[Doc-SIG] Re: [Docutils-develop] master plan for interpreted text?
David Goodger
goodger@python.org
Tue, 04 Feb 2003 00:28:54 -0500
Ian Bicking wrote:
> I think there should be some plan in place to add extra types, but only
> add them as people request them.
...
> Anyway, in summary: just because you *can* identify a semantic
> classification doesn't mean you should. I seldom see the benefit, and
> before introducing more complexity into the system there should be a
> concrete reason someone wants to do so. E.g., they want to mark
> glossary terms for later compilation -- a very concrete desire.
That's reasonable. But what I'm trying to establish is where to draw the
line? How much demand is enough to allow a new role in? It's been up to my
judgement so far. Unless I hear some compelling arguments otherwise, I
suppose it will remain that way.
> But if `something`:type: is valid for any "type",
It's not. "type" has to be one of a pre-defined set of roles for which
there is parser and doctree support. Each role will have an associated
method or function that understands the role's semantics.
> then I suppose it doesn't matter, so long as the output format has
> some way of identifying the proper styling. As I think about it though,
> it's non-trivial to effect any output but HTML.
("Effect" or "affect"? Completely changes the meaning of the last
sentence.)
> But if it is more work to restrict the kinds of semantic inline markups then
> to allow arbitrary semantics, then perhaps arbitrary semantics make more
> sense. In which case perhaps there should be a directive to give rendering
> hints (and hopefully definition hints!) in the document itself, as otherwise
> the document won't be portable.
There won't be arbitrary semantics, and there's no need or room for
rendering hints in the markup. That's really basic: keep the style separate
from the structure.
-- David Goodger http://starship.python.net/~goodger
Programmer/sysadmin for hire: http://starship.python.net/~goodger/cv