Re: [Scrollkeeper-devel] Handling relocatable packages

[Nik C. <ni...@no...>]

On Tue, Nov 21, 2000 at 01:36:34PM +0000, Laszlo Kovacs wrote:
> > /var/db/master.xml (or whatever it is) should not (contrary to my message)
> > handle the grouping of documents in to categories.  By that I mean that
> > it shouldn't do
> > 
> >     <sect>
> >       <title>Apps</title>
> >         <sect>
> >           <title>Xemacs</title>
> > 
> >           <doc>...</doc>
> >           <doc>...</doc>
> >           <doc>...</doc>
> >         </sect>
> > 
> >         ...
> >     </sect>
> > 
> > Why?  Because then it's a pain in the backside to have the same document
> > appear in multiple categories, as you have to list it twice.  Instead,
> > the format should be more like:
> > 
> >    <doc docid="...">
> >      <docinstance .../>
> > 
> >      <category>Applications</category>
> >      <category>Editors</category>
> >      <category>Lisp</category>
> >    </doc>
> > 
> > This can then be arranged in to groupings by the same process that generates
> > the TOC and Index.
>
> Actually it already works in the first way you described above. And I
> don't find it hard at all to manage it:-)

I think that's going to cause problems.

Consider Postgres.  That's going to install FAQs, Manuals, man pages (as
distinct from a Manual or User Guide), README files, and so on, and so 
forth.

Under your scheme, assume that we have a FAQ, Manuals, Man page (1), Man
page (2), Man page ..., and README categories, as well as a category for
Postgres.

Now, each Postgres doc is going to appear once in the Postgres category.
Then, some of those docs are going to be duplicated in the FAQ category,
some in the README category, some in the "Man Page (1)" category, and so
on.

This going to be even worse when you install a big Gnome application,
and you want to make sure that its documents are also in the Gnome
category.

I think all this duplication is a bad thing, and would much rather see
something like

   <doc docid="...">
     <docinstance url="file:/usr/local/share/man/man1/psql.1">
     <!-- Other elements ommitted -->
     <category>Postgres</category>
     <category>man(1)</category>
   </doc>

Than

  <doc docid="...">
    <docinstance url="file:/usr/local/share/man/man1/psql.1">

    <category>Postgres</category>
  </doc>

  <doc docid="...">
    <docinstance url="file:/usr/local/share/man/man1/psql.1">

    <category>man(1)</category>
  </doc>

Or,

  <category>
    <title>Postgres</title>

    <doc id="...">
      <!-- Ommitted -->
    </doc>
  </category>

  <category>
    <title>man(1)</title>

    <doc id="...">
      <!-- Ommitted -->
    </doc>
  </category>

This is basic information normalisation theory.

N
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