|
One nice thing that SDI supports that CCI doesn't appears
to be the "RegisterViewer" verb. Why is this nice?
It allows the web browser to use non-inline viewers or
to "punt" on new/unsupported/archaic mime types -- for
example postscript, mpeg or
vrml. Currently, all browsers support external viewers,
but the usability is painful -- e.g. viewing a postscript
document, an external viewer is spawned, you position/resize
the window, view the doc, and then kill the viewer. A second
postscript document requires re-spawning, repostioning, etc.
Wouldn't it be nice if a postscript window, once launched,
always stays up, and just shows the new doc?
Maybe postscript is a bad example. Maybe mpeg, vrml, or oogl
make better examples -- It is not at all clear that you'd
necessarily want to inline vrml or oogl. In fact, for a
DOOM-like 3D -cruise through hallways, click on things, you
very well would want the 3D to go in a separate window, in
which you cruise, while any click on an ordinary html
href in the 3D window would be handled by the web browser.
And any click on a vrml in the ordianry web browser would be
handled by the 3D window.
Furthermore, RegisterViewer provides a modicum of code stability
for the browser developer -- you don't have to worry about breaking
code that works when trying to suport a new mime-type. Whatever.
--linas
|
SDI Suppoorts RegisterViewer 
