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]>
<article id="index">
<artheader>
<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>David</firstname>
<surname>Mason</surname>
<affiliation>
<orgname>Red Hat, Inc.</orgname>
<address>
<email>dcm@redhat.com</email>
</address>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author>
<firstname>Daniel</firstname>
<surname>Mueth</surname>
<affiliation>
<address>
<email>d-mueth@uchicago.edu</email>
</address>
</affiliation>
</author>
<author>
<firstname>Alexander</firstname>
<surname>Kirillov</surname>
<affiliation>
<address>
<email>kirillov@math.sunysb.edu</email>
</address>
</affiliation>
</author>
</authorgroup>
<releaseinfo>
This is a pre-release!
</releaseinfo>
<revhistory>
<revision>
<revnumber>
0.99
</revnumber>
<date>
01.07.2000
</date>
</revision>
</revhistory>
<copyright>
<year>2000</year>
<holder>Red Hat, Inc., Daniel Mueth, and Alexander Kirillov</holder>
</copyright>
<legalnotice>
<para>
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are
preserved on all copies.
</para>
<para>
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of
this manual under the conditions for verbatim copying, provided that
the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a
permission notice identical to this one.
</para>
<para>
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this
manual into another language, under the above conditions for modified
versions, except that this permission notice may be stated in a
translation approved by the Foundation.
</para>
</legalnotice>
<title>The GNOME Handbook of Writing Software Documentation</title>
</artheader>
<!-- ################# Introduction ############### -->
<sect1 id="intro">
<title>Introduction</title>
<!-- ####### Introduction | The GNOME Documentation Project ####### -->
<sect2 id="gdp">
<title>The GNOME Documentation Project</title>
<sect3 id="goals">
<title>Goals</title>
<para>
The GNOME Documentation Project (GDP) aims to provide GNOME and GNOME
applications with a complete, intuitive, and clear documentation
system. At the center of the GDP is the <application>GNOME Help
Browser</application>, which presents a unified interface to
GNOME-specific documentation as well as other Linux documentation such
as man pages, and texinfo documents. The GNOME Help System provides a
view of documentation on a machine by dynamically assembling the
documentation of applications and components which are installed. The
GDP is responsible for writing numerous GNOME-related documents, both
for developers and for users. Developer documentation includes APIs
for the GNOME libraries, <citetitle>GNOME White Paper</citetitle>'s,
GNOME developer tutorials and FAQ's, <ulink
url="http://www.developer.gnome.org" type="http">GNOME Developer's
Website</ulink>, and <citetitle>GNOME Handbook</citetitle>'s. User
documentation include the <citetitle>GNOME User's Guide</citetitle>,
the <citetitle>GNOME FAQ</citetitle>, and GNOME application
documentation. Most GNOME applications have their own manual in
addition to context sensitive help.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="joining">
<title>Joining the GDP</title>
<para>
Documenting GNOME and all the numerous GNOME applications is
a very large project. The GDP is always looking for people
to help write, update, and edit documentation. If you are
interested in joining the GDP team, you should join the
<ulink url="http://www.gnome.org/mailing-lists/index.shtml">
<citetitle>gnome-doc-list mailing list</citetitle> </ulink>.
Read <xref linkend="gettingstarted" />, for help selecting a
project to work on. Feel free to introduce yourself on the
gnome-doc-list mailing list and indicate which project you
intend to work on, or else ask for suggestions of important
documents which need work done. You may also want to join the
#docs IRC channel on irc.gnome.org to meet other GDP members
and discuss any questions you may have. For a list of GDP
projects and members, see the
<ulink url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp">
<citetitle>GDP Website</citetitle></ulink>.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="collaborating">
<title>Collaborating with the GDP</title>
<para>
GNOME developers, packagers, and translators may not be
writing GNOME documentation but will want to understand how
the GNOME documentation system works and will need to
collaborate with GDP members. This document should help to
outline the structure of how the GNOME documentation system
works. Developers who do not write the documentation for
their applications are encouraged to find a GDP member to
write the documentation. This is best done by sending an
email to the <ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/mailing-lists/index.shtml">
<citetitle>gnome-doc-list mailing list</citetitle> </ulink>
describing the application, where it can be downloaded from,
and that the developer(s) would like a GDP member to write
documentation for the application. The #docs IRC channel on
irc.gnome.org is another option for contacting GDP members.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Introduction | Notation and Conventions ####### -->
<sect2 id="notation">
<title>Notation and Conventions</title>
<para>
This Handbook uses the following notation:
<informaltable frame="none">
<tgroup cols="2">
<tbody>
<row>
<entry>
<filename class="directory">/usr/bin</filename>
</entry>
<entry>
Directory
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
<filename>foo.sgml</filename>
</entry>
<entry>
Filename
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
<command>command</command>
</entry>
<entry>
Command or text that would be typed.
