[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] | [List Home]
Subject: TC/DITA/Translation Subcommittee Proposals
From: JoAnn Hackos, chair DITA/Translation Subcommittee The DITA/Translation Subcommittee approved the following proposals to the DITA TC on March 13, 2006. DIR Attribute Proposal: That the DITA 1.1 specification include the DIR attribute as a universal attribute with the values of LTR, RTL, LRO, and RLO. No default value is to be specified for the DITA DTD. Discussion: The DIR attribute is used by authors of languages such as Hebrew and Arabic to ensure that correct directionality on the output, especially when the standard directionality has to be modified to accommodate some special use of the language. The reason to include it is to ensure that tools for authoring and for transforms generate the correct directionality. There was discussion that the results of this would often be unpredictable and produce different effects for different browers. The SC will now work on a statement of best practices for authors and tools vendors to develop a way to handle the dir attribute properly. Ruby Attribute/element Proposal: That the Subcommittee postpone any consideration of ruby enable until there is an appropriate mechanism (e.g., a specialization of the <keyref> attribute or a recommendation from the ITS working group of the W3C) to enable it in the DITA DTD. Discussion: The ruby attribute/element is used in some languages to provide an annotation indicating how certain characters should be pronounced. It is used in Japanese textbooks to guide a reader in the pronunciation of lesser known characters. At present, we have not received a specific request to enable ruby and the ITS working group has not yet completed its draft recommendation. The SC believes it is better to wait until we have a means to enable this attribute before making a recommendation to the TC. We hope to reconsider this proposal for the DITA 1.2 specification. Xml:lang Attribute Proposal: That the DITA 1.1 specification maintain the xml:lang attributed as currently specified in DITA 1.0. That specification stated that xml:lang values are validated by RFC3066 or its successors. Discussion: A considerable discussion on this attribute has occurred over several weeks, because of the potential problems with specifying its value correctly. Because DITA DTD does not specify what values are correct, it's possible that authors could enter incorrect values. The correct values are in the RFC3066. The best practice discussion now centers on recommending that xml authoring tools or CM systems provide standard lists of values from which authors can choose. For example, authors should correctly enter a combination of language and locale as follows: fr-fr or fr-ca specifies French or French Canadian. JoAnn JoAnn T. Hackos, PhD President Comtech Services, Inc. 710 Kipling Street, Suite 400 Denver, CO 80215 303-232-7586 joann.hackos@comtech-serv.com http://www.comtech-serv.com <http://www.comtech-serv.com/> Skype joannhackos
[Date Prev] | [Thread Prev] | [Thread Next] | [Date Next] -- [Date Index] | [Thread Index] | [List Home]