Word Styles (was: OTT Re: [xsl] Converting XML into ODT document to print as paper

Subject: Word Styles (was: OTT Re: [xsl] Converting XML into ODT document to print as paper
From: "Peter Flynn peter@xxxxxxxxxxx" <xsl-list-service@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 30 Sep 2020 14:32:03 -0000
On 30/09/2020 14:41, Wendell Piez wapiez@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:[...]
> To Word Styles, I would like to add Word Outlining to the list of
> features that are exploitable. [...]

I'm surprised it's not used more, particularly by those who loved the outliners people used in the days of DOS systems.

> [...] And how does one convince authors to learn and use such a
> feature, much less respect the validation and the design constraint
> it represents?

Authors who are accustomed to writing structured text (documenters and most academics) don't have a problem with the constraints but are sometimes surprised to find that (in XML) you can run a check on structure and that it's even part of the editing software's job to keep the structure in line with the type of document.

The concept of "type of document" is a major stumbling-block. To many writers, all documents are the same: they just include or exclude certain features.

Convincing them to learn and use these features is a lost cause while publishers require Word (or perhaps LaTeX for math) and there is no editing software b yet b that can adhere to a schema/dtd AND export seamlessly to Word including a specific publisher's named styles AND re-import seamlessly from the publisher's Word post-editing.

At least not that I have seen, but I may have missed it. Many excellent editors come close in some aspects of this, but there is nothing you can hand to a writer and say, "Hey, try this!" and they can just sit down and use it without a training course.

Peter

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