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
<command><replaceable>replaceable</replaceable></command
</entry>
<entry>
"Variable" text that can be replaced.
</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>
<literal>Program or Doc Code</literal>
</entry>
<entry>Program or document code</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Introduction | About This Handbook ####### -->
<sect2 id="about">
<title>About This Handbook</title>
<para>
This Handbook is a guide for both writing documentation for
GNOME components and applications and for properly binding and
packaging documentation into GNOME applications.
</para>
<para>
This Handbook, like all GNOME documentation, was written in
DocBook(SGML) and is available in several formats including
SGML, HTML, PostScript, and PDF. For the latest version, see
<ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/handbook.html"><citetitle>Getting
The GNOME Handbook of Writing Software
Documentation</citetitle> </ulink>. Alternately, one may
download it anonymously from GNOME CVS under <filename
class="directory">gnome-docu/gdp</filename>.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Getting Started ############### -->
<sect1 id="gettingstarted">
<title>Getting Started Writing GNOME Documentation</title>
<!--####### Getting Started | Selecting A Document ####### -->
<sect2 id="selecting">
<title>Selecting A Document</title>
<sect3 id="know">
<title>Document Something You Know</title>
<para>
The most frequently asked question new contributors have
before starting to work on the GDP is "what should I start
with?". Because most people involved are volunteers, we do
not <emphasis>assign</emphasis> projects and applications to
write documents for. The first step is all yours - you must
decide what about GNOME interests you most and find out if
it has complete documents or not.
</para>
<para>
It is also important to spend some time with GNOME to make
sure you are familiar enough with it to be
<emphasis>authoritative</emphasis> in your writing. The
best way to do this is to just sit down and play with GNOME
as much as possible before starting to write.
</para>
<para>
The easiest way to get started is to improve existing
documentation. If you notice some inaccuracies or omissions
in the documentation, or you think that you can explain the
material more clearly, just send your suggestions to the
author of the original documentation or to the GNOME
documentation project at <email>docs@gnome.org</email>.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="doctable">
<title>The GNOME Documentation Status Table</title>
<para>
The <citetitle>GDP Documentation Status Table</citetitle>
(<citetitle>DocTable</citetitle>) (<ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/doctable/"
type="http">http://www.gnome.org/gdp/doctable/</ulink>) is a
web page which tracks the status of all the various
documentation components of GNOME. These components include
application documentation, internal GNOME component
documentation, user documentation, and developer
documentation. For each documentation item, it tracks the
current status of the documentation, who is working on the
particular document, where the documentation can be found,
and provides a forum for the discussion of each item.
</para>
<para>
You should use the <citetitle>DocTable</citetitle> to help
you select a documentation item which needs work done. Once
you have selected an item to work on, please register
yourself as an author so that other authors do not duplicate
your work and may contact you to help or offer suggestions.
Also be sure to keep the status icons up-to-date so that
the GDP team can easily identify which items need additional
help. The DocTable also allows people to make announcements
and suggestions and to discuss issues in the comments
section.
</para>
<note>
<title>Note</title>
<para>
Note that the information in the
<citetitle>DocTable</citetitle> may not always be up-to-date
or accurate. When you assign yourself to documenting an
application, make sure you find out the latest status of
documentation by contacting the application author. You may
also want to see if there is any documentation in the <ulink
type="http"
url="http://www.gnome.org/users-guide/project.shtml">
<citetitle>GNOME User's Guide</citetitle></ulink> describing
the application which you can extract into the application
manual.
</para>
</note>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Getting Started | Installing And Using DocBook ####### -->
<sect2 id="docbook">
<title>Installing and Using DocBook</title>
<para>
All documentation for the GNOME project is written in SGML
utilizing the DocBook DTD. There are many advantages to using
this for documentation, not least of which is the single
source nature of SGML. To contribute to the GDP you should
learn to use DocBook.
