Steven Cogorno wrote:
> Chuck,
>
> When you say "macros", I think what you are talking about is elements.
>
> There are several good DocBook guides available. If you want to see
> some examples from Sun, you can download some open source documents
> from the Solaris doc set here http://dlc.sun.com/osol/docs/downloads/
> current/
>
> These documents should help you understand the general structure of
> DocBook.
Sorry it took me a bit to reply, I wanted to check out your reference.
I think, then, you meant that theose files serve zas xml examples,
right? Because I don't have a Solaris system here, and three wasn't any
xml files with them, so I couldn't actually use any tool (like mozilla)
to display them ... unless I'm really showing my innocence here.
Just in case, I want to make one more try at explainning what I'm after,
cause I'm serious here. I've seen others on the web, from time to time,
who jump on and make suggestions for work projects, but when you get
down the the bottom of it, they're suggesting that *you* do the work
while they sit back and "organize" for you (cheer you one, and I guess
laugh at your simplicity). I am *not* suggesting anything like that,
but in one sense, I am asking for info.
Years back, when I learned troff (groff), I found I couldn;t use it ,
until I bagan to try out macro packages, and I found out I really liked
the mm macros. Well, I bought the O'Reilly Docbook book, and I have
seen the more up to date version on the web, and what they show is
exhaustive, and it really wasn't a great deal different than that first
glance at troff: a huge long list of commands, without any usage
suggestions. So, I'm wondering if, maybe, I either need a better
document on how to write docbook, OR maybe, macros that combine several
different groups of Docbook elements into a smaller group of really
useable (but completely different in name) elements might be what I'm
after. If it is, I would happily write the tool that converts my new
set of macros back to the original set of Docbook elements (with
whatever required manipulation of text tags or attributes might be
needed) myself.
The part I'm after, from you, is two questions:
1) is it possible that I might be right here, that a set of macros might
be one workable method (one possible way to ease the writing of Docbook
docs using editors that AREN'T customized for xml), and, if so,
2) Some help in trying to define such a set of macros. Not in producing
a tool to use them, I would do that.
I personally am a user of vi, or maybe vim. Anything you suggest that I
read, or any research you suggest I need to do, I will do ... I am NOT
asking you to do my work for me, at least I hope I'm not, I have a
higher opinion of myself than that. I do need some advice in my goal,
though, which is to become a Docbook writer, dropping my longterm
dependence on Troff.
>
>
> Steven Cogorno
> Sun Microsystems
>
>
