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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.

              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,  will  undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems.  Please report such in
       the       category       doctools       of       the       Tcllib       SF        Trackers
       [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=12883].    Please  also  report  any  ideas  for
       enhancements you may have.

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>