I am not sure if anyone has seen my suggestion, which I believe to be as concise and clear as you can make it. It disappeared from the comments, so I venture to re-iterate it here.
"Root map - The DITA map that serves as the starting point for a processor."
Why talk about “initial context” and confuse things when “starting point” is perfectly clear to human beings? When you take a journey, even when you change course mid-way or never reach the end, you always have a starting point. Any project or job has a starting point. Starting point defines where any processing of anything begins. I do not think that more - or other - words are needed than in my suggested definition.
Jang F.M. Graat Smart Information Design Amsterdam, Netherlands Cell: +31 646 854 996
Yes, that is more descriptive. I would offer one friendly amendment
"The DITA map that is provided as input for a processor, which
provides the initial context for subsequent maps and topics
processed."
On 2018-04-16 5:38 AM, David Hollis
wrote:
Hi all,
My two penn'orth:
First, I agree with Eliot, that:
"That is, the *only thing* that makes a map a root map is
that you provided it to a processor as the initial (or only)
input."
I think it's a good idea to mention context, but surely
scoped keys and branch filtering can change the context? The
same topic in two sub-maps could resolve referenced or filtered
content in different ways.
So I would suggest an amendment to Kris' definition:
"The DITA map that is provided as input for a processor,
which provides the context for all referenced items" ...
With a change for 'the context' to 'the initial context', or
something similar:
"The DITA map that is provided as an input for a processor,
which provides the initial context for all referenced items" ...
HTH,
David
I offer the following definition of root map:
A root map is any DITA
map—including specialized DITA maps—that serves as the
entry point to a network of linked resources such that
every resource in that network can be reached by using
this DITA map as a starting point for traversing the
network. Resources include DITA topics, other DITA maps,
and non-DITA targets. Network traversal occurs anywhere
within the network by following any type of link, direct
or indirect, that is defined in the DITA specification.
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