Switching to XML

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Hi All:

I read a thread from July explaining the current status of moving to XML
[1].

Peter, you mention that if someone has a clear need you would be open to
switching. Let me explain the problems I've encountered with SGML.

A few months ago, I split up the 8.1 pdf into 2 volumes so that I could
get a hardbound copy from Lulu. You can get those here [2-3] (I'm not
making any money, it's the pure cost of production). For 8.2, I wanted
to go deeper and be able to distribute the final version to bookstores.
In order to do that, each volume needs to be under 700 pages.

I started work on modifying the SGML to use a set of 3 volumes, split at
roughly 500 page intervals. I wanted to generate individual ToC's and
indexes for each volume. I started to modify the SGML to include a
"role" attribute for each indexterm, to tell what volume it was part of.
This was done with a simple sed script. When I went to generate the
actual indexes, I hit a brick wall. Apparently, the SGML toolchain
cannot handle typed indexes as described here [4]. Only the XML
toolchain currently handles them.

I am working with Joshua Drake on creating a Lulu account for the
fundraising group. We would then move the volumes I did for 8.1 to their
account, and raise the price so that any profit went to them. The
ability to order the 8.2 manual from bookstores could increase the
visibility of the project as a whole.

David Blewett

1.
http://groups.google.com/group/pgsql.docs/browse_thread/thread/37ff3a011bb705d7
2. http://www.lulu.com/content/455020
3. http://www.lulu.com/content/464949
4. http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2004/07/14/dbndx.html?page=3
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