Re: [docbook] DocBook Fink report

[Michael Smith <smith@xml-doc.org>]

Rich Morin <rdm@cfcl.com> writes:

> Let me get this straight.  I should ignore a document that tells
> me that I can process a docbook file into (say) HTML with a single
> command.

Yes, if that command happens to be one with docbook2* or db2*,
IMHO. Others on the list may see things differently.

If you want a single command, try "xmlto", not those.

> I look into installing xmlto, but it requires a different getopt
> than OSX has.  I try installing the suggested getopt, but it does
> not build on OSX.  The problem becomes a bit clearer.

I am not sure what to suggest what to do about that particular problem.

> So, what I'd like is a short example file and some equally short
> commands to turn it into HTML and PDF.  Can someone supply these,
> so that I can put them into the wiki?

If you want a single command and OSX doesn't support xmlto, the
stuff documented in the Crash Course document will work for you.

But if you use those, one thing you should recognize is that the
commands documented in there rely on a toolchain based on older
technologies (SGML and DSSSL) and an older set of stylesheets (the
DocBook DSSSL stylesheets), that, relative to the current
techologies (XML and XSL) are lacking in many features and are no
longer actively maintained.

-- 
Michael Smith
http://sideshowbarker.net/

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