discuss: Author Guide - Writing a New HOWTO in DocBook
Subject:
RE: Author Guide - Writing a New HOWTO in DocBook
From:
"Patrick K. O'Brien" ####@####.####
Date:
15 Mar 2001 16:12:14 -0000
Message-Id: <NBBBIOJPGKJEKIECEMCBCEMCJJAA.pobrien@orbtech.com>
1. I'd love to have a sample XML file to play with, so do please send one my
way. Thanks.
2. Page 20 of DB:TDG is correct. The XML requirement to have a system
identifier is also stated even more directly on page 576, or online at
http://www.docbook.org/tdg/html/appb.html#AEN193627 as section B.1.1. System
Identifiers. Unfortunately, they don't give many examples outside of
pointing to a website as the system id. If you are working on a plane, you
definitely want the system id to be something specific to you machine, like
"dtd/docbook-xml/4.1.2/docbook.dtd". Then any parser should look for the dtd
on your machine, rather than on the Internet.
I just wish I knew what the most flexible approach was for specifying a
system id. It seems odd to me that we should have to be modifying the
prologue to a DocBook instance just to open it up in a browser or editor
that does validation, like Emacs/PSGML. I don't understand the XML
requirement to have a hard-coded inflexible system id, or why it doesn't
have something more list a search list. The DB:TDG says much the same thing
concerning catalog files, but still leaves me less that satisfied that I
know what to do:
"If you're used to using catalog files to resolve system identifiers, you
may be dismayed to learn that system identifiers are required. Because most
tools favor system identifiers over public identifiers, all of the
portability that was gained by the use of catalog files seems to have been
lost. In the long run, it'll be regained by the fact that XML system
identifiers can be URNs, which will have a resolution scheme like catalogs,
but what about the short run?"
---
Patrick K. O'Brien
Orbtech (http://www.orbtech.com)
"I am, therefore I think."
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Komarinski ####@####.####
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 3:40 PM
To: ####@####.####
Cc: LDP-Discuss
Subject: Re: Author Guide - Writing a New HOWTO in DocBook
Welcome from Mozilla 0.8. A kind soul was nice enough to tell me where
to get Debian-compliant packages, so now I can have Mozilla and Nautilus.
Anyway, I have a very small HOWTO I converted to XML which might be more
your
speed, I can send it if you like. I had to put the pointer to the DTD in
there,
and Mozilla loaded it up quickly, only there was no formatting, like it
ignored
the tags and just went along and spit out the content in plain
text mode. My guess is we're starting to get into things like XSL.
Also, looks like you might be right about the DB:TDG reference. This
is on page 20? This is going to cause a headache, since the times I write
a lot is when I'm off the network (in a plane). Validating that is going
to be a pain.
-Mark
