Re: [docbook] Ruminations on the future of DocBook

[Jeff Biss <jeff at marco-inc dot com>]

Steven,

>From my experience people have a problem with properly applying tags from
stylesheets even when directed to use a style guide that dictates what to
use and where to use it. I am NOT proposing that the note/tip/etc elements
be replaced. I am merely using them as an example where I see that element
quatity reduction could have been applied as I see it was done in the <itemizedlist>
element. A user only has to learn the <itemizedlist> to create bulletized
lists, not a larger quantity of specifically named elements for each type
of bullet a user may desire. The writer can leave the default or change the
attribute or stylesheet to get  the desired result.

This doesn't seem to be a processing problem because the DTD structure would
still show where a certain element can be used and what attributes are allowed.
The allowed attribute values, such as those for "type" for <bibliorelation>,
are delimited in the DTD and appear easier to add to/delete from than adding
another element.

As I see it, the point is not to simplify processing but to simplify the
use of elements by writers. This can be done in a number of ways going forward.
I think, perhaps incorrectly, that the structure is affected less by attributes
than by elements.

NOTE:
I am learning XML, mostly by trial and error while using the DocBook and
referencing the DTD documentation. I could very well be wrong!

Jeff Biss

Steven Cogorno wrote:
> Jeff Biss said:
> > Michael,
> >
> > I understand what you're saying but I am talking about the hierarchy of 
> > the docBook. There could be just one element that would have a default 
> > attribute unless it is provided with an override. The complexity would 
> > be shifted from the elements to the attributes. This may not be an 
> > answer for every element but at the moment there is such a reduction. 
> >     
>
> And what advantage does this give?
>
> Chaging warning and note to a single element with an attribute does nothing
> to simply the processing.  What it does do is prevent orgaizations from
> customizing the DTD to restrict where one or the other might appear.
>
> Just as Norm was not speaking for his employer, I am not officially
> representing Sun Microsystems in this message.
>
> I think it's important to recognize the extensive investments many companies
> have made to implement DocBook and DocBook-based DTDs. I estimate that my
> department (not Sun as a whole) has spent ten million dollars developing and
> supporting our documentation tools in the eight years we've been using
> DocBook.  We produce over 100,000 pages of content a year. We have gigabytes
> of structured documentation.
>
> I suspect management would be extremely reluctant to adopt such fundamental
> changes that would significantly de-leverage the existing 
> investmest.  
>
> Steve Cogorno
> Sun Microsystems
>
>
>
>