Re: [docbook] Linking to an Unknown Amount of Targets (1:n relationships)?

["Bob Stayton" <bobs@sagehill.net>]

Hi Thomas,
If you are using DocBook 5, you might look at using annotations for the 
markup.  By default, the annotation element is not processed by the 
stylesheets, so you are free to define the behavior by creating your own 
templates.

For example, you could put an annotation in the info of each topic to 
identify its group:

<annotation role="group1" annotates="topicid"/>

where 'topicid' is the xml:id of that topic, because annotations are not 
linked by family position.
The role could list multiple groups that the topic participates in, if 
appropriate.

In the location where you want a See Also list to appear, you could put a 
special para to identify the group:

<para role="seealso">group1</para>

The custom template for that para could use XPath to locate all annotation 
elements whose role attribute matches the group name, and then process the 
elements identified by the topicids as links, presented in a list form.

Bob Stayton
Sagehill Enterprises
bobs@sagehill.net

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Thomas Schraitle" <tom_schr@web.de>
Sent: Friday, July 19, 2013 6:06 AM
To: <docbook@lists.oasis-open.org>
Subject: [docbook] Linking to an Unknown Amount of Targets (1:n 
relationships)?

> Hi,
>
> linking in DocBook has a long tradition: usually, we use <xref/>s for
> internal cross references and <ulinks/> or <link/>s for remote links.
>
> All of these elements establish a 1:1 relationship: one source links to
> one target.
>
> What do I use if I need a 1:n relationship (one source, many targets)?
>
> For example, my cookbook[1] around DocBook and the DocBook
> stylesheets contains several topics. Some topics can be grouped
> thematically. I would like to show this group of links as one unit,
> preferably under the "See also" section.
> My idea would be to just mark up topics that belongs to one or
> more groups and the stylesheet find the other ends automatically.
>
> Anybody had this problem before? What markup did you use, what
> stylesheet magic? Did extended XLinks help?
>
> Any recommendations are very appreciated. :-)
>
> Thanks!
>
>
> [1] http://doccookbook.sf.net/html/en/index.html
>
> --
> Gruß/Regards,
>    Thomas Schraitle
>
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