RE: DOCBOOK-APPS: OT: Searching HTML or On topic, searching xml?

["Bradford, Denis" <denisb at rational dot com>]

> As someoen who works with full-text retrieval systems all content is
> searchable to me. The presence of such specially tagged 
> regions is, in my
> experience, only a hinderance to the average user; those whom 
> it does help
> more are information scientists.

I disagree: most docbook authors are probably not average users. Most are
certainly not IA types either, but most writers with any experience do know
something about indexing. If they don't they should. If they're savvy enough
to use docbook, I doubt coding keywords will give them a lot of trouble.

The case for indexes is most compelling from the point of view of the
document consumer. You're right that full-text search is essential for
robust online documentation, but keyword-based indexing can also be very
useful. The point is, they're not replacements for each other, but different
and (ideallay) complimentary types of navigation. I say the more the better.

Denis