Date: Mon, 4 Feb 2002 19:10:02 -0800 (PST) From: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Subject: Re: docs/34587: Adding Feedback on the issue Message-ID: <200202050310.g153A2u72664@freefall.freebsd.org>
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The following reply was made to PR docs/34587; it has been noted by GNATS. From: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> To: Tom Rhodes <darklogik@pittgoth.com> Cc: bug-followup@freebsd.org Subject: Re: docs/34587: Adding Feedback on the issue Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2002 05:00:19 +0200 On 2002-02-04 08:40, Tom Rhodes wrote: > <command>boot <replaceable>kernel.old</replaceable></command> > > I just do not really agree with this line, should whitespace be in the > actual tags, I think someone pointed out to me that no whitespace should > exsist here. Something better would be: > > <command>boot</command> <replaceable>kernel.old</replaceable> or maybe > <command>boot</command> <filename>kernel.old</filename> The SGML markup is not a way to describe the 'format' of a document. It is though something we (as in 'we the SGML fans of the universe') use to denote the 'structure' of a document. If you convert the initial SGML to a tree-like structure you'll get: (outter (command "boot" (whitespace) (replaceable "kernel.old"))) The second one will be converted to: (outter (command "boot") (whitespace) (replaceable "kernel.old")) The first rendering of the SGML entity clearly denotes that <replaceable> is a "part of <command>". What you suggest, looks a lot like what a user that reads the text on screen would do to mark up documents using a WYSIWIG editor. But you can't tell the computer that the <replaceable> entity is a part of the <commmand> tag if you use this form of marking up documents. Then you have lost part of the structural information that the original SGML markup shows :( Structure *is* important. Imagine an SGML parser that will swallow the entire doc/ tree and look for complete <command> entities, and spit out a shell script that has ALL the examples of the docs, ready to be copy-pasted to a shell prompt. If you break the structure of the entities, and <replaceable> is no longer a part of the original <command> tag, then there is no way for the tool I described to know where in the text of the document the parameters of the command are. -- Giorgos Keramidas . . . . . . . . . keramida@{ceid.upatras.gr,freebsd.org} FreeBSD Documentation Project . . . http://www.freebsd.org/docproj/ FreeBSD: The power to serve . . . . http://www.freebsd.org/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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