Proposed addition to bookmap for DITA 1.1

["Scott Hudson" <Scott.Hudson@flatironssolutions.com>]

Hello,




We are recommending the bookmap specialization to several of our clients. We have identified a few missing components that we would like to have added to DITA 1.1.
 
It has been previously recommended (see http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/15795/IssueNumber38-Bookmap.htm) that shortdesc be used as the logical place for transitional text.  However, shortdesc does not allow for other block elements like paragraphs and lists to be nested under it; nor does it allow any cross-referencing to be contained within.  This restriction is not flexible enough to handle the variety of transitional or introductory text that we have seen in some of our client’s documentation.




We have found a need for multiple kinds of transitional text: 
(1) The introduction to the chapter or section itself (e.g. "This chapter covers..."
(2) a blurb that could be used BEFORE the chapter or section actually starts (e.g. "The next chapter covers...")
(3) an optional blurb that can be used immediately AFTER the chapter or section (e.g. "In the previous chapter we learned...").
 
Using these three types of transitional text wisely would allow a completely modular writing approach that nonetheless provides smooth transitions between the topics when they are stitched together within a BookMap.
 
The current shortdesc model in bookmap only allows text and keywords.
 
The shortdesc model in the ditabase (topic) DTD, however, is considerably more robust. The %title.cnt group in shortdesc allows:
%ph | %term | %q | %boolean | %state | %keyword | %tm | %image
 
We would like to see these needs addressed as early as DITA 1.1 if possible.
 
Thanks and best regards,
 
--Scott

 

 

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Scott Hudson
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