The draft DITA 1.2 spec currently says: "Although metatdata elements exist with similar names, such as the <audience> element, processors are not required to perform conditional processing using metadata elements." This is new text (that I wrote) in an attempt to clarify the situation for DITA users who often ask things like, "What is the difference between the <audience> element and the @audience attribute?"
The DITA 1.1 spec does not say anything about whether processors should apply conditional processing rules to metadata elements. In its discussion of conditional processing it repeatedly refers to attributes, and only attributes. Given this background, I think the new text just says explicitly what the DITA 1.1 spec implies by omission. The DITA OT has never done conditional processing using metadata elements.
Having said that, even the proposed clarification may not give enough guidance. Consider the following questions:
1) If a processor only applies conditional processing on attributes and *never* applies them to metadata elements, is that a bug?
2) If a processor *always* applies conditional processing to both attributes and metadata elements, is that a bug?
I would say no to the first, and yes to the second.
Regards,
Su-Laine
Su-Laine Yeo
Solutions Consultant
JustSystems Canada, Inc.
Office: 778-327-6356
www.justsystems.com
-----Original Message-----
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Sent: Monday, October 19, 2009 4:27 PM
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Subject: [dita] processor requirments w.r.t. metadata elements
Is the statement "processors are not required to perform conditional processing using metadata elements" true?
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