Potential Proposal: FO Tables as Alternative to HTML and CALS

["W. Eliot Kimber" <ekimber@innodata-isogen.com>]

For publishing applications where tables can be arbitrarily formatted
neither CALS nor HTML tables provide the level of stylistic control that
is needed.

One solution I've explored is using FO tables directly in tables as
authored (or more likely, as tagged as a data conversion activity).

Given that DocBook already provides two alternative table models and the
primary formatting tools are FO based, it seems to make sense to add FO
tables as a third alternative that would more directly support the
requirements of documents that need richly formatted tables that cannot
be easily controlled as a matter of external style.

Has this been discussed at all?

Cheers,

Eliot

-- 
W. Eliot Kimber
Professional Services
Innodata Isogen
9390 Research Blvd, #410
Austin, TX 78759
(214) 954-5198

ekimber@innodata-isogen.com
www.innodata-isogen.com