DOCBOOK-APPS: Strategies & Tips Sought for Single Sourcing w/DocBook

[Megan Golding <mgolding@secureworks.net>]

I'm producing two product guides for two hardware platforms. Minor
differences in the interfaces for each suggest I write a single user's
guide and provide alternative paragraphs for several sections. The vast
majority of my content is general and should be included in both guides.
I was thinking of doing something like this:

<para>This paragraph is general text, 
and belongs in both User's Guides.</para>

<para role="bob">To configure BOB, 
follow the directions in this 
paragraph.</para>

<para role="joe">To configure JOE, 
use the directions in this 
paragraph.</para>

Output would look something like this:

BOB User's Manual
...This paragraph is general text, and belongs in both User's Guides. 

To configure BOB, follow the directions in this paragraph....

JOE User's Manual
...This paragraph is general text, and belongs in both User's Guides. 

To configure JOE, use the directions in this paragraph....

Is "role" the way to go for including/excluding text? How do I modify my
DSSSL to inclue all elements with no role and include elements with only
a specific role (bob, for example) but not elements of other roles (joe,
for example)?

Regards,
Megan Golding

-- 

Megan Golding (mgolding@secureworks.net)
SecureWorks, Inc.