Links
These are a few links related to this project, some of which you might find of interest.
Using SRESI
SRESI's interface is not exactly palatable right now. Here are a couple programs that may help a bit, as found on the OCaml Wiki.
rlwrap
Readline-based editing of keyboard input for any other command, with history.
Ledit
About the same as rlwrap, but written in OCaml.
Programming
Objective Caml
A great functional language.
I gladly attribute a large part of my success writing sresi to this smart choice.
There are problems for which functional languages trounce the usual imperative ones. It's sad so few people are aware of them beyond academia. Go and have a look.
Checkinstall
Package-building for dummies.
A nice little program to run when you're installing software the source way. It looks at all the places you're sending files to and memorises them. It will even build a package for you, which is what I used, instead of the standard method.
It may be a cheap cop-out for lazy bums, but it's sufficient when you do not have to bother with complex dependencies.
Alien
The other package-building for dummies.
Alien converts packages between formats: deb, rpm or tgz. Good stuff.
XML Light
A simple, but good-enough XML library for Caml.
The one and only dependency to compile SRESI, beyond the obvious Caml.
I would not have done the XBEL import without it.
Bookmarks
The XML Bookmark Exchange Language (XBEL)
and their former home at the Python/XML SIG.
XBEL is a bookmarks format I quite like. It's XML, easy to parse and transform and supports a pet obsession of mine: bookmarks and folder aliases.
Trouble is, XBEL does the basics well enough, so nobody is
driven enough to extend it with the little things many have come to
expect, like favicons. While not a big deal in itself, it means
there are many slight variations on XBEL, with each browser
extending it its own way.
So much for standards...
Another problem is, aliases are a pain to deal with, mainly
folders and the possibility to loop them.
Don't do this at home, kids.
Many XBEL-using programs just shunt that part of the
specifications to avoid the bother.
bk_edit
The bookmarks editor I used before I went mad.
bk_edit, by Clemens Fuchslocher, is a browser independant bookmarks editor, with very few dependencies. It can deal with XBEL and Mozilla bookmarks, plus some others (though the Mozilla format seems to have changed a bit, and I cannot import the new files anymore).
It may be a bit rough around the edges, but it gives a lot of control to the user and allows for the creation of bookmarks and folder links, even though it doesn't display them very well.
Again, a discontinued program. The author says for now, so who knows...
Tengis
The program which sent me on this caper.
Martin Blais, its author, is the one who came up with the keywords-based bookmark management idea, as far as I know at least. I like to think I pushed the idea a bit further with the keyword hierarchy inference part, but the inspiration is his.
As far as I know, Tengis has been discontinued, but the motivation and design document are still worth a read.
Torisugari
A famed Firefox extension writer, now retired from the scene.
He wrote some good extensions, but also the best XBEL-displaying
XSL sheets I have ever seen. He did not deal with aliases, but his
XSL was elegantly simple enough that I could do it myself.
Well, except for crashes with looping folder aliases, but
that's to be expected (and preferably, not done, thank you so
much).
His Bookmarks Synchroniser extension is also quite useful, if only to do Mozilla to XBEL bookmarks export, which I need.
- Torisugari's Bookmarks Synchronizer, now abandonned, I fear;
- Bookmarks Synchronizer 3, an update to the former.
Web Standards
The W3C
They write the specs we thrive on.
A good reading place, with many interesting links.
The W3C's HTML validator
It's easy, doesn't take much time and might make your site visible to many more readers.
Just do it.
The W3C's CSS validator
It's easy, doesn't take much time and might make your site visible to many more readers.
Just do it.
Oh, I have said that before, have I not?
The "Viewable With Any Browser" campaign
Not everyone uses the very latest IE.
A good read, to learn about accessibility.
HTML Tidy
More or less the W3C validator on your computer.
The first versions were written by Dave Raggett, whose name you can find on the HTML specs, most versions of them at least. This is a community project to maintain this nice little piece of software.