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Subject: Re: [docbook] Newbie Mark Up Complaints


Tom Browder wrote:
> I know, that's my complaint.  The current situation reminds me of how
> the original LaTeX was--locked into Leslie Lamport's idea of the
> proper style.  Eventually, LaTeX became easier to do local, one-off
> style changes.  That's what I believe DB should be marching toward.
> And I'm not the only one.  See this page on the DB Wiki (especially
> the "Usability" section):
> 
>   http://wiki.docbook.org/topic/WhatIsWrongWithDocBook

I don’t see that usability comment as a problem... TeX is a typesetting
language, DocBook is a semantic markup language.  Apples and oranges...
TeX is designed for creating well-laid-out pages.  DocBook is most
powerfully targeted to simultaneous production of multiple output
formats, and that implies some compromise in either the quality or the
ease of each specific format.

>> |  4. Have the first line of a series of paragraphs in a section not
>> |  indented but the rest indented.
> 
> This is where being able to add an fo "directive" inside DB would be very handy.

No... any rule that can be expressed so simply in English is best
handled by a stylesheet customization.  Otherwise, when you insert a new
first paragraph, you would need to remember to change the indenting...
Now, if you have specific *exceptions* to the rule (e.g., every first
paragraph should not be indented, except in Chapter 2, in which it
should), there is call for an override.  However, the XML way to do this
is with either the role attribute (if there is a semantic reason for the
override) or with a processing instruction (if the override is really
just presentational).

IMO, you seem to be fighting with DocBook, rather than using it.
Perhaps it was a management or client directive, or something.  If you
want a typesetting language, you should be using (La)TeX, not DocBook;
just as one can write a Java program all in one giant class, or use XSLT
as an imperative programming language, one can force DocBook to act as a
typesetting language, but why do it?

Take a deep breath and step back.  Consider marking up a significant
part of your content without any consideration for its appearance.
Then, and only then, start working on its appearance.  For any
formatting decision you want to make, ask yourself *why* you want it —
what is the underlying semantic rule?  That will point the way to the
necessary stylesheet change.

~Chris
-- 
Chris Maden, text nerd  <URL: http://crism.maden.org/ >
“I like being free, and that makes me an idiot, I suppose.”
  — Stan Rogers, “The Idiot”
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