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Re: [www-vrml] Tim BL Is Baffled, Too
Hi Brian :)
I really hate that I am complaining again about VRML/X3D. I would much rather be shouting its joys from the rooftops.
Brian Hay wrote:
It is my understanding that with the COMPONENTS keyword, anyone can
extend or abstract any functionality they want. Please correct me if I'm
wrong but that's my reading of the spec.
Hmmm... I just chased up the X3D spec Part 1 - 7 Core Component, 7.2.5.4 COMPONENT statement.
I can't for the life of me work out what it is saying. It looks to me like it lets authors say what fraction of the standard the world requires. I'm not sure that it means you can add to the functionality of X3D... but I could be misreading it. The writing is rather impenetrable.
I co-edited a magazine with a friend for a while. He is a brilliant and prolific writer, but I noticed that whenever he wrote letters to people he dropped into formalised bureaucratese writing. The text of the spec reminds me of that. I hate to sound like I'm putting someone down. I know it is a lot of work writing out such a piece and I applaud that someone has taken the time to actually do it. I'm just noting that even very intelligent, articulate people can make the mistake of using legalese or bureaucratese unnecessarily. It will certainly discourage a lot of people from wading through the spec.
...X3D has a STANDARDIZED method of extension that VRML97 never had.
I'm all for extension. Do you mean the META node? I confess I'm still trying to work out what it is or how to use it.
To address your statement about over complexity - I feel that this is
true in some instances but if you want to make it easier from a coding
point of view it's relatively easy to write a PROTO that "wraps"
multiple nodes into a simple interface with very specific, targeted
functionality (e.g. the animation example you used).
Actually I think X3D makes things worse. :( It is more verbose than VRML and many of the new nodes needlessly complicate things. For instance TextureCoordinateGenerator could have been eliminated by simply making mode an attribute of TextureCoordinate. Brevity and conciseness (never great aspects of VRML) have been forgotten completely. There is an annoying trend in computing to make things more complex for humans than they need be, under the camouflage of making things easier for computers.
It is up to we "veterans" now to promote X3D by creating great content,
applications and easy-to-use PROTO and COMPONENTs for those newbies that
wish to delve into the nuts and bolts.
While I agree, I grow tired of wanting to create moderately complex worlds with a language that I feel like I have to battle against all the time. It should become easier. Instead I find that each time I want to make something I have to start from square one again. In POV-Ray the community can make use of wonderful libraries of include files so that people can easily build upon what has been done by others. VRML's PROTO almost had the ability to do that, but it never became a reality, for various reasons. VRML's DEF could have done it except for one tiny technical problem, which unfortunately made it impossible.
I haven't looked at X3D's PROTOs yet -- I've searched, but I can't find anywhere in the X3D spec that defines how they work. Can anybody point me to it?. Maybe they fix the problem. I hope so.
I think the X3D spec and browser writers have done a great job in the
face of much criticism (including from me). My hat goes off to them.
Absolutely! They have my admiration. I just wish it had been taken further. I don't just mean more functionality (though I'll always want more added). It seems a pity they didn't take the opportunity to fix more of VRML's structural shortcomings. Maybe in the next iteration.
Best wishes,
- Miriam
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How I wish I could enumerate PI easily
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http://werple.net.au/~miriam
My live Journal page http://www.livejournal.com/users/miriam_e/
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