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Subject: RE: [dita] processor requirments w.r.t. metadata elements
When metadata elements and attributes may, should, or
must be used has never been completely clear to me based on what is said in the
DITA 1.0 and 1.1 specifications, but these statements from the DITA 1.1 Architecture
Spec. have always left me with the impression that the elements and attributes
were equivalent and so should be able to be used interchangeably: From the “Conditional Processing” section in Chapter 4 on
“DITA processing”: For a topic or topicref, the
audience, platform, and product metadata can be expressed with attributes on the topic or topicref element or
with elements within the topic prolog or topicmeta element. While the metadata elements are more
expressive, the meaning of the values is the same, and can be used in coordination: for example, the
prolog elements can fully define the audiences for a topic, and then metadata attributes can be used
within the content to identify parts that apply to only some of those audiences. The values from the enumerated
attributes of the audience metadata element have the same meaning when used in the
audience attribute of a content element. For instance, the ″user″ value has the same meaning whether
appearing in the type attribute of the audience element for a topic or in the audience attribute of
a content element. The principle applies to the type, job, and experience level attributes of
the audience element. This attribute [platform] is equivalent
to the platform element for the topic metadata. This attribute [product] is equivalent
to the prodinfo element for the topic metadata. This attribute [otherprops] is
equivalent to the othermeta element for the topic metadata. From the section on "Topic properties in topics and
maps" in Chapter 3 on “DITA markup”: The properties of a topic
(including metadata attributes and metadata elements) can be specified in the topic itself or in references to
the topic within maps. Within a topic, properties can
be expressed using metadata attributes on the topic element or using publication, management, or
metadata elements in the topic prolog. Now having said this, Arbortext Editor doesn’t allow
filtering based on metadata elements. But I’ve always thought that we should. -Jeff > -----Original Message----- > From: Su-Laine Yeo
[mailto:su-laine.yeo@justsystems.com] > Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 8:23 PM > To: seth.park@freescale.com;
dita@lists.oasis-open.org > Subject: RE: [dita] processor requirments w.r.t.
metadata elements > > The draft DITA 1.2 spec currently says:
"Although metatdata elements > exist with similar names, such as the
<audience> element, processors > are not required to perform conditional processing
using metadata > elements." This is new text (that I wrote) in
an attempt to clarify the > situation for DITA users who often ask things like,
"What is the > difference between the <audience> element and
the @audience attribute?" > > The DITA 1.1 spec does not say anything about
whether processors should > apply conditional processing rules to metadata
elements. In its > discussion of conditional processing it repeatedly
refers to attributes, > and only attributes. Given this background, I think
the new text just > says explicitly what the DITA 1.1 spec implies by
omission. The DITA OT > has never done conditional processing using metadata
elements. > > Having said that, even the proposed clarification
may not give enough > guidance. Consider the following questions: > 1) If a processor only applies conditional
processing on attributes and > *never* applies them to metadata elements, is that a
bug? > 2) If a processor *always* applies conditional
processing to both > attributes and metadata elements, is that a bug? > > I would say no to the first, and yes to the second. > > Regards, > Su-Laine > > Su-Laine Yeo > Solutions Consultant > JustSystems Canada, Inc. > Office: 778-327-6356 > syeo@justsystems.com > www.justsystems.com > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: seth.park@freescale.com
[mailto:seth.park@freescale.com] > Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 4:27 PM > To: dita@lists.oasis-open.org > Subject: [dita] processor requirments w.r.t.
metadata elements > > Is the statement "processors are not required
to perform conditional > processing using metadata elements" true? > > -author undisclosed |
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