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Subject: Re: DOCBOOK: Re: A straw proposal for help topics in DocBook
> From: Norman Walsh <ndw@nwalsh.com> > > / Karl Eichwalder <keichwa@gmx.net> was heard to say: > | Thanks for the proposal. IMO, it superfluous; "topics" are just > | sections. People should write a specialized stylesheet to process > | "help" sections. > > I think there's a little more to it than that. And there is definitely > a lot more to it than that psychologically. > > | Please, stay away from making DocBook more complex than absolutely > | necessary. > > I hear you. I think Karl's point is that before new elements are added to Docbook, that someone should convince the skeptics that the legitimate needs for generating help output cannot be met using existing elements, role attributes, and stylesheets. It seems we are implementing new elements before we are clear on the requirements. If someone were to write a list of requirements for help content, then someone else might go off and design a customization that meets those needs without adding new elements. If that proves to be impossible, or produces an extremely awkward implementation, then new elements should be considered. Norm's original mail gave three reasons why help elements are needed, but those reasons aren't enough for designing a system. I think there are a bunch of processing expectations around different help systems that would influence the design. Is it too much to ask that someone write up a list of requirements for help content? I think if we could agree to some requirements then the system design would be much easier. 8^) bobs 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
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