Function libraries and other helpers? [Was: Does the Crystal Goblet apply?]

On Thu, January 2, 2014 12:49 pm, Dave Pawson wrote:
> On 2 January 2014 12:28, Tony Graham <tgraham@mentea.net> wrote:
>> The DPUB IG, with its focus on Publishers, might assume that
>> professionals
>> know all about these things, but it seems to me that there's lots of
>> people who aren't professional designers and who don't have the
>> strictures
>> of a S1000D telling them how to lay everything out who could do with
>> some
>> help.
>
> Very much agree. My crude view of this user is the classic Word author
> who simply says, that looks OK - when Bringhurst would turn in his...
> bed.
>
>> An idea that I've had for a long time but never had the time to act on
>> is
>> to produce an XSLT function library to make it easier for someone
>> sitting
>> in an office somewhere to produce pages with proportions based on a
>> chromatic scale (as Bringhurst seems to like) or margins with the
>> "sound,
>> elegant and basic medieval structure" (Bringhurst, again) of Villard de
>> Honnecourt or based on a modular scale, rather than just thinking
>> "Margins?  Hmmm, '1in 1in 1in 1in' will suffice."
>
> Two points which strike me as well worth chasing Tony.
> 1. Don't use a typographsers language, i.e. KISS
> 2. (somehow) provide the sort of help you mention in
> the second para above.
>
> The first we should be able to do. The second is (perhaps)
> an exslt 'library' of sorts?

Another popular choice among members who answered the survey was to
develop function libraries.

What do we want, or what do we think other people need?

What existing resources are there?

Regards,


Tony.

 --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  --  -- --
Mentea       XML, XSL-FO and XSLT consulting, training and programming

Received on Sunday, 9 February 2014 23:22:59 UTC