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Subject: DOCBOOK: external entities cannot be valid?
It appears that external parsed entities cannot be valid XML. Someone please prove me wrong. I'm setting up a modular authoring environment for Docbook XML files. By modular, I mean writers work on individual chapter XML files, and these are rolled up into book XML files. The external parsed entity mechanism in SGML/XML was designed for this. The book element contains the book front and back matter, and a list of references to external parsed entities for the chapters. However, I seem to have run into a great big caveat, and I'm hoping someone can point me to the error in my ways. According to the XML 1.0 specification, an external parsed entity cannot include a <!DOCTYPE> declaration. It may start with the <?xml ... ?> declaration to indicate it is XML and its encoding, but the file must match the production in the spec labeled "extParsedEnt" which does *not* include the doctype declaration. Tim Bray's annotation in the annotated spec confirms this. I'm sure this was done to prevent collisions from inserting different DTDs. But if the DTDs are the same, I would accept having the doctype declaration in the external entity ignored. But that isn't what the spec says, so it isn't how XML tools work. For example, Jim Clark's XT fails when I try a reference that includes a doctype declaration. So now I have to choose: Option A: Leave out the doctype declaration from the chapter files so the external parsed entity references will legal and the book file that contains the doctype declaration will be valid. However, this means the chapter files are not valid and cannot be individually validated by a validating processor or editor. Option B: Include the doctype declaration in each chapter file, and then run a program to strip out the declaration to assemble my valid book instance. In other words, I cannot use the external parsed entity mechanism which was designed for this purpose. Option C: Leave out the doctype declaration in each chapter file, and create wrapper chapter files that contain only the doctype declaration and an external parsed entity reference to the chapter content, sort of like a single-chapter version of the book wrapper. The writers would work and validate these wrapper files, and the book file would share the same external parsed entity. Unfortunately, each XML editor handles this differently. Most XML editors don't transparently include the content for editing, and force the user to open the external entity in another window, where it may or may not be treated as valid because it doesn't contain the doctype declaration. I very much want my writers keeping their chapter documents valid at all times, by using a validating XML editor. I want each file validated when it is checked into revision control to prevent problems with our documentation builds. There must be some way to accomplish this, isn't there? bobs Bob Stayton 400 Encinal Street Publications Architect Santa Cruz, CA 95060 Technical Publications voice: (831) 427-7796 The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. fax: (831) 429-1887 email: bobs@sco.com
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