Re: [docbook] Ruminations on the future of DocBook

[Jeff Biss <jeff@marco-inc.com>]

Steven,

 From my experience people have a problem with properly applying tags 
from stylesheets even when directed to use a style guide that dictates 
what to use and where to use it. I am NOT proposing that the 
note/tip/etc elements be replaced. I am merely using them as an example 
where I see that element quatity reduction could have been applied as I 
see it was done in the <itemizedlist> element. A user only has to learn 
the <itemizedlist> to create bulletized lists, not a larger quantity of 
specifically named elements for each type of bullet a user may desire. 
The writer can leave the default or change the attribute or stylesheet 
to get  the desired result.

This doesn't seem to be a processing problem because the DTD structure 
would still show where a certain element can be used and what attributes 
are allowed. The allowed attribute values, such as those for "type" for 
<bibliorelation>, are delimited in the DTD and appear easier to add 
to/delete from than adding another element.

As I see it, the point is not to simplify processing but to simplify the 
use of elements by writers. This can be done in a number of ways going 
forward. I think, perhaps incorrectly, that the structure is affected 
less by attributes than by elements.

NOTE:
I am learning XML, mostly by trial and error while using the DocBook and 
referencing the DTD documentation. I could very well be wrong!

Jeff Biss

Steven Cogorno wrote:

>Jeff Biss said:
>
>>Michael,
>>
>>I understand what you're saying but I am talking about the hierarchy of 
>>the docBook. There could be just one element that would have a default 
>>attribute unless it is provided with an override. The complexity would 
>>be shifted from the elements to the attributes. This may not be an 
>>answer for every element but at the moment there is such a reduction. 
>>
>
>And what advantage does this give?
>
>Chaging warning and note to a single element with an attribute does nothing
>to simply the processing.  What it does do is prevent orgaizations from
>customizing the DTD to restrict where one or the other might appear.
>
>Just as Norm was not speaking for his employer, I am not officially
>representing Sun Microsystems in this message.
>
>I think it's important to recognize the extensive investments many companies
>have made to implement DocBook and DocBook-based DTDs. I estimate that my
>department (not Sun as a whole) has spent ten million dollars developing and
>supporting our documentation tools in the eight years we've been using
>DocBook.  We produce over 100,000 pages of content a year. We have gigabytes
>of structured documentation.
>
>I suspect management would be extremely reluctant to adopt such fundamental
>changes that would significantly de-leverage the existing investmest.  
>
>Steve Cogorno
>Sun Microsystems
>
>
>