This is the mail archive of the docbook-apps@lists.oasis-open.org mailing list .


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]
Other format: [Raw text]

RE: Help project structure


Dave Pawson:

>Hence the question. Is it truly a topic (DITA wise) if its not standalone?

Punting to the DITA FAQ:
                                                                            
 "A topic is a chunk of information organized around a single subject.      
 Structurally, it is a title followed by text and images, optionally        
 organized into sections. Topics can be of many different types, the most   
 common being concepts, tasks, and reference."                              
                                                                            



So, technically, no, a topic doesn't need to be standalone to be a topic.

But from the same FAQ, for the question "Why topics?":
                                                                            
 "DITA is based on topics because they are the optimal size to allow reuse  
 in different delivery contexts without affecting a writer's efficiency. If 
 we choose a smaller unit, the writer needs to check the unit in all its    
 contexts to make sure that information flows correctly. If we choose a     
 larger unit, the information cannot be easily reassembled into structures  
 that different delivery contexts (such as a Web site or a book) require. A 
 topic is large enough to be self contained from a writer's point of view   
 but small enough to reuse effectively in whatever higher-level structure a 
 particular delivery context requires."                                     
                                                                            



So while a topic in the DITA sense doesn't need to be standalone, part of
the point of topics is that they are reusable, in a way that smaller or
larger units aren't.

Sum:

- transitional text is definitely too small and context-specific to be
appropriately treated as a topic.
- so, in a hypothetical map that allowed transitional text, the generic
process for topic references would be inappropriate, and you'd need special
treatment for the "glue" (which, unlike the topics, might as well be
content of the map, since it won't be particularly reusable anywhere else).

By the way, apologies to the DocBook folks - I don't mean to appropriate
this list's focus. It probably makes sense to continue this in xml-doc, if
there's interest in continuing.

Michael Priestley
DITA Specialization Architect
mpriestl@ca.ibm.com
Dept 833 IBM Canada    t/l: 969-3233    phone: 905-413-3233
Toronto Information Development


Index Nav: [Date Index] [Subject Index] [Author Index] [Thread Index]
Message Nav: [Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]