Explicit Prohibition on Nested Tables?

[Eliot Kimber <ekimber@contrext.com>]

A comment just came up on the Framemaker 13 prerelease forum to the effect
of "DITA allows nested tables so Framemaker should too".

I don't think that assertion is correct. DITA uses the OASIS CALS Exchange
model, which explicitly disallows the full-CALS <entrytbl> element. That
seems like a pretty clear indication that table nesting is not intended.

However, I couldn't find anything in either the CALS interchange
specification or in the 1.2 spec that 100% says "tables cannot nest".

The problem is that the grammars cannot themselves disallow nested tables
because <entry> allows block elements that then allow tables (e.g., <p>).

I'm wondering if the language reference for <table> or <entry> should have
an explicit "tables may not nest" statement or if the rule should be
something like "DITA does not intend tables to be nested. Processors MAY
support nested tables. Processing interchange is not guaranteed for
documents that include nested tables."?

Cheers,

Eliot

—————
Eliot Kimber, Owner
Contrext, LLC
http://contrext.com