Re: [docbook] making macros

[Chuck Robey <chuckr@chuckr.org>]

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
>
>