Re: formatting tools for Docbook

2006-06-16 Thread Bill Campbell
On Fri, Jun 16, 2006, Chuck Robey wrote:
>Bob Johnson wrote:
>
>>On 6/15/06, Chuck Robey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>>>Greg Barniskis wrote:
>>>
 Chuck Robey wrote:

>>>docs, because then no one else would be able to use my documents.  Am I
>>>wrong in considering the FDP generated documentation as being in that
>>>category, not terribly uselful outside the FreeBSD project.
>>
>>
>>I believe you are wrong, or I misunderstand the question.
>>
>>I haven't used XML DocBook, but I've used DocBook with DSSSL.  I
>>assume what you are really asking is not whether the FreeBSD
>>extensions to the DocBook markup language are a problem (they aren't),
>>but whether the stylesheets used by FreeBSD are compatible with those
>>on other systems.  They are (or they claim to be, as I said I haven't
>>actually used the XML/XSL tools yet).
>>
>Look, how come you won't follow politely formed requests?  I've asked 
>now repeatedly, if you haven't yourself used the XML Docbook tools (not 
>just Docbook, not just your own private mission statement here) then 
>please to let this go, not to respond.  I wrote that same request to my 
>very first email.  How come you can't react politely to a polite request?

I use docbook xml for many things here on a FreeBSD 4.8 system
(yeah I know it's out of date, but its uptime is 723 days :-).

I'm using the OpenPKG portable packaging system's versions of
docbook, openjade, tetex along with docbook-toys from SuSE Linux.

docbook-toys is a set of scripts, db2dvi, db2html, db2pdf, etc.
which provide simple interfaces to openjade and jadetex.

Bill
--
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Re: formatting tools for Docbook

2006-06-16 Thread Chuck Robey

Bob Johnson wrote:


On 6/15/06, Chuck Robey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:


Greg Barniskis wrote:

> Chuck Robey wrote:
>
docs, because then no one else would be able to use my documents.  Am I
wrong in considering the FDP generated documentation as being in that
category, not terribly uselful outside the FreeBSD project.



I believe you are wrong, or I misunderstand the question.

I haven't used XML DocBook, but I've used DocBook with DSSSL.  I
assume what you are really asking is not whether the FreeBSD
extensions to the DocBook markup language are a problem (they aren't),
but whether the stylesheets used by FreeBSD are compatible with those
on other systems.  They are (or they claim to be, as I said I haven't
actually used the XML/XSL tools yet).

Look, how come you won't follow politely formed requests?  I've asked 
now repeatedly, if you haven't yourself used the XML Docbook tools (not 
just Docbook, not just your own private mission statement here) then 
please to let this go, not to respond.  I wrote that same request to my 
very first email.  How come you can't react politely to a polite request?


In private mail, you have tried to tell  me that Docbook-xml didn't 
exist, and that FDP referred to the FreeBSD Development Project, not the 
FreeBSD Documentation Project.  Aren't you being just a little bit 
juvenile here?  Your own mail shows you know that Docbook-xml exists, 
and all you need to do is to look at the FreeBSD 
ports/textproc/docbook-xml-* ports to see what I mean (if you really 
don't know this).  Especially if you are innocently ignorant of XML, 
then you are the sort of person I did not wwant to have respnd at all.


Please, please, let this go, it's not your thread, and I dont' want to 
use your tools!


If you respond again, I won't answer you anymore.  I will just let this 
thread go entirely.  I'm sure the rest of this list is quite fed up with 
this by now.



To clarify: the real issue for me, and probably what you are really
referring to, is that the output format is not defined by the DocBook
markup, but by the stylesheets (or equivalent) in the tool set used to
produce the output.  That's both the advantage and disadvantage of
Docbook (and SGML in general).  If you want strict control of the
output format, then you run into the problem of a standard stylesheet
format so you can also distribute your stylesheets along with your
marked up documents.  DSSSL stylesheets are an incredible pain to
modify, and I sympathize with your desire to avoid them.  XSL
stylesheets are becoming a widely accepted standard, so that's the way
to go, and since they are pretty much a standard, the details of what
tools you use to do your document rendering shouldn't matter.

