as a common protocol without concern whether the original string content was a String, a StringBuf or other type of text object, as in
set sample-visual = {text-part some string content of yours}
{some-action sample-visual}
|| comment: where in {some-action } we would find
   {visual-parameter.add "more content"}
Curl 6.0 added a library for separation of style-sheets and Curl 7.0 incorporated this into the default packages so that each of the above elements can be styled just as one would use CSS to style HTML.

In addition to text-formats, Curl includes text-procedures such as {text } and {paragraph } and a wide range of predefined paragraph-formats.  Further, the standard libraries include {TextArea }, { TextFlowBox } which go beyond markup Visual objects to being full-blown GUI widgets (Graphic objects) such as usually would require JavaScript or the like and which respond to UI events such as mouse clicks.

Friday, October 23, 2009

Métis Aule takes first step forward

Work has begun on a Métis aule-browser to provide an aule browser devoted to topics relating to Canada's Métis nation.
Les travaux ont commencé sur un browser pour les liens Métis canadiens.

Friday, October 16, 2009

on-line Curl documentation for 'the gradual curve' and 'the gentle slope' for non-HTML, non-XHTML web content markup

I thought I would toss out the web link to the on-line Curl docs since I am looking at Curl these days most often as web content markup 'with the browser applet included' but targeting the desktop instead of a browser. That link is http://developers.curl.com/userdocs/CurlDocs.htm

The IDE itself offers selectable, installable docs with 'live' code in them by using the Curl {example} macro, so that is a much better option. Or there is the Eclipse plugin at www.curl.com

Since I still read about HTML as a 'language' and HTML5 starts to approach Curl in features, it may help clarify things to look at the case of a programming language that is also able to be its own markup language without adding a DSL. And which allows easy addition of custom tags with context-sensitive behaviors (the terrific and delicious consequence of macros being in a separate package from where they are used.)

Now back to how best to generate Curl markup from Drupal (with occasional sorties into Django, Seaside, Wicket, Groovy, QuarterMaster and such ...)

And suggestions just to use XSLT are always welcome ;-)

Thursday, August 27, 2009

The poetry of Curl macros, or, poem markup for the web

Here is a snippet from an American poetry e-book on the web:

Stanza:

<div class="lg" ID="LG24">
<a name="L185"></a><div class="line" ID="L185">"In the name of all created,</div>
<a name="L186"></a><div class="line" ID="L186">Let us hear no more, my brothers;</div>
<a name="L187"></a><div class="line" ID="L187">Are we older than all others?</div>
<a name="L188"></a><div class="line" ID="L188">Are the planets in our way?"—</div>
<a name="L189"></a><div class="line" ID="L189">"Hark," said one; "I hear the River,</div>
<a name="L190"></a><div class="line" ID="L190">Calling always, night and day."—</div>
<a name="L191"></a><div class="line" ID="L191">"Forward, then! The lights are shining,"</div>
<a name="L192"></a><div class="line" ID="L192">Said the Watcher by the Way.</div>
</div>

and here is my Curl macros alternative markup:

{para
{ln L185, In the name of all created,}
{ln L186, Let us hear no more, my brothers;}
{ln L187, Are we older than all others?}
{ln L188, Are the planets in our way?"}
{ln L189, "Hark," said one; "I hear the River,}
{ln L190, Calling always, night and day."}
{ln L191, "Forward, then! The lights are shining,"}
{ln L192, Said the Watcher by the Way.}
}

even better:

{stanza 24 lines 185-192
In the name of all created,
Let us hear no more, my brothers;
Are we older than all others?
Are the planets in our way?"
"Hark," said one; "I hear the River,
Calling always, night and day."
"Forward, then! The lights are shining,"
Said the Watcher by the Way.
}

Now is the markup in the way of the content when you have to look over the output?

There ia an interest group devoted to Curl markup for the Semantic Web over at developers.curl.com - just register as a developer member to join.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

cl1p.net and cl1p.com for aule-browsers

There appears to be no prospect for working with cl1p web clipbooks long-term, so for our external web note-taking (not notes within Curl CSPD) we will re-visit the Evernote API (similar to Facebook.)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Curl and Drupal project at developers.curl.com

[We had a Drupal CMS project for the Curl web-content language over at the former developers.curl.com but the project is, as of August 2011, in abeyance.]

The existing Drupal framework uses HTML, but Drupal seems not as tightly coupled to HTML as other frameworks which otherwise pay attention to loose-coupling (the assumption that HTML is the only web-content language is rather like the assumption that RDF for semantic web is XML. Yes, it is one language ...)

Of course Python's Zope/Plone with its REStructuredText might be a better match to Curl. I am disappointed to see how some web frameworks are HTML to the bone: they would worry if that was so for XML. But XHTML does not seem to raise a concern. I now know how the Yaml folks must feel with all the attention to JSON. One exception so far: the old Http2View for Squeak Smalltalk looks easy to convert to Curl.

I was amused today to see some concerns about those myriad SOL files that Adobe FLASH and AIR like to stash away on our personal computers ... what I don't need are all of the directories for web sites I have not yet (yet? ) visited ...

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Drupal at cms.aule-browser.com

I have begun to explore the prospects of creating Curl templates using PHP and the Drupal CMS at cms.aule-browser.com

Curl is the web-content language from www.curl.com

Curl is very well-suited to the collaborative creation of corporate training materials for WBT and CBT (web-based training) using web or desktop applications with client-side data.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Smalltalk at Aule-Browser.com


The Smalltalk links at aule-browser.com now display as shown above.

