Re: [docbook] should I use section or sect1, sect2, sect3 etc?

[Warren Young <warren@etr-usa.com>]

Rock Lobster wrote:
> 
> I'm somehow confused on whether I should use nested <section> tags, or the
> "predefined" <sect1> to <sect5>.
> Are there any benefits in using the latter? Are there any reasons why one
> way should be avoided in certain situations?

DocBook is all about semantic markup.  If your document has a fixed 
nesting structure, you should express that in the document.  If sections 
are less formal, use the generic tag.  Take a reference manual, for 
example: you could lay down a rule that says that the chapter 
introductions are always at level 1, followed by the main topics of that 
chapter at level 2, and any subtopics at level 3.  You're expressing the 
strict hierarchical nature of your document in the markup, and that's a 
good thing.

If it's constructed with semantic markup in mind, you should be able to 
look at a DocBook document and get a pretty good idea of what sort of 
document it is just from the tags it uses.