Jonas Beckman

A few days ago, I was looking for an easy way to model XML-documents with UML.
For applications that are all about distributed documents, UML is probably irrelevant. So why UML? Well, I am working with people who like UML a lot right now .

But even if I wasn’t, I would consider this: real documents live in a world full of other applications – and today most people model business applications in UML (if they model them at all .

Also, if you build objectoriented applications using modern tools, implementation might become easier if everything is modeled as objects.

And integrating XML-editors with “ordinary” applications is probably easier if you think of documenttypes (and the concepts necessary to describe them) as just another kind of business objects.

OK. So if UML is a good idea, there are two basic problems:

• Choosing an XML-oriented syntax for document types
• Mapping it to UML

Picking a decent XML-syntax for documenttypes is the easy part. The W3C standard isn’t frozen – but any decent subset of the current standard should be easy to upgrade. Right now, I think Microsofts version (the one in IE5) is the best bet. What’s the world coming to!

UML-mapping is harder to say anything general about. I think it all depends on specific tools and applications. We’ll see. I have one case coming up in the next few days.

A few days ago, I was looking for an easy way to model XML-documents with UML. I just started to write more about that here. I have some meetings today, then I will get down to it.
Take a look at this picture. I laughed and laughed – yes, this is what it feels like!

On Scripting News today, I found this:

It’s a great idea: misuse of software patents is evil! Anything simple we can do to fight that misuse should be considered. I used to think linking to books I like through Amazon was OK – these day I don’t.

I couldn’t find it anywhere on the NoAmazon site, but Casey Muratori is the guy who came up with the idea. RMS (Richard M Stallman) calls for a boycott here

Wednesday afternoon, it’s still cold in Stockholm.

I am still wondering if there is a simple way to model XML document types in UML – and I am not the only one looking for a quick fix. But the gurus obviously don’t think there is one.

On Eclectic yesterday, some people were saying RDF seemed both complicated and impractical – yes, I agree with that! Not much a developer can use right now.

Standard DTDs are almost certainly too limited for building real applications. But Simon St Laurent says: “DTDs are here-and-now, while XML Schemas, in large part, are for the future.”.

XML Schema is indeed an unfinished standard with all kinds of complexities hanging loose. Rational has tried at least once to model it in UML. I don’t know the reason they picked this particular kind of XML Schema – but there are several others. Here is the one Microsoft use in Internet Explorer. Looks very usable these days – is there any catch? I don’t know yet.

Cafe Con Leche linked to AT&T Labs and some danish guys who have yet another way to define document types. DSD really does look very clean and nice – but it won’t ever be a large standard.

What to do? I keep digging.

Maybe it’s just late… and I am sick and tired of this cold Swedish winter… but there is something unsettling about all the recent talk about the EditThisPage community.

Yes, I love the energy of all these new sites, I love working with Manila – but why all this passion about yet another Hot List? Indeed, it is a kind of community: nice, professional americans in the web-business enjoying a peculiar lifestyle that may or may not be good news for the rest of the world.

Derek Powazek was on to something a few days ago: weblogging is just one possible way of using the web for personal expression. And it can be a very good way, too – unless it becomes a dogma. I think the world needs more people who edit what they write.

“Everyone’s rushing… and we have plenty of time” is a beatiful mantra for the year 2000.

Oh, by the way… me and Aila are now back from our paradise island, rested and full of energy. It’s play time again!

Manila Express™: “Manila Express™ makes adding links to your Manila weblog as easy as 1-2-3.” Well… Hello World! and all that. But I already dislike having new stuff inserted at the beginning of the page and not at the end… we’ll see.

Today I found out that MS had released a new version of Windows Script Host. This may not be news to a lot of people – but for scripters who didn’t know: WSH is one of the more interesting and open things Microsoft has done in a long time.

This afternoon I bought two interesting books:

• Kent Beck’s Guide to Better Smalltalk, by Kent Beck
  The name doesn’t do it justice. Beck is a true ObjectWizard, and this collection of deceptively short and simple articles is fascinating stuff for any objectoriented developer. Of course, getting a taste of Smalltalk has never been easier: just download Squeak.

• Use Case Driven Object Modeling with UML, by Scott Rosenberg
  This could be the second UML-book to read, after Martin Fowler’s classic “UML Distilled”. It looks very minimalistic and useful. But I haven’t tried it out on a client yet (or even finished it!), so we’ll see…

Quote of the day, from Cafe con Leche:

“Having all your content removed from a database and stored physically as XML files, you’ll lose the lightning-fast query times that enterprise relational databases can give the portal. The strategy most are going for is dynamically serving “slices” of data from (sometimes fairly hairy and finely-performance-tuned) SQL queries as dynamic XML content”.

Hmmm… makes sense now. I’m not so sure that’s a smart long term move.

Yesterday, I began a very interesting consulting gig: modeling the next generation of document structures for the Swedish Parliament. The first modeling discussion was great but somewhat confused – it’s not easy finding common ground between good old-fashioned business objects (standard UML) and the document stuff (DOM, DTD, XML-Schema, whatever…).

I’ll be back on the 15th of February

When you are a diver, you can go too deep and stay below too long. It happens… the real problem is this: can you get back to the surface slow enough to avoid hurting or killing yourself?

Well, I am not a diver. I’ve been working too hard. Twenty very intense months ended yesterday.

The last couple of days I haven’t posted anything. Do I feel guilty about it? No.

Working under extreme pressure means important decisions about the rest of your life have to wait. You don’t have the time to act – but can’t stop thinking. Is it good to write such thoughts down? Definitely. Should you post them?

Maybe. Sometimes. This time I didn’t. What kind of things do YOU avoid posting?

It IS possible to have a party everywhere!