someone (not sure who) said:
I know XML source should work, but at least for me, creating XML source is unproductive. I work with a text editor and find writing this:
``Hello world,'' says HAL.
much more productive than writing this:
<p>“Hello world”</p>, says HAL.
Maybe I'm missing something, but for writing, XML's markup requirements -- which are invisible to field-based data entry screen -- are way too intense for hand-editing. TeX source is much less verbose. It is easier to create, proof (both visually and audibly), spell check troubleshoot, etc. I have not seen an editor capable of doing XML source in a productive manner, like (La)TeX with text editor.
You're missing something. For one, your above example would be: <p><q>Hello world</q>, says HAL.</p> Second, try something like nXML mode for emacs, or the XML plug-in for jEdit. Real-time markup validation, tag-completion, spell-checking, etc. Finally, you're missing the biggest point of all: XML is about reuse. You cleanly separate markup from presentation so that -- among other things -- you can trivially transform that to different output. Bruce