</para>
<note>
<title>NOTE</title>
<para>
To get started writing for the GDP you do not need to rush
out and learn DocBook - if you feel it is too much to handle
for now, you can submit plain ASCII text to the <ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/mailing-lists/index.shtml">
<citetitle>gnome-doc-list mailing list</citetitle>
</ulink>and a volunteer will mark it up for you. Seeing you
document marked up will also be a great way for you to start
learning how to use DocBook.
</para>
</note>
<sect3 id="installingdocbook">
<title>Installing DocBook</title>
<para>
Download and install the following <ulink
url="ftp://sourceware.cygnus.com:/pub/docbook-tools/"
type="ftp">DocBook Tools packages</ulink>: jade,docbook,
jadetex, sgml-common, stylesheets. You can find more
information on DocBook Tools <ulink url="
http://sourceware.cygnus.com/docbook-tools/"
type="http">here</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
If you are an <application>Emacs</application> user you may
want to grab the psgml package as well. This is a major mode
for editing sgml files in <application>Emacs</application>.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="gdpstylesheets">
<title>GDP Stylesheets</title>
<para>
The GDP uses its own DocBook stylesheets. To use the GDP
stylesheets, you should download the file
<filename>gdp-both.dsl</filename> from the <filename
class="directory">gnome-docu/gdp/dsssl</filename> module in
CVS (or from <ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/stylesheet.html">GDP Custom
DSSSL Stylesheet</ulink>)and copy it into <filename
class="directory">/usr/lib/sgml/stylesheets</filename>. You
will need to point DocBook Tools to this stylesheet with the
<command><option>-d</option></command> option:
<command>db2html -d /usr/lib/sgml/stylesheets/gdp-both.dsl
<replaceable>foo.sgml</replaceable></command>. (Creating an
alias to include this option and path is convenient.)
Alternately, you could overwrite
<filename>/usr/lib/sgml/stylesheets/cygnus-both.dsl</filename>
with <filename>gdp-both.dsl</filename>.
</para>
<note>
<para>
The current version of the DocBook Tools command
<command>db2ps</command> does not have a
<command><option>-d</option></command> option. In order to
create PostScript output, you must overwrite
<filename>/usr/lib/sgml/stylesheets/cygnus-both.dsl</filename>
with <filename>gdp-both.dsl</filename>.
</para>
</note>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="gdpdtd">
<title>GDP DTD (PNG Image Support)</title>
<para>
Due to some license issues involved with the creation of
gifs, the GNOME Documentation Project has decided to use the
PNG image format for all images in the documentation. You
can read more about the issues involved with gifs at <ulink
url="http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html"
type="http">http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/gif.html</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
The current DocBook DTD(3.1) does not include support for
embedding PNG images in your documents. Since the GDP uses
many screenshots in its documentation, we use our own
variation on the DocBook DTD which has PNG image support.
We encourage everybody to use this DTD instead of the
default DocBook DTD since your source document header and
your output document appearance subtly vary between the two
DTD's. To install the GDP custom DTD with PNG image support:
</para>
<itemizedlist mark="opencircle">
<listitem>
<para>
Download <ulink
url="http://www.labs.redhat.com/png/png-support.html">the
GDP DocBook DTD for PNG support</ulink> and install it
where you keep your DTD's. (On Red Hat use <filename
class="directory">/usr/lib/sgml/</filename>.) Note that
the 3.0 DTD is missing support for the
<sgmltag><legalnotice></sgmltag> tag, so it is
recommended that you use version 3.1
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem override="bullet">
<para>
Add the new DTD to your SGML CATALOG file. The location
of your SGML CATALOG file may vary depending upon your
distribution. (On Red Hat it is usually in
/usr/lib/sgml/CATALOG.) Add the following line to this
file:
<programlisting>
PUBLIC "-//GNOME//DTD DocBook PNG Variant V1.0//EN" "png-support.dtd"
</programlisting>
If you are using the 3.1 DTD, use:
<programlisting>
PUBLIC "-//GNOME//DTD DocBook PNG Variant V1.0//EN" "png-support-3.1.dtd"
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
To include PNG files in your documents, you will need to
indicate that you are using this special DTD. To do
this, use the following headers:
</para>
<para>
Articles:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[<!DOCTYPE Article PUBLIC "-//GNOME//DTD DocBook PNG Variant
V1.0//EN"[]>]]>
</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
Books:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[<!DOCTYPE Book PUBLIC "-//GNOME//DTD DocBook PNG Variant
V1.0//EN"[]>]]>
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="editors">
<title>Editors</title>
<para>
There are many editors available in Linux and UNIX systems
available to you. Which editor you use to work on the sgml
documents is completely up to you as long as the editor is
able to preserve sgml and produce the source in a format
that is readable by everyone.
