[Bug 5179] Editorial: It should be easier to find descriptions of "list" and "union" from the table of contents

http://www.w3.org/Bugs/Public/show_bug.cgi?id=5179

           Summary: Editorial: It should be easier to find descriptions of
                    "list" and "union" from the table of contents
           Product: XML Schema
           Version: 1.1 only
          Platform: PC
        OS/Version: Windows XP
            Status: NEW
          Severity: normal
          Priority: P2
         Component: Datatypes: XSD Part 2
        AssignedTo: cmsmcq@w3.org
        ReportedBy: noah_mendelsohn@us.ibm.com
         QAContact: www-xml-schema-comments@w3.org


We've done a good job of making it easy in Schema 1.1 Part 2 to jump from the
table of contents to descriptions of particular types like Integer. 
Abstractions like "List" and "Union" seem equally important, but you have to
more or less guess that they'd be in the section "2.4 Datatype Distinctions".

I can imagine serveral potential resolutions to this concern, any of which
would be agreeable to me:

a) Add at least section 2.4.1 to the TOC.   The obvious thing to do would be to
also add 2.4.2 Special vs. Primitive vs. Ordinary Datatypes; 2.4.3 Definition,
Derivation, Restriction, and Construction; 2.4.4 Built-in vs. User-Defined
Datatypes

b) Rearrange the sections in 2.4 so that "list" and "union" (and perhaps Atomic
as well) are level 3 rather than level 4 headings, and then include them
individually.  They seem like quite important abstractions in the type system,
and they're buried quite deeply in the TOC hierarchy.

Other solutions might be agreeable to me too, but I strongly feel we should do
something better than what we currently have.

Noah

Received on Wednesday, 10 October 2007 23:35:23 UTC