Re: [docbook] DocBook Fink report

[Michael Smith <smith@xml-doc.org>]

Rich Morin <rdm@cfcl.com> writes:

> Feeling brave, I installed Fink (a package management system for
> Mac OS X) and tried to follow the instructions on
> 
>   http://wiki.docbook.org/topic/FinkPackages

Caveat: I would guess that page is probably not up to date. But
perhaps you can volunteer to update it after you're done getting
your kit set up. :-)

>   psgml           - couldn't find it!!!

> Googling around, the only "psgml" that looks relevant is
> http://sourceforge.net/projects/psgml, an Emacs mode for
> SGML and XML.  I don't use Emacs, so this isn't likely to
> be an issue.

I think psgml is now packaged as part of the standard GNU Emacs
distro. But yeah, you don't need it if you don't use Emacs.

And if you do use Emacs, you probably should use nxml-mode instead
of psgml, anyway.

> Moving right along, I started working my way through
> 
>   "Writing Documentation Using DocBook: A Crash Course"
>   http://opensource.bureau-cornavin.com/crash-course

Bad place to start.

The best place to start now is with Bob Stayton's "DocBook XSL:
The Complete Guide" -

  http://www.sagehill.net/docbookxsl/index.html

That is up to date and will tell you pretty much everything you
need to know.

You can ignore pretty much all of the tool and install info that's
in the "Writing Documentation Using DocBook: A Crash Course"
document you mention above. It is ancient history -- way, way out
of date now. The stuff about DocBook structures is still useful,
though.

> Section 2.3 told me to run
> 
>   $ docbook2html myfile.docbook

Forget completely about that, and forget pretty much about any of
the various other tools called db2html or db2pdf or whatever. They
are now moldy old relics. If you are starting fresh with DocBook,
you should use the XSL-based toolchain, following the steps in
Bob's book.

But there is one convenience tool you might want to use: Tim
Waugh's "xmlto". I think it might have a Fink package.

  --Mike

-- 
Michael Smith
http://sideshowbarker.net/

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