Re: [docbook] Automatic numbering in DocBook

[nico <nicolas.marsgui@libertysurf.fr>]

On Sun, 04 Jun 2006 09:32:58 -0400, Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com> wrote:

> Looking at the processing instructions provided by the XSL stylesheets,
> it seems that the only additional controls are for the first item in
> an orderedlist and for the every-nth (or step), separator, and width
> of verbatim environment numbers.
>
> I'm inclined, mildly, to add @startingnumber (or something like that)
> to orderedlist. I tend to think, however, that the number of lines in
> a verbatim environment is really a global style issue more than a
> case-by-case issue. Why number one program listing every 3 lines,
> another every 5 lines, and another every 10 lines *in a single
> document*? One case, numbering differently for very short verbatim
> environments, is something I think the stylesheets should handle
> better, but not by forcing the author to specify it each time.

IMHO there are cases where verbatim layout should look differently in the  
same document. For example, one can have two listing flows, one for some  
old code implementation (in perl), the other for the new implementation  
(in python), and it can be interesting to show each flow differently.  
Moreover, a document can contain many kinds of listing stuff: to dump log  
files, to dump listing code, to dump a README or some legacy text, or to  
dump some configuration file. For each case it can be interesting to have  
a different rendering. BTW, I don't see why some global style setting  
should affect in the same manner <programlisting>, <literallayout>,  
<screen> or <synopsis>.

Regards,
BG