RE: [docbook] Add topic element to DocBook?

["Johnson, Eric" <Eric.Johnson@iona.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael(tm) Smith [mailto:smith@sideshowbarker.net] 
> Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 1:26 AM
> To: docbook@lists.oasis-open.org
> Subject: Re: [docbook] Add topic element to DocBook?
> 
> "Johnson, Eric" <Eric.Johnson@iona.com>, 2006-10-26 20:06 -0400:
> 
> > Way back in the tech hay days, our company went on a big 
> information 
> > mapping kick and now all of our documents have "blocks" as the base 
> > level of structure. We are using <simplesect> as the 
> blocking element 
> > because blocks are atomic. Where does <topic> fit into this sort of 
> > information chunking? Is a <topic> a block or is it a 
> higher level of 
> > structure?
> 
> I think it's identical to your "block". It's a unit or module 
> of content that can be reused in different combinations with 
> other units/modules.
> 

So a topic is indivisable and cannot have any sub-topics or
sub-sections?

> > > As for <tasktopic>, didn't someone say you would be able 
> to specifiy 
> > > a topic type? So why not <topic topictype=task>?
> > 
> > That seems like a much cleaner approach than the other suggestions.
> 
> Not if the content model of a task differs from that of a 
> generic topic.
> 
>   --Mike
>