RE: DSSSL Documentation Project?

[Jacques Deseyne <Jacques.Deseyne@xxxxxxx>]

Tony Graham writes:

>
> - There have been more than 2,700 requests for files in the DSSSList
>   archive in the 2.5 (2½) months the DSSSList has been in
>   existence [4]
[...]
>The way I put these together is that there is a perceived need for
>more DSSSL documentation, many people are actively looking for help,
>but while many of us are capable of writing some documentation, the
>lack of a framework for an individual's effort hasn't brought out all
>the people who can contribute to a documentation effort.
[...]
>I hope I'm not being presumptuous, but having comprehensive, freely
>distributable and accessible DSSSL documentation may also aid in the
>acceptance and use of xml-style the way, from my perception, that
>documentation from the Linux Documentation Project aided the spread of
>Linux.
[...]

I feel as many readers as possible must back this excellent initative. 
Tony is right in saying that availibility of good introductory material may be 
essential for the adoption of DSSSL (in fact, it might also mean the longevity 
of SGML/XML ???).

2700 requests _is_ a nice figure and shows the amount of interest for the 
topics discussed on this list.

ISO/IEC standards are, in general, not really intended to offer introductory 
materials, although IMHO in this respect (and others) DSSSL is better written 
than many other standards.

The structure and form of a "public" documentation set can be discussed
among the readers of this list. I think some of the following could be 
useful:

  * main topics
	DSSSL document architecture
	the character "model"
	expression/style/query/transformation languages
	property sets/groves
	conceptual model of the formatting process
	conceptual model of the transformation process

  * tutorials and examples
	ranging from simple "Hello, world"-stuff to well-explained complex
	applications (preferably showing the superiority of DSSSL concepts 
	over proprietary solutions)

  * (maybe in the first place) some gentle introductions showing that there's 
    no need to be afraid (Paul Prescod's tutorial is a splendid example).

I am not sure about the best way to get this initiative started - 
volunteers are needed to write the contributions (and maybe others
to review them ?); novices and users should communicate in detail
what they expect from the documentation project, such as which
points are quite unclear from reading the standard; experts can
keep an eye on the overall progress, level and correctness.
Can we interpret Tony's proposal in such a way that this list could
serve as a forum (and spawn a separate one if the topic becomes
too important) ?

I can volunteer for (hopefully readable) contributions on architecture,
languages, Property Set, groves, SDQL, transformations (preferring
to concentrate on some of these -- it depends quite a bit on the 
expected timeframe).


Best regards,


--
Jacques Deseyne <Jacques.Deseyne@xxxxxxx>

<<application/ms-tnef>>