</para>
<para>
Probably the two most popular editors available are
<application>Emacs</application> and
<application>vi</application>. These, and other editors are
used regularly by members of the GDP. Emacs does have a
major mode, psgml, for editing sgml files which can save you
time and effort in adding and closing tags. You will find
the psgml package in DocBook Tools which is the standard set
of tools for the GDP. You may find out more about DocBook
Tools in <xref linkend="installingdocbook" />.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="make-output">
<title>Creating Something Useful with your Docs</title>
<para>
The tools available in DocBook Tools allow you to convert
your sgml to many different formats including html and
postscript. The primary tool being used to make such
transformations is an application called
<application>Jade</application>. In most cases you will not
have to work directly with <application>Jade</application>,
you will use the scripts provided by DocBook Tools.
</para>
<para>
To preview your DocBook document, it is easiest to convert
it to <filename>html</filename>. If you have installed the
DocBook tools described above, all you have to do is to run
the command <prompt>$</prompt><command>db2html
mydocument.sgml</command> If there are no sgml syntax
errors, this will create a subdirectory
<filename>mydocument</filename> and place there the
resulting html files. The title page of the document will be
<filename>mydocument/index.html</filename>, and you can use
any browser to view it.
</para>
<para>
You can also convert your document to PostScript by running
the command <prompt>$</prompt><command>db2ps
mydocument.sgml</command>, after which you can print out or
view the resulting .ps file. </para>
<note>
<title>NOTE</title>
<para>
The html files you get will not look quite the same as the
documentation distributed with GNOME unless you have the
custom stylesheets installed on your machine. DocBook
Tools' default stylesheets will produce a different look
to your docs. You can read more about the GDP stylesheets
in <xref linkend="gdpstylesheets" />.
</para>
</note>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="jadeimages">
<title>Images in DocBook Tools</title>
<para>
If your document uses images you will need to take note of a
few things that should take place in order for you to make
use of those images in your output.
</para>
<para>
The DocBook Tools scripts and applications are smart enough
to know that when you are creating html you will be using
PNG files and when you are creating Postscript you will be
using EPS files (you must use EPS with Postscript).
</para>
<para>
To make sure you do not confuse the process you should never
include the actual extension of the image file as DocBook
Tools will handle that for you. For example:
</para>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<figure>
<title>My Image</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Sample GNOME Display</screeninfo>
<graphic format="png" fileref="./myfile" srccredit="me">
</graphic>
</screenshot>
</figure>
]]>
</programlisting>
<para>
You will notice in the example that the file
<filename>myfile.png</filename> was referred to as simply
<filename>myfile</filename>. Now when you run
<command>db2html</command> to create an html file, it will
automatically look for <filename>myfile.png</filename> in
the directory.
</para>
<para>
If you want to create PostScript you will need to create an
EPS version of your image file to be displayed in the
PostScript file. There is a simple script available which
allows you to change a PNG image into an EPS file
easily. You can download this file - img2eps - from <ulink
url="http://people.redhat.com/dcm/sgml.html"
type="html">http://people.redhat.com/dcm/sgml.html</ulink>
(look for the img2eps section).
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="moredocbookinfo">
<title>Learning DocBook</title>
<para>
There are many tools available to help you learn DocBook.