All this (30 links) for a language considered by some IT pundits to be either dead or MIA ( and this without many Seaside links such as dabbledb.com, seasidehosting.st, Swazoo, Sophie ... )

The Curl runtime is required to visit the Smalltalk Aule. The configuraion with the buttons on top is just one default. The Curl RTE (Runtime engine) is required to use Curl applets and once installed, aule-browser.com should be added in the Curl Control Panel as a trusted site (using the Add Host button on the Security pane.)

Friday, July 24, 2009

Two new Aule opened today: Prolog and AADD

Today an Aule on the Prolog logic programming language opened at prolog.aule-browser.com

At the same time we opened the informative Aule for Adult Attention Deficit Disorder. An Aule browser is intended to facilitate organized note-taking: we will be extending this Aule to make it suitable for tackling the 27 issues outlined on its opening page.

Watch for Aule browsers for advancing Alzheimer's, varieties of Autism and Asperger's and for memory deficits associated with CHT (closed-head trauma.) The latter is especially significant for returning servicemen whose body armor allowed them to survive concussive blasts consistent with long-term CHT issues.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

How To Aule now at howto.aule-browser.com

We now have a How-To Aule at http://howto.aule-browser.com

We include the sites

http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page

http://howto.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page

http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Category:Computers

http://www.ehow.com/

http://www.howtodothings.com/

http://www.howstuffworks.com/

http://www.wonderhowto.com/

http://www.how-to.com/

If you have a site to suggest, please contact me as robert AT aule-browser.com or post a comment here.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

New Tcl Aule at aule-browser.com

There are two links at the Tcl Aule that might interest anyone who ever used Tk with Ruby or Python: they are links to Tcl and RDF and also to the XOTcl IDE (XOTclIDE) which is modeled on Squeak Smalltalk.

Friday, July 17, 2009

new Python links at aule-browser

The link at logiquewerks now points to a much more complete Aule example for Python.
Every button is now python specific. This arangement of button son bars is entirely arbitrary: it could be whatever you chose to generate for the occasion or need.

There is of course wxHTML in wxPython with various articles on the web about its use.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Aule Browser group at Yahoo! Groups

There is now an Aule Browsers group at Yahoo! groups: aulebrowsers.

Here was the first message to members:

At the moment all of the browsers are built on a WIndows XP SP3 using Curl 7.0 and IE 8
The browsers are tested in Opera, FireFox3, Prism and Chrome but to work properly they depend on IE being set as the default browser.

More options should come with Curl 8.0

For information on very restricted browsers see logiquewerks. com

For inforamtion on the Curl EmbeddedBrowserGrap hic see

http://developers. curl.com/ userdocs/ docs/en/api- ref/EmbeddedBrow serGraphic. html

The simplest wrapper is just an invisible frame which could have settings to prevent following web links sent in e-mail, prevent viewing iamges or prevent copying images. A fully locked-down browser would not have an address field for URL's. Most of our effor tis on the extended browser for research using wikipedia.org and freebase.com


Click to join aulebrowsers

Click to join aulebrowsers


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Aule browsers have a Google Group

There is now an Aule Browsers Google Group at http://groups.google.com/group/aule-browsers

Aule browsers at gather.com

There is now an aule browsers group at gather.com with the url http://aulebrowsers.gather.com/

Saturday, July 11, 2009

New Aule Browsers: subdomain listings

There is a new listing of Aule Browser subdomains over at the LogiqueWerks Aule Browser page.

Watch for news as note tagging proceeds for note2tag.com starting with the Wikipedia browser at wp.aule-browser.com

Note: to test the features of locked-down browsers (business internet browsers with restricted web access) it is necessary to add www.aule-browser.com to the Curl Control Panel's Security tab using the Add Host button (upper-right corner of that pane.)

Note: to install or run some Curl demo's it is necessary to add www.logiquewerks.com
In a corporate setting these URL's would be those of secure corporate intranet licensed for Curl packages. The alternative is to use only digitally-signed Curl packages. For security details, visit www.curl.com

Friday, July 10, 2009

Aule-Browser.com gets a new look

Our Aule Browser site has a new look.

Trying to give HTML-only its due ... now to show what Curl can do ...

And subdomains are starting to take shape:

games.aule-browser.com for Rack-O!

lang.aule-browser.com for Rosetta Stone

mail.aule-browser.com

music.aule-browser.com

perl.aule-browser.com

python.aule-browser.com

ria.aule-browser.com

ruby.aule-browser.com

wp.aule-browser.com for Wikipedia

Work progressing on note-taking + Curl CSPD with cl1p.net

And CSPD is now built into the wikipedia browser at wp.aule-browser.com

Thursday, July 9, 2009

sites.google.com/site/aulebrowsers

As the title of this post says, there is now an information site for Aule browsers at sites.google.com

The first two pages have basic information on Aule Browsers for parents and for law offices.

Pages with information on other restricted access browsers will follow: for county jails, halfway houses, group homes and psychiatric day wards among others.

Friday, July 3, 2009

Aule Browser arrives at code.google

There is now an opensource Aule Browser project on code.google.com

Areas to watch are generating Aule browser wrappers with the Seaside web framework and other templating and domain-specific language (DSL) and dialect issues for generating site-specific browsers (SSB) in the Curl programming language.

The Aule browser uses the Curl EmbeddedBrowserGraphic class and its related EmbeddedBrowserEvent class in a detached Curl desktop rich internet client application.

Curl is a mature and established client-side enterprise platform but as a web content language, Curl remains an alternative to HTML + JavaScript with separation from presentation style.