OASIS Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) TC

Mapref attribute resolution

  • 1.  Mapref attribute resolution

    Posted 03-03-2009 20:24
    Here's something for those seeking a bit of distraction...
    
    I've been getting questions from different sources about how attributes
    cascade through map references - specifically (but not limited to) the
    scope/linking/toc attributes.
    
    I've described some of the issues on our wiki. I was discussing some of
    these issues with Jeff Ogden to flesh them out before coming to the TC, so
    his comments are interspersed throughout the wiki page:
    http://wiki.oasis-open.org/dita/MaprefResolution
    
    Specifically, the page relates issues such as these:
    * If I reuse a map where one branch is excluded from the TOC - such as the
    reltable - does a value of toc="yes" on my mapref force it to show up?
    * If I reuse a map without setting @toc anywhere in my local map, does this
    mean the target map uses the implied local default of toc="yes", or does it
    mean we use the toc values specified in the target map?
    
    There are a lot of use cases, and I don't think it is possible to meet them
    all with the limited values we have on these attributes. If the answer is
    "add new values or new attributes", then I expect to wait on DITA 1.3 to
    make those changes, but I would like to get some clarification on expected
    behaviors until we can make that change.
    
    Thanks -
    
    Robert D Anderson
    IBM Authoring Tools Development
    Chief Architect, DITA Open Toolkit