The following resources on the web are useful for learning
DocBook:
</para>
<itemizedlist mark="bullet">
<listitem>
<para>
<ulink url="http://www.docbook.org"
type="http">http://www.docbook.org</ulink> - Norman
Walsh's <citetitle>DocBook: The Definitive
Guide</citetitle>. Online O'Reilly book on using
DocBook. Contains an excellent element reference. May be
too formal for a beginner.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<ulink
url="http://www.oswg.org/oswg-nightly/oswg/en_US.ISO_8859-1/articles/DocBook-Intro/docbook-intro/index.html"
type="http">A Practical Introduction to DocBook</ulink>
- The Open Source Writers Group's introduction to using
DocBook. This is an excellent HOW-TO type article on
getting started.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<ulink
url="http://nis-www.lanl.gov/~rosalia/mydocs/docbook-intro/docbook-intro.html"
type="http">Getting Going with DocBook: Notes for
Hackers</ulink> - Mark Galassi's introduction to DocBook
for hackers. This has to be one of the first
introductions to DocBook ever - still as good as it ever
was.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<ulink type="http" url="http://www.freebsd.org/tutorials/docproj-primer/">
FreeBSD Documentation Project Primer for New
Contributors</ulink> - FreeBSD documentation project
primer. Chapter 4.2 provides a very good introduction to
writing documentation using DocBook. Note that it also
describes some custom extensions of DocBook;
fortunately, they are clearly marked as such.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
Norman Walsh's book is also available in print.
</para>
<para>
The following sections of this document are designed to help
documentation authors write correct and consistent DocBook:
</para>
<itemizedlist mark="bullet">
<listitem>
<para>
<xref linkend="docbookbasics" /> - Descriptions of
commonly used DocBook tags.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
You may also discuss specific DocBook questions with GDP
members on the #docs IRC channel at irc.gnome.org and on the
gnome-doc-list mailing list.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Getting Started | GDP Document Examples ####### -->
<sect2 id="examples">
<title>GDP Document Examples</title>
<para>
Examples of various types of GNOME documents are found in
<xref linkend="examples" />. There is also an example GNOME
application with documentation called
<application>gnome-hello</application> in GNOME cvs.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Getting Started | GDP Document Templates ####### -->
<sect2 id="gdptemplates">
<title>GDP Document Templates</title>
<para>
Templates for various types of GNOME documents are found in
<xref linkend="templates" />.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Getting Started | Using CVS ####### -->
<sect2 id="cvs">
<title>Using CVS</title>
<para>
CVS (Concurrent Versions System) is a tool that allows
multiple developers to concurrently work on a set of
documents, keeping track of the modifications made by each
person. The files are stored on a server and each developer
checks files out, modifies them, and then checks in their
modified version of the files. Many GNOME programs and
documents are stored in CVS. The GNOME CVS server allows
users to anonymously check out CVS files. Most GDP members
will need to use anonymous CVS to download the most up-to-date
version of documentation or programs. Modified documents will
typically be emailed to the the application developer. Core
GDP members may also be granted login CVS privileges so they
may commit modified files directly to CVS.
</para>
<sect3 id="anonymouscvs">
<title>Anonymous CVS</title>
<para>
To anonymously check out documents from CVS, you must first
log in. From the bash shell, you should set your CVSROOT
shell variable with <command> export
CVSROOT=':pserver:anonymous@anoncvs.gnome.org:/cvs/gnome'</command>
and then login with <command>cvs login</command>(there is no
password, just hit return). As an example, we will use the
"gnome-docu/gdp" module which contains this and several
other documents. To check these documents out for the first
time, type <command>cvs -z3 checkout
gnome-docu/gdp</command>. After you have this document
checked out and you would like to download any updates on
the CVS server, use <command>cvs -z3 update -Pd</command>.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="logincvs">
<title>Login CVS</title> <para> If you have been given a
login for the GNOME CVS server, you may commit your file
modifications to CVS. Be sure to read the following section
on CVS Etiquette before making any commits to CVS. To log in
to the CVS server as user
<command><replaceable>username</replaceable></command> with a
password, you must first set your CVSROOT shell variable with
<command> export
CVSROOT=':pserver:<replaceable>username</replaceable>@cvs.gnome.org:/cvs/gnome'</command>.
Log in with <command>cvs login</command> and enter your
password. You may check out and update modules as described
above for anonymous CVS access. As a login CVS user, you may
also check modified versions of a file into the CVS server.
