Well,
we may need to discuss it, but here's a position statement.
------------
As
Chris Wong wrote, index entries are point-like by
default.
Here's
a potential accomodation.
Chris
wrote: > We can leave open the possibility that a processor may elect to
treat an indexterm in a topic prolog as a page range: for example, if that topic
is deeply nested.
This
one is a tempting accomodation, but I'll try an argument that justifies not
making this accomodation.
------------
Suppose that we are looking at a topic with no nested
sub-topics.
When
indexing the first reference to an item, the entry should generate a point
reference to the initial point where that item enters the discussion. If the
item is a prominent item within that scope, a reference to the initial
point is sufficient, because the reader is likely to be interested in a
large fraction of the scope without being prompted by an index
entry.
If the
item is a subsidiary item in the scope and only occurs once, a reference to the
initial point is sufficient, because the item only occurs
once.
If the
item is a subsidiary item that occurs multiple times, or if the occurrences span
multiple adjacent scopes, than a page range is appropriate.
--------------
Now
applying these guidelines to topic-level index entries ...
A
topic-level index entry is an assertion that the item is a prominent item within
that scope. The reference is to the topic as a whole, and a reference to the
initial point is sufficient.
A
start-of-range assertion at the topic level is not well defined. How do you know
in a single topic that there will be other subsequent topics that will address
the same item? Ranges are inherently appropriate for spans across contents of a
topic or contents of a grouping of topics.
In a
map, a start-of-range assertion does make sense.
Best
wishes,
Bruce
-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Wong
[mailto:]
Sent: Monday, July 10, 2006 6:05
PM
To: Erik Hennum; Grosso, Paul
Cc:
Subject: RE: [dita] indexing
question
One question that comes to mind is: why would you want a page range
that spans one and only one topic? For example, I pulled out my old "XML in a
Nutshell" and looked up "Arabic Unicode block". This table spans 2 pages, but
is only indexed with a page number pointing to the start of the topic. That is
because the topic is so obviously self-enclosed that a single page reference
is sufficient.
What I'd say is that an indexterm in a topic prolog points to the
topic. Page range markers in a topic prolog has no meaning, since the
indexterm is out of the content flow. So
index-range-start/index-range-end should be ignored. This will allow an author
to generate an index reference to a single topic by entering an indexterm in
the topic prolog.
We
can leave open the possibility that a processor may elect to treat an
indexterm in a topic prolog as a page range: for example, if that topic is
deeply nested.
Chris
From: Erik Hennum
[mailto:]
Sent: Friday, July 07, 2006 3:08
PM
To: Grosso, Paul
Cc:
Subject: RE: [dita] indexing
question
Hi, Paul (Grosso) and Indexing Enthusiasts:
To follow up on the
index range question, we had a fair bit of discussion about ranges last Fall.
The consensus at the time was that ranges should be set explicitly. A sample
from the thread:
http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/dita/email/archives/200510/msg00020.html
I
guess my perspective remains that an indexterm in the prolog could be treated
as a special case of a general rule: that an indexterm covers the content of
its container and that processing emits a page range if the indexed container
extends to more than 2 pages.
Even so, I don't want to undo the
progress we've made:
http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/dita/download.php/18917/IssueNumber45b.html
Can
we isolate any anomalies in the current indexing proposal and fix those
quickly without changing the fundamental approach?
Paul, are you aware
of other hiccups besides the requirement to index an entire topic from start
of the title through the end of the related links or the end of the nested
topics?
Chris (Wong), as the lead on the indexing proposal, do you have
any suggestions?
Hoping that's useful,
Erik
Hennum
"Grosso, Paul"
<>
"Grosso, Paul"
<>
06/29/2006 05:05 PM
To
<>
cc
Subject
RE: [dita] indexing question
From: Erik Hennum [mailto:]
Sent: Thursday,
2006 June 29 18:13
To: JoAnn Hackos
Cc: ; Grosso, Paul
Subject: RE: [dita] indexing
question
That said, we still
need a way to generate a range over the whole topic.
Huh? I would have thought what you just said
in the first paragraph means that an indexterm within the prolog generates a
range over the whole topic. Now I'm really confused.
