Re: [docbook-apps] link linkend xlink:href olink and xinclude, v5

[Thomas Schraitle <tom_schr@web.de>]

Hi Dave,

> > [...]
> >> <link linkend='xml:id value'>hot text</link> works
> > 
> > This should work, although it's a bit unusual in my opinion. Why not using 
> > xrefs? :)
> 
> [...]
> >> but I guess we are getting to the point where
> >> we have quite a few ways of linking between 'chunks' now.
> > 
> > Maybe. :)
> > 
> > Have you tried glossterm as an inline element? In [1] there is a helpful 
> > example.
> 
> > [1] http://www.sagehill.net/docbookxsl/LinkToGlossary.html
> 
> 
> No, I don't often use glossaries.
> I note the caution there though. This too seems a little 'brittle'.

Is the method with @xml:id and linkend not an option for you?


> Or perhaps we are getting to the point where we could do with
> more 'validation', perhaps Schematron checking of links.
> What else could Schematron do for us? 

It depends how you organized your book or article: If you write your
document "as a whole" but separate your chapters into different files,
you *want* a validation error if a cross reference fails. 
That's a good thing. :) IMHO Schematron doesn't add more value, 
as the ID/IDREF checking is already "included" in your XML parser
at no cost.

Maybe there are scenarios where Schematron is more appropriate, but
I'm not sure.


> Or are there just too many link options?

Maybe, maybe not. There have to be many link options as DocBook is
very general and users have different needs.

Apart from that, linking can also be complicated: you have
internal cross references (xref), maybe external URLs (link, ulink)
and links that cross your document bounderies (olink) to name the
most prominent ones.
 
Sometimes you want your link automatically generated (xref) and in
some cases you want a specific text. Additonally with DocBook 5
you get XLinks... etc.

It can be overwhelming, I know. :-)

Tom