Thanks, Kris.

A few modifications in blue.

-sp

From: dita-techcomm@lists.oasis-open.org [mailto:dita-techcomm@lists.oasis-open.org] On Behalf Of Kristen James Eberlein
Sent: Friday, June 29, 2012 2:25 PM
To: dita-techcomm@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: Re: [dita-techcomm] Groups - Proposal 13096 to add a new troubleshooting section in a task topic (HTML) uploaded

Hi, Susan.

Thanks for making changes; this is getting closer. I'd suggest further amending the proposal using the excellent suggestions that Seth posted to the list on Wednesday; my changes are marked in red and basically address just two points:

The proposal needs to clearly state the proposed content model in such a way that the maintainers of the DTDs and XSDs could implement the changes.
The proposal needs NOT to specify that an auto-generated task label "Troubleshooting" must be applied by implementations. This is an implementation choice and not something that the DITA specification can mandate, especially as it does not do so for any of the other key elements in <task>. This clearly needs to be a best practice, of course ...

Thanks again for your work.

Kris

________________________________

DITA 1.3 proposed feature 13096

Proposal to add a new element to support a troubleshooting section between the <result> and <example> elements in a task topic.

Date and version information

Include the following information:

Third draft of proposal completed on 6/28
Champion of the proposal: DITA Technical Communications Subcommittee

Use cases

There is often a need to include a troubleshooting section in a task, between the <result> and <example>. The purpose of this section is to help the reader resolve any problems that may arise should their result not match the result stated in the <result> section of the task. It is expected the reader would need this problem-solving information after reading the <result> section, since their is no sense in moving forward if the expected result was not achieved.

Proposed solution

Add a new element named <tasktroubleshooting> to task topics that could be added after <result> and before <example>. ~~An auto-generated label of “Troubleshooting” should be applied.~~

The new tasktroubleshooting element, like “result”, will have the same content model as “section” except that “title” will not be permitted.

Benefits

This addition will benefit writers who want to provide important troubleshooting information within the task topic to aid users and have it clearly identified as troubleshooting information.
This enhancement will have a significant impact because key troubleshooting information will be provided at the end of the topic if the desired result is not achieved and will allow the user to take the proper corrective action before moving on.
Providing a semantic construct for this information, that appears in the same part of structure, will improve consistency across tasks.

Technical requirements

Provide a detailed description of how the solution will work. Be sure to include the following details:

DTD and Schema modifications

Topic or map specialization: None

Domain: The strict Task constraints domain must be edited to allow the new element.

Element: A new element “tasktroubleshooting” would have to be added. The content model for <taskbody> would be:

( ( prereq) (optional) then ( context) (optional) then ( steps or steps-unordered) (optional) then ( result) (optional) then (tasktroubleshooting) (optional) ( example) (optional) then ( postreq) (optional) ) "

The new element will be specialized from "section" and will have the same content model as <result> -- that is, all <section> elements except for <title>.

Attributes

Inherit same attribute definition as specialization base ("section").

Processing impact

~~Style-sheets would have to add auto-generated text support for this element (e.g., “Troubleshooting” in English).~~ Processors may apply a label to content in this element to distinguish "Troubleshooting" information from other content.

Overall usability

This proposal would improve usability more than damage it.

Pro

The presence of tasktroubleshooting in the task content model will prompt writers to consider providing this sort of information. The fixed location of this element in the task content model will promote consistency across tasks increasing findability for the reader.

Con

It is another element that maintainers have to implement and document. Users will need to learn the element’s intent.

Documentation

We intend to include a section in the Architectural Specification to explain how the new troubleshooting elements should be used (when to use one versus the other). We will also provide a description and examples for the DITA Language Specification.

Costs

The impact would be as follows

Maintainers of the DTDs and XSDs would have to add the tasktroubleshooting specialization to task. This could be quickly accomplished by cloning the result specialization and renaming it tasktroubleshooting.
Editors of the DITA specification would have add “tasktroubleshooting” and its semantic intent to the element reference.
Vendors of tools: XML editors, component content management systems, processsors -- if they currently support generating task labels --would need to add auto-generated text support in their style-sheets to insert a “Troubleshooting” label.
DITA community-at-large would perceive this change as a minor improvement in convenience.

Examples

<result>The <uicontrol>User Type</uicontrol> menu updates to display the new types you added.</result>

<tasktroubleshooting>If the User Type menu does not display the additions, manually refresh the page.</tasktroubleshooting>

On 6/28/2012 7:02 PM, Susan Blaisdell wrote:

Submitter's message
Updated version of proposal to add new task troubleshooting section based on feedback from 6/26 TC meeting. Seth sent an email to the SC list on 6/27 that has contains the feedback and includes some optional considerations.
-- Susan Blaisdell

Document Name: Proposal 13096 to add a new troubleshooting section in a task topic (HTML)

Description
Proposal from the Technical Communications Subcommittee to add a new
element to support a troubleshooting section between the result and postreq
elements in a task topic.
Download Latest Revision
Public Download Link

Submitter: Susan Blaisdell
Group: DITA Technical Communication SC
Folder: Standards
Date submitted: 2012-06-28 16:02:42
Revision: 1

--

Best,

Kris

Kristen James Eberlein

Principal consultant, Eberlein Consulting

Co-chair, OASIS DITA Technical Committee

Charter member, OASIS DITA Adoption Committee

www.eberleinconsulting.com

+1 919 682-2290; kriseberlein (skype)

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