If you need to modify the "standard" XSL stylesheets to meet your
needs, just distribute the modified stylesheets along with your marked
up documents and that should allow the person at the other end to
duplicate your output.  The FreeBSD XML DocBook tool set claims to use
XSL stylesheets, so as I said, the answer to your question should be
"no, the tools are not FreeBSD specific".

Is that explanation helping at all, or am I way off track?  And have I
said anything that is just flat wrong?

You may also want to look at
http://wiki.docbook.org/topic/DocBookXslStylesheets if you haven't
already.

- Bob
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Re: formatting tools for Docbook

2006-06-16 Thread Chuck Swiger

Chuck Robey wrote:
[ ... ]
You know, I don't want to argue about thread hijacking, I only want my 
question answered, so i will try again.  Has anyone out there used a 
tool from the ports set, to be able  to do general purpose creation and 
formatting of XML Docbook documents?


Yes.  It's usually easier to start with the Docbook templates provided by 
FreeBSD for, say, an article, but it's entirely possible to go your own way, 
and write new documents in pure XML rather than SGML, for example.


Or work with 4.x XML Docbook documents published on the Linux side rather than 
SGML from the BSD side.


Specifically, this is not intended to reference the FDP tools.  It might 
be possible that the FDP tools supply a 100% 4.5 Docbook XML 
compatiblity, and if those tools occur in the FreeBSD ports (I think 
they do) theIN could care about it here, but I don't want o referenc 
ethe FDP tools at all, otherwise.  I don't have any specific intention 
to use the FDP toolset.


Well, I've got news for you: the FDP toolset is the toolset one would use for 
working on both XML and SGML Docbook documents.


If you don't want to follow the fine directions in the FDP guidelines, and 
install jade by hand or use something besides tidy to do HTML cleanup, or you 
don't want to install a PDF output tool because you aren't generating PDFs as 
an output format, OK, fine, that's your concern.


Outside of 100% tested compatiblity that you yourself have used in 
creating and reading non-FreeBSD documents, I really would appreciate 
not hearing about the FDP tools.


OK.  Well, the FDP worked with:

http://www.pkix.net/~chuck/doc/sco-vs-ibm.xml

...which is a Docbook 4.1.2 XML document, for example.

--
-Chuck
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Re: formatting tools for Docbook

2006-06-15 Thread Bob Johnson

On 6/15/06, Chuck Robey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Greg Barniskis wrote:

> Chuck Robey wrote:
>
docs, because then no one else would be able to use my documents.  Am I
wrong in considering the FDP generated documentation as being in that
category, not terribly uselful outside the FreeBSD project.


I believe you are wrong, or I misunderstand the question.

I haven't used XML DocBook, but I've used DocBook with DSSSL.  I
assume what you are really asking is not whether the FreeBSD
extensions to the DocBook markup language are a problem (they aren't),
but whether the stylesheets used by FreeBSD are compatible with those
on other systems.  They are (or they claim to be, as I said I haven't
actually used the XML/XSL tools yet).

To clarify: the real issue for me, and probably what you are really
referring to, is that the output format is not defined by the DocBook
markup, but by the stylesheets (or equivalent) in the tool set used to
produce the output.  That's both the advantage and disadvantage of
Docbook (and SGML in general).  If you want strict control of the
output format, then you run into the problem of a standard stylesheet
format so you can also distribute your stylesheets along with your
marked up documents.  DSSSL stylesheets are an incredible pain to
modify, and I sympathize with your desire to avoid them.  XSL
stylesheets are becoming a widely accepted standard, so that's the way
to go, and since they are pretty much a standard, the details of what
tools you use to do your document rendering shouldn't matter.

