[webkit-dev] Is the New XMLParser dead?

[Maciej Stachowiak]

On Aug 27, 2012, at 3:48 PM, Adam Barth <abarth at webkit.org> wrote:

> On Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 3:06 PM, Maciej Stachowiak <mjs at apple.com> wrote:
>> On Aug 27, 2012, at 2:45 PM, Eric Seidel <eric at webkit.org> wrote:
>>> Checking back in:
>>> 
>>> Curious if this effort is still underway.  Adam and I would like to
>>> delete the New XML Parser if it's not needed in order to simplify the
>>> HTML 5 Parser again. :)
>> 
>> We do tentatively plan to get back to it (the original implementor is currently working full-time at Apple on the WebKit team).
> 
> As far as I can tell, no one has worked on the NEWXML code in over a
> year, the implementation doesn't work, and the code is disabled by all
> ports.  It seems like we should remove it from trunk.  We can retore
> it if/when someone is interested in working on it again.

What you describe as the current status is (afaik) correct. The data point I provided (since Eric asked) is that we do in fact plan to get back to it.

> 
>> As far as simplifying the HTML5 parser - isn't most of the foundational work that touches the HTML5 parser also required for WebVTT, as mentioned by me in the email you quote below? Is there a big simplicity win to be had without breaking WebVTT? If so, we can think about whether removing the scaffolding and reconstructing it when needed is worthwhile.
> 
> This is a separate issue.

If there's a reason to remove it other than "simplify the HTML5 parser again", then certainly we can consider it. But that was the only reason Eric cited, so I wanted to check if it's actually the case, in light of WebVTT. I am still curious about the answer. But I'd be happy to discuss other reasons instead.

Regards,
Maciej