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Subject: RE: [dita] Index in the PDF version of the spec?
Here's a proposed heuristic that I think might get close to everyone's intuition here: An <indexterm> should occur inline if and only if the location to which the reader is directed from the index will occur under a bolded (sub)heading that is NOT the topic title. In that case the indexterm should appear at the location of the nearest bolded subheading. I arrived at this idea after pondering Eliot's remark about users not understanding/caring about incorrect page numbers. My thought is that the reader will be tolerant enough to accept a jump to the nearest "title" (section/topic/whatever) and scan the text from there. It's not until you (the reader's) eye hits another bolded title-like item that you wonder what the heck is wrong. mag From: dita@lists.oasis-open.org [mailto:dita@lists.oasis-open.org] On Behalf Of Hudson, Scott I think it is useful to provide a quality index for the specification. As such, I also agree with Bob below. I think prolog indexterms should apply to the entire scope of the topic, while inlines should also be used when necessary. Since a lot of the spec has been broken into smaller components, I also hope it is true that we should be able to stick with the prolog approach in general. I do not want to rule out using the inline terms, though. Thanks and best regards, Scott Hudson Senior Consultant Comtech Services Inc. 303-232-7586 From: <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> on behalf of Bob Thomas An index can be one of the better ways of finding things without having to take a drink out of the firehose that is search. I agree with Eliot's position on inline vs. prolog. The only index terms in the prolog should be those that correspond with the entire scope of the topic. In general (i.e., not just the spec), writing shorter tightly scoped topics increases the likelihood that index terms will be in the prolog rather than inline. Best Regards, Bob On Tue, Jul 7, 2015 at 8:19 AM, Eliot Kimber <ekimber@contrext.com> wrote: I agree that an index is important. behalf of kris@eberleinconsulting.com> wrote: -- Bob Thomas +1 720 201 8260 Skype: bob.thomas.colorado Instant messaging: Gmail chat (bob.thomas@tagsmiths.com) or Skype Time zone: Mountain (GMT-7) |
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