Re: [dita] Re: [dita-comment] Why does <topichead> allow the "copy-to" attribute on it?

[Eliot Kimber <ekimber@rsicms.com>]

The general intent is to signal that processors should treat the topichead
as though it were a reference to a title-only topic. This has implications
for HTML output as produced by the OT, for example, where a literal topic
will generate an HTML page with links to its children, but a topichead, by
default, will not.

For monolithic outputs like PDF there is usually no obvious change in
results, but for multi-component outputs like HTML there may very well be
differences. 

In short, DITA shouldn't require users to create title-only topics (and
references to them) when a topichead alone would otherwise suffice.

Cheers,

E.

On 11/28/12 7:43 AM, "Robert D Anderson" <robander@us.ibm.com> wrote:

> I believe the intent for this was that the file name specified on copy-to
> should be used to generate a stub topic with the navigation title (in
> output formats where that makes sense). Some tools already provide an
> option to generate stub topics for headings, so this allows those tools to
> generate a topic with a stable file name.
> 
> Robert D Anderson
> IBM Authoring Tools Development
> Chief Architect, DITA Open Toolkit (http://dita-ot.sourceforge.net/)
> 
> 
> 
> From:   Kristen James Eberlein <kris@eberleinconsulting.com>
> To:     Radu Coravu <radu_coravu@sync.ro>, DITA TC
>             <dita@lists.oasis-open.org>
> Date:   11/28/2012 07:47
> Subject:        [dita] Re: [dita-comment] Why does <topichead> allow the
>             "copy-to" attribute on it?
> Sent by:        <dita@lists.oasis-open.org>
> 
> 
> 
> Hi, Radu.
> 
> I am forwarding this to the DITA TC list for discussion.
> 
> Best,
> Kris
> 
> Kristen James Eberlein
> Principal consultant, Eberlein Consulting
> Co-chair, OASIS DITA Technical Committee
> Charter member, OASIS DITA Adoption Committee
> www.eberleinconsulting.com
> +1 919 682-2290; kriseberlein (skype)
> 
> On 11/28/2012 2:01 AM, Radu Coravu wrote:
>> Hi,
>> 
>> The specification says that <topichead> allows the copy-to attribute
>> on it:
>> 
>>> 
> http://docs.oasis-open.org/dita/v1.2/os/spec/langref/topichead.html#topichead
> 
>>> 
>> 
>> Why so? The topichead does not point to a certain resource, it is just
>> an empty node in the TOC hierarchy.
>> The DITA OT processing throws a NPE when the copy-to attribute is set
>> on the <topichead>.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> Radu
>> 
>> Radu Coravu
>> <oXygen/>  XML Editor, Schema Editor and XSLT Editor/Debugger
>> http://www.oxygenxml.com
>> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dita-unsubscribe@lists.oasis-open.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: dita-help@lists.oasis-open.org
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------
> To unsubscribe, e-mail: dita-unsubscribe@lists.oasis-open.org
> For additional commands, e-mail: dita-help@lists.oasis-open.org
> 

-- 
Eliot Kimber
Senior Solutions Architect, RSI Content Solutions
"Bringing Strategy, Content, and Technology Together"
Main: 512.554.9368
www.rsicms.com
www.rsuitecms.com
Book: DITA For Practitioners, from XML Press,
http://xmlpress.net/publications/dita/practitioners-1/