Re: DOCBOOK-APPS: About EBNF

[Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>]

/ Jeffrey Franks <jfranks@quik.com> was heard to say:
| Norman Walsh wrote:
| > 
| > / Jeffrey Franks <jfranks@quik.com> was heard to say:
| > | Can someone please offer a suggestion. I'm at a dead end.
| > 
| > The EBNF customization layer; see http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/
| 
| Cool!
| 
| Docs are thin.
| 
| On-line DocBook needs more attention in this area.

Yes. Hence "FIXME: write this section" in the section on EBNF :-)

| However, I'm able to express the bnf, but I can't figure out how to
| connect
| the description (several line paragraph) to the right-hand side.

Can you provide an example of what you'd like to be able to do?

| Also, the example has a <nonterminal def="xxxx"> where xxxx ends up as a
| a *hard* file link. How do I use that? Rendered output might be HTML or
| PDF,
| so how would we know filename at this point? Or is that a style sheet
| issue?

What do you mean by a hard file link?

| The paragraphs in my requirements example were interspersed with each
| bnf rhs definition. How can I retain that clarity for the reader
| such that each element definition is associated with a particular
| bnf term? Breakup the equation into multiple <productionset> with
| interspersed <para> ?

That sounds like one option.

| BTW: PSGML seems to be brain dead regarding EBNF :( 
|      Heads-up, is someone looking at that?

If you point to the EBNF DTD it should work. It may squak about the 
compiled parent DTD though. Not sure what to do about that.

                                        Be seeing you,
                                          norm

-- 
Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com>      | One's never alone with a rubber
http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/ | duck.
Chair, DocBook Technical Committee |