Inheritance of attributes through mapref

[Robert D Anderson <robander@us.ibm.com>]

This is a summary of the item discussed last week and the week before,
initially raised here:
http://wiki.oasis-open.org/dita/MaprefResolution

The consensus at the TC as I understand it is that attributes specified on
a map reference are equivalent to the same attributes specified on the
target element. Exceptions are format (which must be 'ditamap') and href
(which references the target).

For example, if I have this map reference:
<topicref href="someMap.ditamap"
          format="ditamap"
          toc="no"
          scope="peer"
          print="no"
          linking="normal"/>

In the map someMap.ditamap, the toc / scope / print / linking attributes
from that topicref will override whatever is set or defaulted on the <map>
element. From there, those attributes will cascade as they normally would
within someMap.ditamap.

Similarly, if I have this construct in the original map:
<topicref toc="no">
  <topicref href="someMap.ditamap" format="ditamap"/>
</topicref>

The toc="no" attribute will cascade to the map reference, which is then
treated the same as in the previous example, and will override the toc
attribute on the map element within someMap.ditamap.

An attribute that is defaulted in the DTD or Schema is treated in the same
way as an attribute specified in the document.

A value generally treated as a processing default does *not* cascade in the
same manner. For example, within a map where no element specifies the scope
attribute and no element has a default scope attribute, there will be a
processing default of scope="local". That processing default will not
override whatever is specified at the root of someMap.ditamap.

Any questions/comments, please respond to the list...

Thanks -

Robert D Anderson
IBM Authoring Tools Development
Chief Architect, DITA Open Toolkit