About multiple output documents from a single XML/SGML processed document

["Didier PH Martin" <martind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi,

Sorry about the problem encountered for a single input file - multiple
output files. I do not know the trick to obtain this with either OpenJade or
Jade.

What we do know from our archeological code researches :-) is:

a) a Scroll object creates a new output file, When several scroll objects
are created from a processed SGML/XML document, several output files are
created with the following rule: to the output file name is appended an
increment (already explained in a previous message). The only mode that
support the scroll object is the HTML mode supported by the HTML backend
which itself produces HTML+CSS files. The html mode is explained in:

http://netfolder.com/DSSSL/HTML-CSS%20Formatting%20objects.html



b) a simple-page-sequence object for the RTF backend (we need to check this
for Tex, and MIF), just change the page setting of the output file but do
not create a new output file. I do not know actual ways to create more than
one output file for the RTF mode (maybe there is none, maybe there is some,
comments???)
About his subject, I asked to people from this list if having the
simple-page-sequence flow object to create more than one output file and
got, up to now, just two answers: no, because the simple-page-sequence could
be used to reset the page setting. This is a legitimate answer. So, it seems
that a solution would be to add a new characteristic to the
simple-page-sequence and this new characteristic would be used to create a
new output file or, said differently, create a new flow object tree. Is this
a viable solution?

I take good notes from a Jade user (I do not know if this is an OpenJade
user??) of the frustration of not being able to create multiple output files
from a single SGML/XML file. Up to now, the capabilities have been more to
provide ways to aggregate multiple input files (i.e. groves) into a single
output file (i.e. flow object tree). The requirement now, is to add new
capabilities to page oriented backends such as:
- MIF
- Tex
- PDF
- RTF

 to provide the new capability through a "to be determined" solution (like
the previously mentioned characteristic addition). So to add, a new
capability to allow single/multiple input document(s) into single/multiple
output document(s).

The proposal on the table is to add a new characteristic to the
simple-page-sequence object to allow the creation of a new flow object tree
(i.e. a new output document). The characteristic could be called:

output-file-name: "name.xxx" This characteristic value is a string. The new
document name is appended to the actual output directory path (ex: c:\my
dir1\dir2\name.xxx" or "usr/data/dir1/dir2/name.xxx")

The behavior would be that each time a simple-page-sequence is "made", and
that this latter has the "output-file-name" characteristic set to a name
then a new flow object tree is created and a new output file too (this
latter receives the object flow tree). If this characteristic is absent,
then no new output file is created. This characteristic is solely reserved
to the simple-page-sequence object.

The scroll object still keep the same behavior.

Any comments? suggestions?

Talking for the OpenJade team.
regards
Didier PH Martin
mailto:martind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.netfolder.com


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