Re: DOCBOOK-APPS: How Do I Customize Stylesheets?

[Bob Stayton <bobs@caldera.com>]

On Thu, Jun 27, 2002 at 05:04:14PM +0200, Anja Schwarzpaul wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> my current task is to set up a documentation process for my company. The
> goal is to produce print and HTML formats with conditional content. The
> process should be platform independent and single source so it wasn't
> long before I ran into DocBook.
> 
> I started out with basic XML knowledge and have learned XSL, XPath, FO,
> and DocBook basics in the past 3 weeks or so. However, there are some
> issues that I haven't been able to figure out yet, the most important
> one being stylesheet customization (XSL).
> 
> Just to see if it works, I wrote a customization layer that imports
> docbook.xsl and changes the default language to German. Examples of what
> I'm trying to do next include: assigning a new standard font, adjusting
> spacing and indentation, and resizing page layout. This must have been
> done thousands of times, yet it's not easy to find answers (checked TDG,
> internet, and param.xsl/stylesheet documentation).
> 
> To be more specific: In my driver file, which variable will I need to
> set
> - to change the default paper format (to A4)?

Set 'paper.type' to A4.

> - to set widow/orphan values?
> - to prevent a header from appearing at the bottom of a page?

No parameters for these yet.

> - to adjust vertical spacing between listitems?

The 'list.item.spacing' parameter does that, but it is not
a single value.  It is an attribute set. See 
http://docbook.sourceforge.net/release/xsl/current/doc/fo/list.item.spacing.html
for an example.

There is also 'compact.list.item.spacing' for
spacing="compact" lists, and 'list.block.spacing'
to specify space between whole lists.

> etc.


I keep this fo reference page bookmarked:
http://docbook.sourceforge.net/release/xsl/current/doc/fo/
For awhile it was out of date, but I believe it is
now being kept up to date with the stylesheet releases.

-- 

Bob Stayton                                 400 Encinal Street
Publications Architect                      Santa Cruz, CA  95060
Technical Publications                      voice: (831) 427-7796
Caldera International, Inc.                 fax:   (831) 429-1887
                                            email: bobs@caldera.com