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| Alan
Liu |
Hypertext
Fiction Tracker
Conceptual Demo
of XML Application |
Note: Proper viewing
of the XML documents on this page require a browser
able to render XML and XSLT stylesheets. Currently,
these requirements are met by Internet Explorer 6.0
with its 4.0 version XML driver. (This page last revised
4/4/02
)
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Tracker is a purely speculative, proof-of-concept
demo of an XML-based "critical apparatus"
for hypertext fiction. It is designed to facilitate
the pedagogy and scholarly discussion of hypertext
literature by providing a standard means of citing,
annotating, and linking to elements in a work
(no matter the work's original platform, media,
or structure).
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Intended Uses
Authors and publishers of hypertext fiction interested
in placing a work in the classroom would include
an XML document describing
the work and its structure in a standardized way
(validated against the Tracker schema).
(Alternatively, scholars and instructors would
create such documents and make them available
to others.) A variety of prefabricated or custom-made
XSLT stylesheets
(for displaying the XML document on the Web) would
then allow users to cite, link to, filter, and
sort works in a standard way.
In addition, XML will allow information about
a hypertext work to be read automatically by application
programs of various sorts. This raises the intriguing
possibility of programs that provide a "meta-view"
of hypertext fiction—e.g., a "fiction-browser"
that creates on-the-fly views of such topics as
"self," "love," "memory,"
etc. based on assemblages or sequences of elements
from different online hypertext fictions.
XML is also increasingly convergent with structured
databases (esp. relational databases). This potentially
expands its use to the full range of archival
and interactive information retrieval characteristic
of databases. (XML can now be moved automatically
in and out of structured databases—e.g.,
through export/import features in database programs,
or XML-editing programs that can extract information
from databases. XML-Query language also raises
the possibility of robust querying akin to SQL
for databases.)
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Demo
As a proof-of-concept instrument, Tracker
is very elementary and incomplete. The creation
of an XSL schema fully adequate to a wide range
of contemporary hypertext fiction would require
the deliberation of a consortium of hypertext
authors and scholars.
Currently, Tracker consists of the following
components:
- XML document
(in multiple, particular instances) containing
descriptive information and links to Edward
Falco's 1999 online work, "Self-Portrait
of Child With Father" [link
to original work]. Only a small portion
of the work is now represented:
(Note:
Netscape 4+ does not read XML)
- XSL schema
against which the XML document can be validated
to ensure standardization and completeness of
data entry: hypertext_fiction.xsd
(validation is performed by a script). Alternatively,
a DTD could be created for the document (as
in SGML documents).
- XSLT (Extensible
Stylesheets Language Transformations) stylesheet
that transforms the XML document into HTML for
display on the Web: Hypertext_Fiction.xsl
(and variants; see above). Alternative methods
for displaying XML as HTML include cascading
style sheets, data binding, and DOM scripts.
When a Web browser opens the XML document (e.g.,
falco_instance.xml),
the appropriate XLST stylesheet is also downloaded
to govern the display of the document.
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References
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