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Subject: RE: [dita] Possible RFE - xref to step
Gershon, Thank you for your proposal but, as I'm sure Don Day will explain, we're in the middle of the final definition of the 1.1 specification at present. But I do want to strongly recommend that you not follow the path of "changing the DITA DTD." The whole idea of specialization is to provide a mechanism for introducing a new customer requirements without changing the core DTD. It would be best to review the information available on the specialization philosophy behind DITA. Happy to see you as an observer on the TC. JoAnn JoAnn T. Hackos, PhD President Comtech Services, Inc. 710 Kipling Street, Suite 400 Denver CO 80215 303-232-7586 joann.hackos@comtech-serv.com -----Original Message----- From: Gershon L Joseph [mailto:gershon@tech-tav.com] Sent: Tuesday, January 10, 2006 6:02 AM To: dita@lists.oasis-open.org Subject: [dita] Possible RFE - xref to step I'd like to propose a new feature to support cross-referencing a step in a procedure. I'll start with the use cases and then address my proposed DTD modifications. Use case 1: cross reference another step within the same procedure This is best shown by example: 1. Do something. 2. Do something else. 3. Do another thing. Details are provided in Step 1. The 'Step 1' in step 3 would be an <xref> to the first <step> in the <steps>. Use case 2: cross reference to step in another procedure. This is also best shown by example: 1. Do something. 2. Do something else. 3. Do another thing. Details are provided in "name of another task", Step 1. Proposed change to the DITA DTD: Add a new attribute value to the <xref> type attribute, called "step". In this case, I'd mark up the first example as follows: <steps> <step id="myStep"><cmd>Do something.</cmd></step> <step><cmd>Do something else.</cmd></step> <step><cmd>Do another thing. Details are provided in <xref type="step" href="myStep"/>.</cmd></step> </steps> The second example, where we reference another procedure, would be marked up similarly, except that its <xref> would contain the standard href value needed to reference an element located in a different <task>. The processing expectations I foresee are as follows: 1. online (HTML-based) outputs: 1a. Xref to same <step>: replace the <xref> element with hyperlink whose hot text is something like "Step 1", where the number is the number of the target step. 1b. Xref to <step> in different task: replace <xref> with hyperlink whose hot text is something like "Step 1 in [task title]" or "[task title], Step 1" 2. print/PDF outputs 2a. Same as for online. 2b. Same as for online, with addition of page number of the target <step>. For example, "[task title], Step 1, on page 33" Obviously other users may have different output requirements. The ones I've listed here are based on the current needs of our clients. All input and comments that can help us refine this requirement will be greatly appreciated. I need to decide soon whether to specialize for this or just modify the current DTD. I will also be updating the DITA-OT accordingly. Gershon
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