DITA v1.2 Review | Propagating attribute values

[Tarun Garg <tarung@adobe.com>]

The attribute values get propagated:

·         For Keys – from key-defining element to key-referencing element.

·         For Conref – from referenced element to referencing element.

 

An attribute value can be specified through two ways:

·         In the DTD; as the default/fixed value.

·         In the XML instance.

 

So, while propagating the attribute values, I think the values specified in the XML instance itself shall only be considered for propagation. One of the reason I think so, is that the value specified in the DTD is already available in most cases and need not be propagated. Apart from this, the value specified in the XML instance, indicates the user intention to assign a specific value to an element & that needs to be propagated.

 

 

 

One specific case for this relates to public review comment #C011 (http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/dita-comment/201007/msg00016.html).

 

For a <keydef> element the default value of @processing-role is define as “resource-only” through the DTD. Now, there is a possibility that a user assigns value to @processing-role explicitly in the xml. These two cases are different and I think the propagation of the value shall happen differently for these two scenarios as follows.

·         If the value is defined through DTD – It shall NOT be propagated from key-defining to key-referencing element.

·         If the value is explicitly specified in the XML - It shall be propagated from key-defining to key-referencing element.

This is so because, in general for key-defining element, the @processing-role is controlled through DTD because, the purpose of the element is clear and per the standard. Now, if a user is specifying a value in the XML explicitly, then I assume the user wants some different behavior and hence, the value shall be propagated.

 

Regards,

Tarun Garg | Adobe Systems | +91-120-2444711 | tarung@adobe.com