Re: DOCBOOK-APPS: customizing XSL titlepages

[Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>]

/ Bob Stayton <bobs@caldera.com> was heard to say:
| I'm just learning the titlepage customization myself,
| so don't consider this an authoritative answer.

Here's a summary of what happens for a single element. They all work
roughly the same way.

1. Some component calls {element}.titlepage.

2. {element}.titlepage calls 
      {element}.titlepage.before.recto
      {element}.titlepage.recto
      {element}.titlepage.before.verso
      {element}.titlepage.verso
      {element}.titlepage.separator

   The before.* and separator templates usually do nothing, but could
   be redefined to force page breaks or do whatever you want.

3. {element}.titlepage.recto processes each element selected for
   presentation on the titlepage in {element}.titlepage.recto.auto.mode
   mode.

   The elements are selected by listing them in titlepage.templates.*xml*
   The XML templates file is used to automatically generate the XSL
   version that implements all of this magic.

4. The template for {element}.titlepage.recto.auto.mode outputs a wrapper
   that holds the properties (attributes) specified in the
   titlepage.templates.*xml* document and then processes itself in
   the {element}.titlepage.recto.mode mode.

   This is the point at which you can redefine how recto/verso processing
   of an element is handled.

5. By default, the {element}.titlepage.recto.mode template simply
   processes itself in titlepage.mode.

   This is the point at which you can redefine how processing of an
   element is handled for either side of the titlepage for any element.

6. Almost all of the titlepage.mode templates are defined in titlepage.xsl

7. {element}.titlepage.verso does essentially the same thing.

The distinction between recto and verso is usually ignored in the HTML
stylesheets (where everything is done by the recto template). In the
FO stylesheets, the recto mode prints the "front" of the title page
and the verso mode prints the "back" of the title page.

Does that help at all?

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

-- 
Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>      | Kinship is healing; we are
http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/ | physicians to each other.--Oliver
Chair, DocBook Technical Committee | Sacks