"Eric Niebler" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:

> Joel de Guzman wrote:
>> Joao(IIRC) and I expressed support for it. I think it looks nice.
>> However, Dave does have a point. And his point is about consistency.
>> You showed me how consistency with the boxes (code, tables, TOCs,
>> blurbs), however different they may be in terms of function, can
>> improve the docs. And it did, significantly! Perhaps this applies
>> here too? That said, I'm not so sure I like Rene's layout either, so
>> I'm half-half. Maybe you can cook a variation of your scheme that
>> is more consistent with the rest of the doc layout?
>
> I *heart* consistency. :-) But with which part of the rest of the doc 
> layout is the function description inconsistent? 

Pick any other place where there are multiple levels of hierarchy:
nowhere else is there a bold heading marker next to another bold
heading marker.  Yes, the term is a heading marker because there can
in principle be multiple paragraphs of definition.

> I'm not trying to be 
> difficult, it's a serious question. Dave's example was bogus, IMO -- an 
> apples to oranges comparison.
>
> I've done a before and after to make this discussion a little less abstract.
>
> Tabularized function descriptions:
> http://boost-sandbox.sf.net/libs/xpressive/doc/html/boost/xpressive/cpp_regex_traits.html
>
> Definition list-ified function descriptions:
> http://boost-sandbox.sf.net/libs/xpressive/doc/html/boost/xpressive/cpp_regex_traits2.html
>
> (Sorry for the long URLs. TunyURL is down at the moment.)
>
> Fact: with definition lists, less fits on the screen. And it's no easier 
> on my eyes, either, but that's subjective. 

It would be a *lot* easier to look at if the definitions were moved closer to 
the
terms, as I've mentioned several times.

> Not even the C++ standard 
> uses definition list-style layout for function descriptions, FWIW.

Those look like definition lists to me, even if HTML doesn't format
DL's that way.  There just doesn't happen to be a line break between
the term and the definition, which is no big deal for me.  They're
certainly not tables.  More importantly, there's no additional level
of hierarchy to the right.

-- 
Dave Abrahams
Boost Consulting
www.boost-consulting.com



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