RE: [dita] Need to clarify spec language around key resolution (Was" RE: [dita] Groups - DITA TC Minutes: February 01, 2011 (TCMinutes_02-01-2011.txt) uploaded")

Title: [dita] Need to clarify spec language around key resolution (Was" RE: [dita] Groups - DITA TC Minutes: February 01, 2011 (TCMinutes_02-01-2011.txt) uploaded")

Hi everyone,

 

I agree with Paul and Kris that any ambiguity in the spec should be addressed via an offical and normative revision or erratum to the spec.

 

Keyref resolution is a very complex issue and I'm not confident yet that Eliot's document addresses all the potential ambiguities, although it is helpful. My colleagues and I are still actively discussing how to interpret certain statements and how to handle certain edge cases. If and when we develop a set of clear questions I'll pass them along to the TC.

 

Are we in a hurry to have this document reviewed and published? I just have a feeling that if we publish it now we'll have to follow it a few weeks later with a third document clarifying keyref behaviour.

 

Would it make sense to have non-normative commentary and examples on keyref be published via an FAQ page on dita.xml.org or something like that? Then it could be extended incrementally as questions arise and we wouldn't have to go through the OASIS sign-off process.

 

Cheers,

Su-Laine

 

Su-Laine Yeo
Solutions Consultant 

JustSystems Canada, Inc.
Office: 1 (778) 327-6356 


 

From: Kristen Eberlein [mailto:]
Sent: Fri 2/4/2011 7:34 AM
To: DITA TC
Subject: [dita] Need to clarify spec language around key resolution (Was" RE: [dita] Groups - DITA TC Minutes: February 01, 2011 (TCMinutes_02-01-2011.txt) uploaded")

I strongly agree with Paul here.

Eliot's article contains marvelous, well-developed content that will truly
help the community. But we must clarify the wording in the spec since
different people reading it come up with conflicting ideas about how keys
should be resolved.

Best regards,
Kris
Kristen James Eberlein l DITA Architect and Technical Specialist l SDL
Structured Content Technologies Division l (t) + 1 (919) 682-2290 l


www.sdl.com/innovate
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-----Original Message-----
From: Grosso, Paul [mailto:]
Sent: Friday, February 04, 2011 10:23 AM
To: 
Subject: RE: [dita] Groups - DITA TC Minutes: February 01, 2011
(TCMinutes_02-01-2011.txt) uploaded

> -----Original Message-----
> From:  [mailto:]
> Sent: Wednesday, 2011 February 02 11:33
> To: 
> Subject: [dita] Groups - DITA TC Minutes: February 01, 2011
> (TCMinutes_02-01-2011.txt) uploaded

> Download Document:
> http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/40997/TCMinutes_02-
> 01-11.txt

Regarding publishing Eliot's discussion of key resolution
by the Adoption TC, I admit to not having read Eliot's
latest, but I think we need to distinguish between
clarifying what's in the DITA spec and best practices.

If someone writes a best practices explication of how
keys work (and that might be a version of Eliot's paper),
then it makes sense to have that processed as an
Adoption TC deliverable.

But that should not be confused with making sure the
Dita spec is clear about this issue, and that is something
the Dita TC should be sure to address in 1.3 if not in
an erratum to 1.2.

paul