Re: Equations and figures as descendants of an example

[Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>]

Erik Leunissen <e.leunissen@hccnet.nl> writes:
> First off: I feel a bit uncomfortable that I don't quite grasp the
> reason that you asking these questions. Maybe there is an implicit
> misunderstanding. I'm going to try to be explicit ...

Sorry. I wasn't trying to make you uncomfortable. I'm absolutely
not suggesting that you're wrong or that you don't have a good use
case, it's just not one that I understand yet.

>> What's your motivation for putting figures and equations inside an
>> example?
>
> I've got the feeling that asking for a motivation is like turning the
> world upside down. Have you never seen a theoretical exposition in a
> textbook that clarifies it's theory with an example, where a figure is
> used (regardless titles, regardless figure labels)?

I can't think of one where the figure was nested inside the example, but
I'm not disputing that it's a logical possibility.

> Before I continue, I'd like to check whether there is anything wrong
> with my understanding. Maybe it's the case that you mean something
> quite different with an <example> than I do?

Part of our miscommunication may be a question of perspective. I tend
to think of figure, table, example, and equation as all members of a
class of thing (which we call "formal" objects because they have a
title).

So I see "allow figure in example" as naturally leading to "allow
figure in table" and "allow table in equation". Historically, DocBook
has not allowed "formal objects" to nest.

However, they aren't really all exactly uniform. For even more distant
historical reasons, the title on equation is optional. And I can see
that "example" can easily be taken as broader than figure, table, or
equation.

That said, this still feels a bit weird to me:

<example>
  <title>Example of something</title>

  <para>Some prose.</para>

  <figure>
    <title>Figure title</title>
    <mediaobject>...</mediaobject>
  </figure>
</example>

I'd still like to better understand what your examples actually look
like and what your rendering expectations are. Again, not because I
think they're wrong, just because it would help me understand.

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

-- 
Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>      | Reason's last step is the
http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/ | recognition that there are an
Chair, DocBook Technical Committee | infinite number of things which
                                   | are beyond it.-- Pascal

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