Review #2 comments: Keys in peer root maps

[Kristen James Eberlein <kris@eberleinconsulting.com>]

DITAweb URL:
https://ditaweb.com/oasis-dita/#/00074601-DA$00074010-DB$Processing%20key%20references

Text in question:
"For references to keys in peer root maps, if the peer map is unavailable for processing or the key reference cannot otherwise be resolved, the key reference is processed as though there was no key reference. If the peer map is available, the key reference is processed normally."

Eliot Kimber's comment:
"This is not what I intended at all. 

It is not a requirement that references to keys in peer maps be directly resolvable at the time the referencing map is processed--that's the whole point.

This might be the place to talk about how cross-deliverable links can be processed to make it clear that the intent of the mechanism is that ultimate resolution of cross-deliverable links requires a multi-pass process that does not require the ability to resolve peer cross references during the first pass"

Chris Nitchie's response:
"I kind of agree and kind of don't.

If you can't find  some definition for a key in a peer map, it's no different from any other reference to an undefined key, and should be processed as such.

On the other hand, this section doesn't actually describe what its title says it does. All it does is call out an error condition, states that the processing for that error condition is the same as that for keys not in peer maps, and then ends stating that they are, "processed normally," without any indication of what "normally" means in this case. There should be some kind of brief summary of the peer-map key facility here. Something like:

It is possible to reference keys in the key scope hierarchy defined by another root-level map by referencing that map with aelement or specialization that (1) specifies @keyscope and (2) uses @scope="peer". This allows authors to create references to content in other publications. Processors MAY generate actionable cross-references in output for such links. The details of such processing are left up to individual implementations."

--
Best,
Kris

Kristen James Eberlein
Chair, OASIS DITA Technical Committee
Principal consultant, Eberlein Consulting
www.eberleinconsulting.com
+1 919 682-2290; kriseberlein (skype)