Re: [docbook-apps] more general DB -> FO questions

[Bob Stayton <bobs@sco.com>]

On Thu, May 08, 2003 at 05:05:17PM -0400, Robert P. J. Day wrote:
> 
> 1) i notice that the fo/docbook.xsl file is adamant that you
>    should set indent="no" for correct output under certain
>    circumstances.  is this still an issue?  it's *really* 
>    convenient to have the possibility of indented .fo output
>    if one has to isolate a problem.

I set the indent to "yes" for diagnosis only, and leave
it on "no" otherwise.  I think there still may be cases
where it matters.  If you aren't getting the right spacing
in your output, you don't want to be adding to the problem.
 
> 2) a previous FOP problem i had was solved based on the advice of
>    someone on the FOP list, who referred me to the 
>    fo/pagesetup.xsl file and the excerpt
> 
>         <xsl:if test="$fop.extensions = 0">
>           <xsl:attribute name="region-name">blank-body</xsl:attribute>
>         </xsl:if>
> 
>    i solved the problem (which, for the life of me, i can't
>    remember), by commenting out that entire excerpt.  is there
>    any known issue with that conditional?

There was an issue with FOP not handling the region-name.
Are you setting fop.extensions=1 when you use FOP?
You should be.  If so, then commenting it out should
have the same effect.  Maybe you commented it out before
it had the conditional wrapped around it.
 
> 3) choice of DB -> FO?  xsltproc?  saxon?  xalan?  any big arguments
>    one way or the other, other than that xsltproc is smokin' fast
>    compared to the other two.  (more on this issue later.)

Saxon and Xalan support the XSL extensions that Norm
wrote for the stylesheets.  These include:

- table column adjustments

- line numbers in programlisting and address

- graphics scaling

- callouts in programlistingco and screenco

If you need these extensions, then you need Saxon or
Xalan. Otherwise xsltproc is fine.

-- 

Bob Stayton                                 400 Encinal Street
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                                            email: bobs@sco.com