Re: Mixing Mathml (And SVG) with DocBook
On Mon, 1 Mar 2004, Mike Haarman wrote:
> ------- ghaverla wrote:
> > However, if the DocBook
> > input involves various XML technologies (such as MathML or SVG),
> > then there is a problem. At least in an HTML/XML/XHTML context.
>
> As DocBook is an XML technology, it integrates directly with MathML and
> SVG in well-documented ways. Look at the customization of the DocBook
> stylesheets:
>
> http://www.sagehill.net/docbookxsl/CustomMethods.html#CustomizationLayer
Whenever I've restarted doing DocBook/XML stuff, I've ended up
going back to the net, and tried to find documentation. And very
seldom do I find anything which is of value. There may indeed be
good pieces of documentation out there, but they are not at all
easy to find.
As far as generic DocBook goes, I've seen some things about a
combined DocBook/MathML DTD which sort of works. Maybe I am
looking at it wrong. Nothing other than rumors about DocBook/SVG
or DocBook/MathML/SVG.
> > MathML and SVG (and others?) are in their infancy, and I don't see
> > any strong concensus in how they are treated.
>
> Then you are not looking at XSL.
Huh? It's been a while since I did a DocBook/SVG thing, so maybe
my memory isn't so good. But, as far as DocBook/MathML goes, if
any given page contains math, then the page needs to be presented
to the browser as XML as near as I can tell. Mozilla and IE both
seem to be able to display most of what MathML can do, but as I
read it they aren't compatible with each other. Someone seemed to
have written some kind of magic involving XSL which allowed a page
to display in both browsers. I've lost track of where I seen
that. For the MathML I've been doing, Amaya is pretty much
hopeless. Maybe as I learn more MathML, I'll learn ways around
the problems I've had with Amaya.
> > Perhaps programatically, I think (or at least would hope) that
> > HTML output of DocBook source would be strict HTML 4. I do
> > believe the DOCTYPE specified in the output document is the
> > transitional version of HTML4, and not the strict DTD. However,
> > if we want to incorporate MathML or SVG in DocBook, this isn't
> > sufficient. If we want to incorporate XML technologies in any
> > DocBook source, the output must be XHTML, and not HTML 4.
>
> No. DocBook, MathML and SVG can be processed together and happily
> generate HTML to any of the three v4 DTDs. The SVG can be processed by
> FOP and return several web graphic formats
Are you talking about changing the equations and images that
MathML and SVG describe into bitmaps, and then presenting a HTML
document which includes images? Some inline, some not. Maybe I
am just too old, but how I interpret things is that neither MathML
or SVG should be understood by a HTML browser. That the browser
must be an XML browser (or a browser which thinks the source
document is XML, including XHTML).
> > Enough prologue. I am working on a document in DocBook-Website,
> > which incorporates MathML now (and may incorporate SVG in the
> > future). Having to edit the conversion products of the Makefile
> > from HTML 4 into XHTML every time I remake things has been
> > annoying.
>
> Edit the Makefile? You may be coming up against the limits of the
> package you are using. If so, find the head of the document referenced
> in the link above and look at setting up a bespoke toolchain for
> processing your source documents.
I'll have to look that up. Certainly what I am doing now is
clumsy.
The makefile is using xsltproc to generate HTML4 from XML using
stylesheets. Since Mozilla (seems to) want XML (or XHTML), I
manually process the output (HTML) file, to produce a XHTML file.
WHich views in Mozilla without any apparent errors.
> I would certainly regard you current process as a bit of a horror.
I think it comes in part, from their just not being easily found
documentation on how to do this. But, it could be age too. I
might just be too much of a dinosaur to get it. ;-) Statistical
mechanics seems much easier than a lot of this XML stuff.
Gord
--
Matter Realisations http://www.materialisations.com/
Gordon Haverland, B.Sc. M.Eng. President
101 9504 182 St. NW Edmonton, AB, CA T5T 3A7
780/481-8019 ghaverla @ freenet.edmonton.ab.ca
780/993-1274 (alt.)
Reply to: