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DocBook: The Definitive Guide

DocBook: The Definitive Guide

By Norman Walsh & Leonard Muellner
1st Edition October 1999
1-56592-580-7, Order Number: 5807
652 pages, $36.95 , Includes CD-ROM

RefSect1

Name

RefSect1 -- A major subsection of a reference entry

Synopsis

Content Model

RefSect1 ::=
(RefSect1Info?,
 (Title,Subtitle?,TitleAbbrev?),
 (((CalloutList|GlossList|ItemizedList|OrderedList|SegmentedList|
    SimpleList|VariableList|Caution|Important|Note|Tip|Warning|
    LiteralLayout|ProgramListing|ProgramListingCO|Screen|ScreenCO|
    ScreenShot|Synopsis|CmdSynopsis|FuncSynopsis|FormalPara|Para|
    SimPara|Address|BlockQuote|Graphic|GraphicCO|MediaObject|
    MediaObjectCO|InformalEquation|InformalExample|InformalFigure|
    InformalTable|Equation|Example|Figure|Table|MsgSet|Procedure|
    Sidebar|QandASet|Anchor|BridgeHead|Comment|Highlights|
    Abstract|AuthorBlurb|Epigraph|IndexTerm)+,
   RefSect2*)|
  RefSect2+))

Attributes

Common attributes

Name

Type

Default

StatusCDATANone

Tag Minimization

The start-tag is required for this element. The end-tag is optional, if your SGML declaration allows minimization.

Description

Reference pages have their own hierarchical structure. A RefSect1 is a major division in a RefEntry, analagous to a Sect1 elsewhere in the document.

The value of a separate hierarchical structure is that it allows the content model of sections in reference pages to be customized differently than the content model of sections outside. For example, because of this split, it was easy to add a recursive sectioning element (Section) as a peer to Sect1 in DocBook V3.1 without introducing it to RefEntrys, in which it would not be desirable.

Processing expectations

Formatted as a displayed block.

In some environments, the name, number, and order of major divisions in a reference page is strictly defined by house style. For example, one style requires that the first major section after the synopsis be the "Description," which it must have as its title.

In those cases, it may be useful to replace RefSect1 in the content model with a set of named sections (following the pattern of RefNameDiv and RefSynopsisDiv).

Formatting reference pages may require a fairly sophisticated processing system. Much of the meta-information about a reference page (its name, type, purpose, title, and classification) is stored in wrappers near the beginning of the RefEntry.

Common presentational features, such as titles and running headers, may require data from several of these wrappers plus some generated text. Other formatting often requires that these elements be reordered.

Parents

These elements contain RefSect1: RefEntry.

Attributes

Status

Status identifies the editorial or publication status of the RefSect1.

Publication status might be used to control formatting (for example, printing a "draft" watermark on drafts) or processing (perhaps a document with a status of "final" should not include any components that are not final).

See Also

RefNameDiv, RefSynopsisDiv

Examples

For examples, see RefEntry.

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