Class attribute values on refmiscinfo

[Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>]

Hello world,

In DocBook V4.x (and prior versions), the refmiscinfo element has
a CDATA class attribute. That's inconsistent with the general
principle in DocBook that class attributes have enumerated values.
In DocBook V5.0, there are three possibilities:

1. Convert class to an enumerated list (with the other/otherclass
   escape hatch)

2. Rename the attribute 'type' (that's consistent with existing
   conventions)

3. Leave it CDATA and don't rename it

For the record, I prefer either of 1 or 2 over 3. Strongly.

In 5.0b4, I implemented option 2. But at the last TC telcon, we
wondered if, in fact, the number of values that people actually use
was small enough to justify the class/otherclass mechanism. In a
sense, this would aid in interoperability and authoring since it would
provide a list of choices instead of requiring authors and tools to
know about arbitrary values. OTOH, if there are hundreds of values
already in use, making an enormous enumerated list seems less useful.

So:

If you use refmiscinfo, and if you've used the class attribute, what
values have you put in it? For reference, out of the box, the XSL
stylesheets currently only recognize 'source', 'version', and
'manual'.

And do you have a preference for class/otherclass or type?

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

-- 
Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>      | 'Tis better to be silent and be
http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/ | thought a fool, than to speak and
Chair, DocBook Technical Committee | remove all doubt.--Abraham Lincoln

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