Re: docbook conversion issue: nesting of formatting

[Patrice Dumas]

On Mon, Feb 03, 2014 at 02:52:14AM -0700, address@hidden wrote:
> Hi Eli.
> 
> > Is this a real-life example?  Because if it is, I don't understand how
> > "@command{awk} program" ended up in @dfn, since the latter is supposed
> > to be used for introducing new terminology, which this phrase isn't.
> 
> Yes, it's a real example. Here is the full paragraph:
> 
>       The term @command{awk} refers to a particular program as well as
>       to the language you use to tell this program what to do.  When we
>       need to be careful, we call the language ``the @command{awk}
>       language,'' and the program ``the @command{awk} utility.''
>       This @value{DOCUMENT} explains both how to write programs in the
>       @command{awk} language and how to run the @command{awk} utility.
>       The term @address@hidden program} refers to a program written
>       by you in the @command{awk} programming language.
> 
> I can, and probably will, work around this by changing it to say
> 
>       ... The term address@hidden program'' referss to ...

I think this is not the correct way. If this is really an expression, it
should not have additional formatting. I would have written the 

  The term @dfn{awk program} refers to a program written ...

and in the remaining I would have used "awk program" each time I refer
to that term, as it is a concept with awk here as a language and not
a command.  I cannot imagine any case of @dfn with @command, or @file or
any such semantic commands within @dfn, as what they mark (a file,
command...) is always different from what @dfn marks (a concept).

> But the general issue of context sensitivity in Docbook remains.
> I can find other examples, I'm pretty sure.

If you find other examples, I will try to fix them, as we try to have
valid docbook produced. If workarounds are needed, in general I will
simply drop the inner formatting.  I though that there were already such
workarounds in the current code, but I gave a rapid look at the code and
nothing seemed to exist.  But those issues, in fact prevented to use
quite a bit of docbook commands, when they were too restricted in what
they may contain.

-- 
Pat