Fw: [dita] Proposal for <title> element in <topicref>

From
Michael Priestley <>
Date
2012-03-27T15:54:44+00:00
ID
Thread
Fw: [dita] Proposal for <title> element in <topicref>
Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM)

Lead IBM DITA Architect 



http://dita.xml.org/blog/25

----- Forwarded by Michael
Priestley/Toronto/IBM on 03/27/2012 11:53 AM -----

From:      
 Eliot Kimber <>

To:      
 Rob Hanna <>,
Michael Priestley/Toronto/IBM@IBMCA, dita <>,

Date:      
 03/27/2012 10:16 AM

Subject:    
   Re: [dita] Proposal
for <title> element in <topicref>

Per the brief discussion we had on the phone last
week, when I asked a

similar question, the response was that the behavior would be as for

navtitle and @locktitle, namely that the topicref's <title> would
replace

the topic's title IFF @locktitle is yes, otherwise it would be ignored.

I would expect the <title> to contribute to navigation only if @locktitle
is

yes and there is no explicit navtitle on the topicref or on the topic.

That is, even with @locktitle, a topic's explicit navtitle still takes

precedence over a topicref's <title> when the topicref has no separate

navtitle.

That is, I think, consistent with the general principle that navtitle

overrides title for navigation and the presumption that if the topic author

put in a navtitle they did so for a good reason.

Cheers,

E.

On 3/27/12 8:59 AM, "Rob Hanna" <>
wrote:

> How do you envision the <title> element rendered in the output?
Will it be

> used solely for navigation or will it replace the topic title as well?
If it

> is solely for navigation, should we create a navtitle element instead?

> 

>  

> 

> Rob Hanna, CIP

> Senior Information Architect, Innovatia Inc.

> STC Associate Fellow

> Certified Information Professional - AIIM

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> From:  [] on behalf
of

> Michael Priestley []

> Sent: March 27, 2012 9:38 AM

> To: dita

> Subject: [dita] Proposal for <title> element in <topicref>

> 

> Problem: 

> <topicref> has a number of ways to express title information,
but currently

> all are bound to specific output expressions:

>         @navtitle is bound to navigation output;
in addition it is an

> attribute, which makes it hard to process through translation workflows
that

> need to put additional attributes on translatable content elements

>         navtitle, linktext, searchtitle are elements,
but all bound to

> specific outputs; in addition, they are all stored inside <topicmeta>,
making

> them less accessible to authors, and more parallel to <topic>'s
title

> alternatives, which are inside the prolog

> 

> Proposal: 

> Add a <title> element as the first, optional child of <topicref>
to be

> parallel to <topic>; allowing easy access to a title element
without adding a

> <topicmeta> container, and allowing a generic title to be stored
without

> associating it with a particular output deliverable.

> 

> Potential second proposal:

> It might also be useful to add a repeatable <titlealt> element
inside both

> map's topicmeta and topic's <titlealts> element; this would
provide the basis

> for creating output-specific alternate titles. Unfortunately we couldn't

> easily change the existing alternate titles to be specializations
of this base

> element, but it could be the basis for any new specializations. For
example

> someone could specialize to create a <print-title>, <mobile-title>,

> <audible-title>, etc. - whatever they find they need.

> 

> Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM)

> Lead IBM DITA Architect

> 

> http://dita.xml.org/blog/25
<http://dita.xml.org/blog/25>

-- 

Eliot Kimber

Senior Solutions Architect, RSI Content Solutions

"Bringing Strategy, Content, and Technology Together"

Main: 512.554.9368

www.rsicms.com

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