From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 From: Eric Lee Green To: Peter Toft , docbook-tools-discuss@sourceware.cygnus.com Subject: Re: Book split to several books Date: Wed, 27 Dec 2000 06:36:00 -0000 Message-id: <00071511261800.24882@ehome.inhouse> References: X-SW-Source: 2000/msg00277.html On Sat, 15 Jul 2000, Peter Toft wrote: > Now I have to split the book into 4-5 parts, but I like > feedback on how to do this in an optimal way. My > problem is that I have many cross-references which will > suffer from the split. > > I have looked into using which presumably > enables me to keep correct cross-references, but I > really would like to compile the sub-books > individually now - currently it takes too much time to > make PS, PDF, and HTML. Unfortunately your two goals (seperate compilation, extensive cross-references) are incompatible. Splitting your document into parts or multiple files on disk is easy enough -- "Docbook -- The Definitive Guide" tells you how to do that within the first few pages. But if you want cross-references, or a common index, well, the document processing system is going to have to chew through each of the documents to find all of those references. What you might do is, for review and prototyping purposes, allow some danging cross references (that is, build a "stub" document that includes only one part of the big document), and keep the global overall framework for when you want to create the "real" document w/ full index and cross references. BTW, I probably won't be requesting much help here in the future. My manager has now forbidden all Docbook SGML use in our company, saying that it's "too obscure" and "too difficult for managers to access" . I've requested a pilot study to see whether a common word processing program (StarOffice 5.2, a MS Word look-alike) will actually do everything we've been doing with Docbook, but I don't hold much hope that this pilot study will save Docbook -- the advantages of structured editing aren't obvious enough for managers (who rarely write large documents) to see. WIthout there being a brain dead word processing look alike front-end on a cross-platform basis so that idiot managers can use it on their Winblows lap-tops and Linux workstations alike, Docbook is basically dead in our company. -- Eric Lee Green There is No Conspiracy eric@badtux.org http://www.badtux.org