Re: [dita] Clarification of <itemgroup>

["Eliot Kimber" <ekimber@innodata-isogen.com>]

Deborah_Pickett@moldflow.com wrote:

> How do we discourage people from using this <div>-like element to fake 
> nested sections, or paragraphs-within-paragraphs?  Using XML Schema or 
> DTD descriptions of content models, we probably can't.

You can't. It's simply a fact inherent in anything as general as DITA 
that you can't prevent the possibility of abuse.

The away to avoid this type of abuse is to create specializations that 
disallow it.

This is one reason that I content that trying to make the base DITA 
topic types genuinely appropriate for authoring is misguided, for the 
simple reason that the things you'd do for authors are at odds with what 
you need to allow for specialization. Right now DITA tries to do both 
and you end up with situations like this one.

Note, however, that neither of my proposals would allow <title> within 
this wrapper, which goes a long way toward preventing abuse for creating 
ersatz nested sections.

But at some point you have no choice but to depend on people doing the 
right thing.

Cheers,

Eliot
-- 
W. Eliot Kimber
Professional Services
Innodata Isogen
8500 N. Mopac, Suite 402
Austin, TX 78759
(214) 954-5198

ekimber@innodata-isogen.com
www.innodata-isogen.com