| None of the SDML tags that take a filespec default the filetype
portion. Defaulting the filetype is probably a good idea, but
our hope was to get users to supply a logical name rather than
a full file spec.
(We could still default the filetype, of course, so this is not
a counter-argument, merely an indication of our intent.)
The tags in question are <element>, <include>, <figure_file>,
<example_file>, <table_file>. Are there others???
Historically, the development of DOCUMENT was focused on producing
big books from lots of little pieces. There was a need to get the
details of full filespecs out of the GNC file so that the names
of files and their locations could easily be changed without altering
the source file.
When you are building a big book, you can put <includes_file>
tags in the book's profile to indicate the associations between
logical names that are referenced in each chapter with the actual
file specs that are used. THus all the filespecs can be expressed
in one file, the profile. You can also put them all in a COM file.
When you have all the filespecs in a single file (either the COM
file or the profile) the need to default the filetype seems of low
priority.
bill
|
| It seems to me that if your intent is to encourage the use of logical
names, the current practice of supplying no default file type is
counter productive.
It's probably the case the the novice DOCUMENT user won't go to the
trouble of using logical names and/or <INCLUDES_FILE> for a while.
Instead, they'll do the simplest thing first -- use actual file name
with REQUIRED FILE TYPES. For example,
<FIGURE_FILE>(LN03\snazzy_picture.sdml\50)
If "snazzy_picture.sdml" were initially allowed to be simply
"snazzy_picture", a logical name could be easily defined at some later
date, with no change needed to the DOCUMENT source file.
-- Ward
|