I would like to propose that we allow elements from other namespaces in the info
elements for DocBook v5.0. Info should be allowed to contain additional
elements from any other namespace with the processing
expectation that they are not used for rendering.
This change will allow markup from other standards to
be more easily associated with content, without having
to be formalized in DocBook. Examples of this would
include Dublin Core metadata (DCMI), Open Digital
Rights Language (ODRL), IMS LOM, PRISM, etc.
Modules could be easily developed to allow inclusion of
specific standards.
This would also allow multiple namespaced standards information to
be contained in info, and thus associated with the DocBook content
that it is a child of.
For example:
<section xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook">
<title>Example of multiple namespaced content in <markup>info</markup></title>
<info>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:prism="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/basic/1.0/"
xmlns:prl="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/prl/1.0/"
xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
xmlns:o-ex="http://odrl.net/1.1/ODRL-EX"
xmlns:o-dd="http://odrl.net/1.1/ODRL-DD">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="http://scottysengineeringlog.net/sample.xml">
<dc:language>en-US</dc:language>
<dc:creator>Scott C. Hudson</dc:creator>
<dc:subject>XML, DocBook</dc:subject>
<o-ex:rights>
<o-ex:agreement>
<o-ex:permission>
<o-dd:display>
<o-ex:constraint>
<o-dd:industry o-ex:type="prism:vocabs/SIC/6532"/>
<o-dd:spatial o-ex:type="prism:vocabs/ISO-3166/US">
<o-ex:constraint>
<o-dd:datetime>
<o-dd:start>2001-01-01T00:00:00</o-dd:start>
</o-dd:datetime>
</o-ex:constraint>
</o-dd:spatial>
<o-dd:spatial o-ex:type="prism:vocabs/ISO-3166/GR">
<o-ex:constraint>
<o-dd:datetime>
<o-dd:end>2003-12-31T23:59:59</o-dd:end>
</o-dd:datetime>
</o-ex:constraint>
</o-dd:spatial>
</o-ex:constraint>
</o-dd:display>
</o-ex:permission>
<o-ex:party>
<o-ex:context>
<o-dd:uid>urn:prism.orgs:docbook.org</o-dd:uid>
</o-ex:context>
</o-ex:party>
</o-ex:agreement>
</o-ex:rights>
</rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
</info>
<para>Hello World!</para>
</section>
One question that has been raised, is whether a separate <foreign> element should be introduced as a child of info, that could contain this kind of namespaced information or not?
Thoughts?
Thanks and best regards,
-- Scott
