NAME¶
doctoc_lang_intro - doctoc language introduction
DESCRIPTION¶
This document is an informal introduction to version 1.1 of the doctoc markup
language based on a multitude of examples. After reading this a writer should
be ready to understand the two parts of the formal specification, i.e. the
doctoc language syntax specification and the
doctoc language command
reference.
FUNDAMENTALS¶
While the
doctoc markup language is quite similar to the
doctools
markup language, in the broadest terms possible, there is one key
difference. A table of contents consists essentially only of markup commands,
with no plain text interspersed between them, except for whitespace.
Each markup command is a Tcl command surrounded by a matching pair of
[
and
]. Inside of these delimiters the usual rules for a Tcl command
apply with regard to word quotation, nested commands, continuation lines, etc.
I.e.
... [division_start {Appendix 1}] ...
... [item thefile \\
label {file description}] ...
BASIC STRUCTURE¶
The most simple document which can be written in doctoc is
[toc_begin GROUPTITLE TITLE]
[toc_end]
This also shows us that all doctoc documents consist of only one part where we
will list
items and
divisions.
The user is free to mix these as she sees fit. This is a change from version 1
of the language, which did not allow this mixing, but only the use of either a
series of items or a series of divisions.
We will discuss the commands for each of these two possibilities in the next
sections.
ITEMS¶
Use the command
item to put an
item into a table of contents. This
is essentially a reference to a section, subsection, etc. in the document, or
set of documents, the table of contents is for. The command takes three
arguments, a symbolic name for the file the item is for and two text to label
the item and describe the referenced section.
Symbolic names are used to preserve the convertibility of this format to any
output format. The actual name of any file will be inserted by the chosen
formatting engine when converting the input, based on a mapping from symbolic
to actual names given to the engine.
Here a made up example for a table of contents of this document:
[toc_begin Doctoc {Language Introduction}]
[ item 1 DESCRIPTION]
[ item 1.1 {Basic structure}]
[ item 1.2 Items]
[ item 1.3 Divisions]
[ item 2 {FURTHER READING}]
[toc_end]
DIVISIONS¶
One thing of notice in the last example in the previous section is that the
referenced sections actually had a nested structure, something which was
expressed in the item labels, by using a common prefix for all the sections
nested under section 1.
This kind of structure can be made more explicit in the doctoc language by using
divisions. Instead of using a series of plain items we use a series of
divisions for the major references, and then place the nested items inside of
these.
Of course, instead of the nested items we can again use divisions and thus nest
arbitrarily deep.
A division is marked by two commands instead of one, one to start it, the other
to close the last opened division. They are:
- division_start
- This command opens a new division. It takes one or two arguments, the
title of the division, and the symbolic name of the file it refers to. The
latter is optional. If the symbolic filename is present then the section
title should link to the referenced document, if links are supported by
the output format.
- division_end
- This command closes the last opened and not yet closed division.
Using this we can recast the last example like this
[toc_begin Doctoc {Language Introduction}]
[ division_start DESCRIPTION]
[item 1 {Basic structure}]
[item 2 Items]
[item 3 Divisions]
[ division_end]
[ division_start {FURTHER READING}]
[ division_end]
[toc_end]
Or, to demonstrate deeper nesting
[toc_begin Doctoc {Language Introduction}]
[ division_start DESCRIPTION]
[ division_start {Basic structure}]
[item 1 Do]
[item 2 Re]
[ division_end]
[ division_start Items]
[item a Fi]
[item b Fo]
[item c Fa]
[ division_end]
[ division_start Divisions]
[item 1 Sub]
[item 1 Zero]
[ division_end]
[ division_end]
[ division_start {FURTHER READING}]
[ division_end]
[toc_end]
And do not forget, it is possible to freely mix items and divisions, and to have
empty divisions.
[toc_begin Doctoc {Language Introduction}]
[item 1 Do]
[ division_start DESCRIPTION]
[ division_start {Basic structure}]
[item 2 Re]
[ division_end]
[item a Fi]
[ division_start Items]
[item b Fo]
[item c Fa]
[ division_end]
[ division_start Divisions]
[ division_end]
[ division_end]
[ division_start {FURTHER READING}]
[ division_end]
[toc_end]
ADVANCED STRUCTURE¶
In all previous examples we fudged a bit regarding the markup actually allowed
to be used before the
toc_begin command opening the document.
Instead of only whitespace the two templating commands
include and
vset are also allowed, to enable the writer to either set and/or import
configuration settings relevant to the table of contents. I.e. it is possible
to write
[ include FILE]
[ vset VAR VALUE]
[toc_begin GROUPTITLE TITLE]
...
[toc_end]
Even more important, these two commands are allowed anywhere where a markup
command is allowed, without regard for any other structure.
[toc_begin GROUPTITLE TITLE]
[ include FILE]
[ vset VAR VALUE]
...
[toc_end]
The only restriction
include has to obey is that the contents of the
included file must be valid at the place of the inclusion. I.e. a file
included before
toc_begin may contain only the templating commands
vset and
include, a file included in a division may contain only
items or divisions commands, etc.
ESCAPES¶
Beyond the 6 commands shown so far we have two more available. However their
function is not the marking up of toc structure, but the insertion of
characters, namely
[ and
]. These commands,
lb and
rb respectively, are required because our use of [ and ] to bracket
markup commands makes it impossible to directly use [ and ] within the text.
Our example of their use are the sources of the last sentence in the previous
paragraph, with some highlighting added.
...
These commands, [cmd lb] and [cmd lb] respectively, are required
because our use of [ lb] and [rb] to bracket markup commands makes it
impossible to directly use [ lb] and [rb] within the text.
...
FURTHER READING¶
Now that this document has been digested the reader, assumed to be a
writer of documentation should be fortified enough to be able to
understand the formal
doctoc language syntax specification as well.
From here on out the
doctoc language command reference will also serve
as the detailed specification and cheat sheet for all available commands and
their syntax.
To be able to validate a document while writing it, it is also recommended to
familiarize oneself with Tclapps' ultra-configurable
dtp.
On the other hand, doctoc is perfectly suited for the automatic generation from
doctools documents, and this is the route Tcllib's easy and simple
dtplite goes, creating a table of contents for a set of documents
behind the scenes, without the writer having to do so on their own.
BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK¶
This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and
other problems. Please report such in the category
doctools of the
Tcllib Trackers [
http://core.tcl.tk/tcllib/reportlist]. Please also
report any ideas for enhancements you may have for either package and/or
documentation.
SEE ALSO¶
doctoc_intro, doctoc_lang_cmdref, doctoc_lang_syntax
KEYWORDS¶
doctoc commands, doctoc language, doctoc markup, doctoc syntax, markup, semantic
markup
CATEGORY¶
Documentation tools
COPYRIGHT¶
Copyright (c) 2007 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>