Re: [docbook] DocBook SCs

[Scott Hudson <scott.hudson@flatironssolutions.com>]

Hi Mike, et al,

We have endeavored to simply the content models from full DocBook by 
including only those elements that make sense for most publishers. As a 
result, the Publishers schema (which is a customization layer) retains 
212 core DocBook elements, removes 149 elements and redefines a handful.

We're still trying to crank out an approved spec, but details on the 
elements are listed here: 
http://wiki.docbook.org/topic/PublishersMinimalElements?highlight=(publishers)

The way we've written the schema (based on DocBook v5.0 using RelaxNG) 
is in a modular fashion, so if you need any of the technical elements, 
say to create a book on software, it is easy to include the software module.

Any additions we've created are what we have perceived as "gaps" - e.g. 
poetry and dialogue.

The minutes from our meetings are posted here:
http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/docbook-publishers/

Hope this helps. We would appreciate any additional feedback or 
participation (you must be an OASIS member to join).

Best regards,

--Scott

Mike Maxwell wrote:
> Scott Hudson wrote:
>> There isn't a "play" element, but we've added dialogue and poetry.
>> Take a look at those and the samples.
> 
> First I'd heard that there was a DocBook subcommittee(s?) for other
> kinds of documents.  I went to what I guess is the webpage for this
> subcommittee:
> 
> http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=docbook-publishers
> 
> (there's a page at www.oasis-open.org/committees/, but it seems to be
> more general than DocBook).  The above page looks to be rather out of
> date (next meeting is 2 May last year, and the links to the SC Charter
> and the FAQ are broken).  Then there's
> http://shudson310.blogspot.com/2007/03/docbook-subcommittee-for-publishers.html
> which talks about "official DocBook variant_s_" (emphasis mine).  Where
> are the other variants described, and is there a timeframe for them?
> 
> Where can I go to find out more?  The mailing list archives require a
> SourceForge account to view them, which I suppose I can create, but
> which seems superfluous for read-only access.
> 
> I'll also mention that one of the things that bothers me about the
> current DocBook is that it seems to be so oriented towards computer
> documentation.  Of course one can pare it down, but I wonder why all
> those computer-related tags in there in the first place, instead of in
> one or more separate add-in modules?  In other words, I would like to
> use DB for my purpose (grammar writing) by taking a bare-bones DB and
> adding any modules I might need, rather than taking a "fat" DB and
> modifying my local schema to omit all the tags I don't need.
> 
> Along these lines, the Scope of Work on the SC webpage mentions *adding*
> "support for features specific to the publishing industry."  My personal
> hope is that these additions stay in add-in modules, rather than
> increasing the size of the existing DB standard.
> 
> Of course maybe I misunderstand, and my doubts are being addressed in
> some other way.
> --
>     Mike Maxwell
>     "We signify something too narrow when we say:
>     Man is a grammatical animal. For although there
>     is no animal except man with a knowledge of grammar,
>     yet not every man has a knowledge of grammar."
>     --Martianus Capella, "The Seven Liberal Arts"
> 
> P.S. Scott: I may be old, but I don't take a metal detector to the
> beach. Yet.
> 
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