xml vs bko

So today, I want to briefly mention there is also overlap between XML and my sw/BKO notation. And of course, it being my child, I much prefer my notation! One advantage of my notation is that it is trivial to parse just using grep and sed, let alone python say. Another advantage is all the rest of the power of the BKO knowledge engine once in sw format.

So, how about an example?
Here is an XML breakfast menu:

<breakfast_menu>
  <food>
    <name>Belgian Waffles</name>
    <price>$5.95</price>
    <description>Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup</description>
    <calories>650</calories>
  </food>
  <food>
    <name>Strawberry Belgian Waffles</name>
    <price>$7.95</price>
    <description>Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream</description>
    <calories>900</calories>
  </food>
  <food>
    <name>Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles</name>
    <price>$8.95</price>
    <description>Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream</description>
    <calories>900</calories>
  </food>
  <food>
    <name>French Toast</name>
    <price>$4.50</price>
    <description>Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread</description>
    <calories>600</calories>
  </food>
  <food>
    <name>Homestyle Breakfast</name>
    <price>$6.95</price>
    <description>Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns</description>
    <calories>950</calories>
  </food>
</breakfast_menu>

And the same thing in BKO (I will admit BKO is probably harder to read than XML for those not familiar with the notation):

|context> => |context: breakfast menu>

 |menu: breakfast: list> => |food: Belgian Waffles> + |food: Strawberry Belgian Waffles> + |food: Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles> + |food: French Toast> + |food: Homestyle Breakfast>

name |food: Belgian Waffles> => |text: "Belgian Waffles">
price |food: Belgian Waffles> => |price: 5.95>
description |food: Belgian Waffles> => |text: "Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup">
calories |food: Belgian Waffles> => |calories: 650>

name |food: Strawberry Belgian Waffles> => |text: "Strawberry Belgian Waffles">
price |food: Strawberry Belgian Waffles> => |price: 7.95>
description |food: Strawberry Belgian Waffles> => |text: "Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream">
calories |food: Strawberry Belgian Waffles> => |calories: 900>

name |food: Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles> => |text: "Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles">
price |food: Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles> => |price: 8.95>
description |food: Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles> => |text: "Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream">
calories |food: Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles> => |calories: 900>

name |food: French Toast> => |text: "French Toast">
price |food: French Toast> => |price: 4.50>
description |food: French Toast> => |text: "Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread">
calories |food: French Toast> => |calories: 600>

name |food: Homestyle Breakfast> => |text: "Homestyle Breakfast">
price |food: Homestyle Breakfast> => |price: 6.95>
description |food: Homestyle Breakfast> => |text: "Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns">
calories |food: Homestyle Breakfast> => |calories: 950>

name |food: Belgian Waffles> => |text: "Belgian Waffles">
price |food: Belgian Waffles> => |price: 5.95>
description |food: Belgian Waffles> => |text: "Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup">
calories |food: Belgian Waffles> => |calories: 650>

And now, load her up, and print a table (noting the table code has been updated so it always extracts-values. I now think this is the way to go, but the idea is currently on probation):

sa: load clean-breakfast-menu.sw
sa: table[food-name,price,calories,description] "" |menu: breakfast: list>
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| food-name                   | price | calories | description                                                                           |
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Belgian Waffles             | 5.95  | 650      | "Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup"                   |
| Strawberry Belgian Waffles  | 7.95  | 900      | "Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream"                   |
| Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles | 8.95  | 900      | "Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream" |
| French Toast                | 4.50  | 600      | "Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread"                                 |
| Homestyle Breakfast         | 6.95  | 950      | "Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns"                 |
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

And of course, we can sort by price:

table[food,price,calories,description] sort-by[price] "" |menu: breakfast: list>
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| food                        | price | calories | description                                                                           |
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| French Toast                | 4.50  | 600      | "Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread"                                 |
| Belgian Waffles             | 5.95  | 650      | "Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup"                   |
| Homestyle Breakfast         | 6.95  | 950      | "Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns"                 |
| Strawberry Belgian Waffles  | 7.95  | 900      | "Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream"                   |
| Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles | 8.95  | 900      | "Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream" |
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

And we can sort by calories:

table[food,price,calories,description] sort-by[calories] "" |menu: breakfast: list>
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| food                        | price | calories | description                                                                           |
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| French Toast                | 4.50  | 600      | "Thick slices made from our homemade sourdough bread"                                 |
| Belgian Waffles             | 5.95  | 650      | "Two of our famous Belgian Waffles with plenty of real maple syrup"                   |
| Strawberry Belgian Waffles  | 7.95  | 900      | "Light Belgian waffles covered with strawberries and whipped cream"                   |
| Berry-Berry Belgian Waffles | 8.95  | 900      | "Light Belgian waffles covered with an assortment of fresh berries and whipped cream" |
| Homestyle Breakfast         | 6.95  | 950      | "Two eggs, bacon or sausage, toast, and our ever-popular hash browns"                 |
+-----------------------------+-------+----------+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

And that's it for this post. Heaps more to come!

Update: I don't know. Perhaps someone smarter than I could write an XML => sw, and a sw => XML transform code?

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updated: 19/12/2016
by Garry Morrison
email: garry -at- semantic-db.org