OASIS Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) TC

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DTD Formatting: Element Alignment

  • 1.  DTD Formatting: Element Alignment

    Posted 08-24-2004 19:37
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    Subject: DTD Formatting: Element Alignment


    ELEMENT alignment:
    
    1) It's personal I know, Eliot, and I can live with your format.
    It is more important that we be consistent than that we agree.
    But in a large and complicated content model (20-50 elements)
    the every line format is, IMO, very hard to read.
    
    When I need to read your models, I use a graphical tool.
    
    
    2) Quickly, now, is foo on the same level as bar or as the group:
    
    <!ELEMENT foo
       ((bar |
         baz)+,
        foo*)
    >
    
    <!ELEMENT bar
       ((foo |
         baz)+,
        woo*)
    >
    
    See what I mean?
    
    2) The models above may not be too different from:
    
    
    <!ELEMENT  foo    ( (bar | baz)+, foo*)
    >
    
    <!ELEMENT  bar    ( (foo | baz)+, woo*)
    >
    
    But I know which I'd rather read, especially if there are multiple
    element declarations and I want to eyeball the result as a comparison.
    Further, I can scan element names quickly, even if the models are long.
    
    3) The "as much as seems reasonable on a line" also lets you edit for
    readability and do things like the example below. Admittedly, this is
    a TERRIBLE content model used for teaching and not for real, but you
    get the idea:
    
    ( (title,
         ( (chptitle, para*)+ |
           (sectitle, para*, (chptitle, para*)+ )+
         )
       )*, index
    )
    
    
    versus
    
    ((title,
       ((chptitle,
         para*)+ |
         (sectitle,
          para*,
          (chptitle,
           para*)+)+))*,
        index)
    
    One can read either, but...
    
    --debbie
    -- 
    ======================================================================
    Deborah Aleyne Lapeyre               mailto:dalapeyre@mulberrytech.com
    Mulberry Technologies, Inc.                http://www.mulberrytech.com
    17 West Jefferson Street                    Direct Phone: 301/315-9633
    Suite 207                                          Phone: 301/315-9631
    Rockville, MD  20850                                 Fax: 301/315-8285
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
       Mulberry Technologies: A Consultancy Specializing in XML and SGML
    ======================================================================
    


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