Logical Divisions: The Categories of Elements in DocBook
DocBook elements can be divided broadly into these categories:
| Sets |
| Books |
| Divisions, which divide books |
| Components, which divide books or divisions |
| Sections, which subdivide components |
| Meta-information elements |
| Block elements |
| Inline elements |
In the rest of this section, we’ll describe briefly the elements that make up these categories. This section is designed to give you an overview. It is not an exhaustive list of every element in DocBook.
For more information about any specific element and the elements that it may contain, consult the reference page for the element in question.
Sets
A set contains two or more
books. It’s the hierarchical top of DocBook. You use
the set tag, for example, for a series of books on a
single subject that you want to access and maintain as a single unit,
such as the manuals for series of computer systems or the documentation
(tutorial, reference, etc.) for a programming language. Sets are allowed
to contain other sets, though this is not common.
Books
A book is probably the most common
top-level element in a document. The DocBook definition of a book is
very loose and general. Given the variety of books authored with DocBook
and the number of different conventions for book organization used
around the world, any attempt to impose a strict ordering of elements
would make the content model extremely complex. Therefore, DocBook gives
you free rein. You can use a local customization (see Chapter 5) if you want ...
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