[alicebot-archcomm] My reply to Jon's thoughtful reply to: My thoughts on "Fetching Info from the Web"

[Gary Robertson]

Jon (earlier):
>This is what the use of xml namespaces is supposed to allow. I am sure you
>are aware of those, as if I'm correct, ColdFusion tags, by default, are
>added to html/cf documents using a namespace to separate them from html and
>other tags.

Gary:
Yes.  All Cold Fusion tags begin with CF (for example <CFMAIL TO="you" 
FROM="me" SUBJECT="AIML"> MSG </CFMAIL>.
But there is an extensive number of operators imbedded throughout the HTML 
code that does not follow this format (for 
example:  #DollarFormat(salary)#   ).  Obviously the "pound signs" flag the 
Cold Fusion interpreter into action as well as the <CF prefixes.

Gary (earlier)
> > If as a developer, I can make these things happen using standard, or near
> > standard HTML-like FORM-POST-SUBMIT and FORM-GET-SUBMT command structures
> > and interfaces that I am already using, then I am estactic.

Jon (earlier):
>It should be doable either already, or pretty soon. All you really need is
>an interpreter that can handle namespaces correctly (so it leaves namespaced
>tags uninterpreted, and in the output), and that can be plugged into other
>systems/applications (this is the new goal of J-Alice and it's completely
>new line of development).

Gary:
Is an overview and the current status of various implementations of 
Alice-In-Progress
  documented somewhere?

Jon (earlier):
>One way could be to link an interpreter into Apache, for example, and
>letting Apache know that to process documents containing an <aiml:category>
>(given the namespace for "aiml" is correct) that it should be processed by
>the AIML interpreter .. allowing server-side processing of the AIML content.
>I don't know Apache that well, so I'm not sure if it's able of doing things
>like that .. perhaps you know more about that sort of thing.

Gary:
Gosh.  Is what I want too simplistic for current day needs?  I think what I
want is much simpler that what is being considered.  I don't mind having and
growing into a more sophisticated world, but make sure AIML can handle my
immediate needs and level of understanding first.  Is that unreasonable? I
do allow for the possibility that it is unreasonable.  But I will ask 
anyone who
takes this position to shed more light on that stance.  I want AIML to
accommodate any web developer who has ever sent and fetched data to and
from a simple .cgi script.  I  want to hear him say  ... ah-ha! ... I 
understand this.
  It's EASY.  I can use this "RIGHT NOW".

If anyone else out there finds this approach interesting, then speak up and
I will take my best shot at putting together my dream syntax for this 
functionality,
complete with 8 x 10 color glossy photos (just kidding about the photos).

Thank you for your ideas and comments, Jon.

-gr