RE: the theory of x-refs in a modular writing environment

[<WilliamFLawrence -at- eaton -dot- com>]

Tricky, ain't it?

If the Docbook source was set up to be modular, it would have had olinks
instead of xrefs.  The olink resolves through a linking database (really
just a link table) that's periodically refreshed.  The olink target can
be resolved by document and by position at processing time.  Soooooo, if
you really want cross-references between guides the olinks keep
everything up to date (unless of course someone deletes the link target
itself).  I'm not sure if you have something similar available to you
via DITA, but I would imagine there is.    

If you find that you really want to use inter-document linking, you
could also write an XSLT script that would verify your links, just to
make sure that they all resolve. I've done that a few times. Conversely,
you could create HTML output of some sort and check for broken links
(actually, you should probably have a link-checker integrated in your
build scripting anyway). 

Hope this helps,

Bill


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007 
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.