instantiating a shared bookmap from multiple profiled wrapper maps

Does DITA support “wrapper maps” that can instantiate a bookmap with DITAVAL profiling applied?

 

For example, I tried something like the following:

 

productA.ditamap:

<map>

  <ditavalref href="" style="color:black;background:#FCD116">A.ditaval"/>

  <mapref href="" style="color:black;background:#9ED267">shared.ditamap"/>

</map>

 

productB.ditamap:

<map>

  <ditavalref href="" style="color:black;background:#FCD116">B.ditaval"/>

  <mapref href="" style="color:black;background:#9ED267">shared.ditamap"/>

</map>

 

where 
shared.ditamap is a bookmap with full frontmatter/chapter/appendix structure, etc.

 

My hope was for the top-level wrapper map to apply its DITAVAL, then “dissolve away,” leaving a regular bookmap structure in place for processing. It mostly worked (yay!!), but there were a couple rough edges with missing bookmap metadata
 and an extra level of output directory structure. Maybe I’m missing some kind of attribute on the mapref to do the dissolving away…

 

I can supply the above testcase if anyone is interested in having a look. This is something that we badly need a solution for.

 

I am also exploring the use of DITA-OT project files (setting outputFile.base to each deliverable name as needed), but I’m starting with the mapref-oriented machinery first. Both could be useful in different situations. I need to assess
 writer ability to create/self-service conditional books (will a nontechnical writer glaze over when looking at a DITA-OT project file?), Oxygen support and how it presents controls to the writer, how they work with XSLT refactoring scripts and our in-house
 perl processing utilities, and so on.

 

Thanks!

 

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Chris Papademetrious

Tech Writer, Synopsys Implementation Group

(610) 628-9718 home office

(570) 460-6078 cell