FW: DITA Proposed Feature # 05

Add a new 'acronym' element based on an expansion of the extant DITA 'data' to assist in the resolution and handling of acronyms in source and target text within DITA documents.

Longer description

Acronyms are ubiquitous in technical documentation. Although there are similarities between acronyms and the glossaries, from the localization and presentation point of view acronyms are a special case. Acronyms need to be expanded in the first encounter within a printed document. In electronic published documents acronym definitions can also be made available in the form of a hyper link or 'tool tip' mechanism.

For translation, acronym definitions need to be presented in the nominative case, without any inflection. The best way of doing this using an automated mechanism is to place the definition of the acronym in parentheses immediately following the first occurrence of the acronym, e.g.

    	
Your vehicle is fitted with an ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) and 4WD (Four Wheel Drive).

Scope

The proposal is to create an <acronym> element which would be a specialized form of the '<data/>' element. The acronym resolution will be via the conref attribute to the acronym text short and expanded forms, e.g.

    	
<acronym conref="aconyms.dita#abs"/>

The entry in the aconyms.dita file will be:

    	
<acronym id="abs">
  <expanded>Anti-lock Break System</expanded>
  <short>ABS</short>
</acronym>

This allows for a different acronym for the target languages if required.

An alternative suggestion from Robert Anderson is to include in the expanded form the short form declaration, e.g.:

    	
<acronym id="ibm">
  <expanded>International Business Machines (IBM)</expanded>
  <short>IBM</short>
</acronym>

This provides more control over how the text is rendered to translators and has much merit.

Use Case

The authors will enter the <acronym> element for every occurrence of a given acronym

At compose time, when you are putting together the publication you can print the full form the first time around, but in parentheses to get around any potential problems when translating into inflected languages:

    	
<p>The <acronym conref="aconyms.dita#abs"/> facility will
prevent the car from skidding.</p>

The first occurrence in the publication can be published as:

    	
The Anti-lock Brake System (ABS) system will prevent the car from
skidding in adverse weather conditions.

Subsequent instances can then be rendered as:

    	
The ABS system will provide the driver with feedback via the brake pedal.

Acronyms can cause problems for inflected languages. In these instances for inflected languages the publishing software may use the reverse form for the first instance:

    	
The ABS (Anti-lock Brake System) system.....

This is perfectly acceptable for inflected languages and gets around having a case neutral nominative rendition of the acronym definition in parentheses.

Technical Requirements

A new <acronym> element needs to be created which a specialization of the <data> element.

Costs

Benefits

Acronyms will be handled in a uniform and consistent manner. The handling of the acronym will be under the control of the composition software. The first occurrence of the acronym can show the fully expanded form. The text for both source and target languages will be consistent as it will be resolved via the conref attribute from a single source.

The resolution of the acronym can be totally under the control of the composition software so that glossary, tooltip and expanded forms can be provided as required to meet the end user requirements.

Time required

The addition of the <acronym> element as a specialization of the <data> element does not require much work..

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