This is a good definition. What is the relationship between <topic> and
<article>? Will they also be allowed as siblings?
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bob Stayton [mailto:]
> Sent: Friday, October 27, 2006 3:30 PM
> To:
> Subject: [docbook] alternative topic proposal
>
> I'm pretty strongly opposed to mixing topic and section
> elements as siblings. I think that will produce such a hash
> that neither authors nor stylesheets will understand it.
>
> I would suggest a different model for modular Docbook,
> similar to Norm's, but different in a few aspects. My goals
> here are to designate a topic as a standalone unit, but
> permit it to be used within one or more larger contexts that
> include hierarchy, and remain comaptibile with DocBook.
>
> 1. Add a <topic> element with the same content model as
> <section>. Because I believe a topic is intended to be a
> standalone unit, I would not allow a topic to contain other
> topics, but I would allow a topic to contain sections.
> Nesting topics greatly confuses a topic's status as a
> standalone unit. However, a topic may need to divide its
> content into sections for clarity and ease of reference.
>
> 2. Sections do not contain topics.
>
> 3. Give topic a class attribute to differentiate topic types
> (same as Norm's proposal).
> If someone wants different element names or customized
> content models, then they can customize the DocBook schema.
>
> 4. Allow topic in book and part
> as a sibling to chapter|appendix|preface.
> That makes it like article if you need a flat collection of
> topics. I'm not sure if Norm's proposal meant topic as a
> sibling to chapter or as a mutually exclusive alternative. I
> mean as a sibling. If you mix them, then it is
> up to the application to determine how to present them.
>
> 5. Define chapter (and any other element that contains
> section) to contain *either* sections or topics, but not
> both. If you use section, you can go to arbitrary depth.
> But it makes for a single level of topics within a chapter,
> with sections within topics providing further hierarchy if needed.
>
> 6. To accomodate a more extensive hierarchy of topics, allow
> book|chapter|appendix to contain topicref as well as topic.
> A topicref has an href attribute that points to a separate
> topic element stored elsewhere. This is the mapping feature
> of DITA. As in DITA, a topicref can contain other topicref elements.
> When processed, these can form a deeper hierarchy in the
> presentation of the output.
>
> So the content model of chapter and other elements that
> currently contain section would look like:
>
> chapter front matter (title, info, etc.)
> intro material (para, list, etc.)
> section* or (topic|topicref)*
>
>
> I believe this design has these advantages:
>
> 1. It keeps topic as a standalone unit.
>
> 2. It avoids mixing section and topic as siblings.
>
> 3. It permits arbitrary depth of a topic (using sections),
> if you need it.
>
> 4. It permits easy authoring of books or other units with
> inline topic elements.
>
> 5. It permits creating more extensive topic hierarchies
> using topicref, without sacrificing topic as a standalone unit.
>
> 6. It is very flexible and not overly prescriptive, in
> keeping with DocBook's design.
>
>
> Bob Stayton
> Sagehill Enterprises
> DocBook Consulting
>
>
>
>
>
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