If you need to modify the "standard" XSL stylesheets to meet your
needs, just distribute the modified stylesheets along with your marked
up documents and that should allow the person at the other end to
duplicate your output.  The FreeBSD XML DocBook tool set claims to use
XSL stylesheets, so as I said, the answer to your question should be
"no, the tools are not FreeBSD specific".

Is that explanation helping at all, or am I way off track?  And have I
said anything that is just flat wrong?

You may also want to look at
http://wiki.docbook.org/topic/DocBookXslStylesheets if you haven't
already.

- Bob
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Re: formatting tools for Docbook

2006-06-15 Thread Chuck Robey

Bob Johnson wrote:


On 6/15/06, Chuck Robey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:


Greg Barniskis wrote:

> Chuck Robey wrote:
>
docs, because then no one else would be able to use my documents.  Am I
wrong in considering the FDP generated documentation as being in that
category, not terribly uselful outside the FreeBSD project.



I believe you are wrong, or I misunderstand the question.

I haven't used XML DocBook, but I've used DocBook with DSSSL.  I
assume what you are really asking is not whether the FreeBSD
extensions to the DocBook markup language are a problem (they aren't),
but whether the stylesheets used by FreeBSD are compatible with those
on other systems.  They are (or they claim to be, as I said I haven't
actually used the XML/XSL tools yet).

To clarify: the real issue for me, and probably what you are really
referring to, is that the output format is not defined by the DocBook
markup, but by the stylesheets (or equivalent) in the tool set used to
produce the output.  That's both the advantage and disadvantage of
Docbook (and SGML in general).  If you want strict control of the
output format, then you run into the problem of a standard stylesheet
format so you can also distribute your stylesheets along with your
marked up documents.  DSSSL stylesheets are an incredible pain to
modify, and I sympathize with your desire to avoid them.  XSL
stylesheets are becoming a widely accepted standard, so that's the way
to go, and since they are pretty much a standard, the details of what
tools you use to do your document rendering shouldn't matter.

If you need to modify the "standard" XSL stylesheets to meet your
needs, just distribute the modified stylesheets along with your marked
up documents and that should allow the person at the other end to
duplicate your output.  The FreeBSD XML DocBook tool set claims to use
XSL stylesheets, so as I said, the answer to your question should be
"no, the tools are not FreeBSD specific".

Is that explanation helping at all, or am I way off track?  And have I
said anything that is just flat wrong?

You may also want to look at
http://wiki.docbook.org/topic/DocBookXslStylesheets if you haven't
already.

This sort of response, answering questions I never asked, is exactly 
why, in my original post, I pleaded with folks not to respond if they 
had not, themselves, used the ports to create Docbook (NOT FDP!) 
documents.  I wasn't asking questions relating in any remote fashion to 
the FDP.  It's a fine project, I make no criticism of them at all, but I 
do make a criticism of folks who try to hijack a thread so as to bang 
their own drum.


I want to make Docbook documents, not FDP docs, and the extensions that 
FDP supplies, unless it leaves me 100% (not 98%) compatible with the 
latest Docbook schema (not tracking the FDP schema).  I want to write 
docs for inter-communications  with folks outside of FreeBSD, folks who 
aren't even aware of Unix at all.  Please don't hijack my  thread.  If I 
try to use FDP-created docs, then I will not be able to send them out to 
folks who haven't any idea what FDP is, and I don't want that.  That 
wasn't my question.


Geeze, I feel badly enough about having to jump on someone ... the first 
fella, I replied to him privately, but you, in greatly exopanding the  
range of your hijacking (once the fist fella had snipped off my request 
not to  do just what you did, you were I guess free to do that), I 
haven't any way to stopping you from destroying my thread, outside of 
blantly asking you to Stop It (PLEASE!)


BTW, I have had replies from others not on this list, and just those 
monitoring it from outside services, asking me to please forward any 
relies I get to them, so it's not just for me, that this info is wanted.



- Bob



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