Re: Modular Docbook v1.13 bug

[Norman Walsh <ndw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

| 1. it should be possible to select between a flat continuous numbering
|    mode or a per-element numbering mode (counters are reset
|    within each element)

I was thinking of %component-numbering% (I really gotta lose that
whole percent-thing someday) being either 'by-type or 'by-level Where
'by-type would imply what is done now and 'by-level would imply what
you want.

My plan was to continue to ignore PARTs for the purpose of numbering.
The fully general case where you could choose what levels of hierarchy
to ignore would be fairly hairy and I'm not convinced it's worth it.
Would you ever want not to ignore PART?  Is there anything else that
you'd ever really want to ignore?

| 2. it should be possible to specify the TOC format for a given level,
|    whatever kind of element is inside
|
| 3. whether an element appears in the TOC and is numbered should only depend
|    on its level in the document (maybe with additional filters
|    on the type)

I don't like those requirements at all.  The kind of number an element
gets should depend on it's type, not it's level, IMHO.  I don't think
of a TOC as an outline.  I think this would just be wrong:

  I. Chapter 1
  II. Chapter 2
  III. Part 1
     3. Chapter 3
     4. Chapter 4
  IV. Part 2
     5. Chapter 5
  VI. Chapter 6

Likewise, I don't think I've ever seen this and don't feel any compelling
need to support it, 'though I suppose I could be talked into it:

  I. Chapter 1
  II. Chapter 2
  III. Part 1
     1. Chapter 1
     2. Chapter 2
  IV. Part 2
     1. Chapter 1
  VI. Chapter 6

| 4. any missing requirement?
| 
|  user interface should look like:	
[...]
| I would like to have some feedback before I start implementing this spec.

I'm getting a sense for the problem space.

The features we want to control are:

  element numbering
  element appearance in the TOC

The conditions we can use for control are:

  element type
  element level in the hierarchy
  element ancestry
  level of the toc?  (a PART TOC vs. a CHAPTER TOC vs. a BOOK toc)

Does this extend to section numbering?  In the fully general case we could
have even odder rules, like SECT1 in a CHAPTER in a PART in a PART TOC is
numbered and a SECT1 in a CHAPTER in a BOOK is not.  I'd like to avoid
going this far.

I think I've just come to the conclusion that element numbering and
appearance in the TOC are not merely orthogonal, they're unrelated.
If it appears in the TOC it should be numbered if and only if it's
numbered in the content.

I'm inclined to implement:

 - numbering based solely on element type
 - the appearance of numbering based solely on element type
 - appearance in the toc based on level + element type

How bad would that be?


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