To check
<command><replaceable>filename</replaceable></command> into
the CVS server, type <command>cvs -z3 commit
<replaceable>filename</replaceable></command>. You will be
given a vi editor window to type in a brief log entry,
summarizing your changes. The default editor can be changed
using the <varname>EDITOR</varname> environment variable or
with the <command><option>-e</option></command> option. To
add a new file to the CVS server, use <command>cvs -z3 add
<replaceable>filename</replaceable></command>, followed by the
commit command.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="cvsetiquette">
<title>CVS Etiquette</title>
<para>
Because files in CVS are typically used and modified by
multiple developers and documentation authors, users should
exercise a few simple practices out of courtesy towards the
other CVS users and the project leader. First, you should
not make CVS commits to a package without first discussing
your plans with the project leader. This way, the project
leader knows who is modifying the files and generally, what
sort of changes/development is being done. Also, whenever a
CVS user commits a file to CVS, they should make an entry in
the CVS log and in the <filename>ChangeLog</filename> so
that other users know who is making modifications and what
is being modified. When modifying files created by others,
you should follow the indentation scheme used by the initial
author.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# The GNOME Documentation System###############
-->
<sect1 id="gnomedocsystem">
<title>The GNOME Documentation System</title>
<!-- ####### The GNOME Documentation System | The GNOME Help Browser
####### -->
<sect2 id="gnomehelpbrowser">
<title>The GNOME Help Browser</title>
<para>
At the core of the GNOME help system is the <application>GNOME
Help Browser</application>. The <application>Help
Browser</application> provides a unified interface to several
distinct documentation systems on Linux/Unix systems: man
pages, texinfo pages, Linux Documentation Project(LDP)
documents, GNOME application documentation, and other GNOME
documents.
</para>
<para>
The <application>GNOME Help Browser</application> works by
searching standard directories for documents which are to be
presented. Thus, the documentation that appears in the GHB is
specific to each computer and will typically only represent
software that is installed on the computer.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### The GNOME Documentation System | The GNOME Help Browser
####### -->
<sect2 id="gnomehelpbrowser2">
<title>The GNOME Help Browser (GNOME-2.0)</title> <para> In
GNOME 2.0, the <application>GNOME Help Browser</application>
will be replaced by <application>Nautilus</application>.
Nautilus will be the file manager/graphical shell for GNOME 2.0
and will also implement a more sophisticated help system than
that used by the <application>GNOME Help Browser</application>
used in GNOME 1.0. It will read and display DocBook files
directly, avoiding the need for duplicating documents in both
DocBook and HTML formats. Its display engine for DocBook will
be much faster than running <application>jade</application> to
convert to HTML for rendering. Because it uses the original
DocBook source for documentation, it will be possible to do more
sophisticated searching using the meta information included in
the documents. And since Nautilus is a virtual file system
layer which is Internet-capable, it will be able to find and
display documents which are on the web as well as those on the
local file system. For more information on
<application>Nautilus</application>, visit the #nautilus IRC
channel on irc.gnome.org. </para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### The GNOME Documentation System | GNOME On-The-Fly
Documentation Generation ####### -->
<sect2 id="gnomehelponthefly">
<title>Dynamic Document Synthesis(GNOME-2.0)</title>
<para>
GNOME uses the documentation presented by all the various
GNOME components and applications installed on the system to
present a complete and customized documentation environment
describing only components which are currently installed on a
users system. Some of this documentation, such as the manuals
for applets, will be combined in such a way that it appears to
be a single document.
</para>
<para>
By using such a system, you can be sure that any GNOME app you
install that has documentation will show up in the index,
table of contents, any search you do in the help browser.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### The GNOME Documentation System | The GNOME Documentation
Components ####### -->
<sect2 id="gnomehelpcomponents">
<title>The GNOME Documentation Components</title>
<sect3 id="applicationmanualsintro">
<title>Application Manuals</title>
<para>
Every GNOME application should have an application manual.
An application manual is a document specific to the
particular application which explains the various windows
and features of the application. Application Manuals
typically use screenshots (PNG format) for clarity. Writing
application manuals is discussed in more detail in <xref
linkend="writingapplicationmanuals" /> below.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="applicationhelpintro">
<title>Application Help</title>
<para>
Applications should have a <guibutton>Help</guibutton>
button on screens on which users may need help. These
<guibutton>Help</guibutton> buttons should pull up the
default help browser, determined by the
<varname>ghelp</varname> URL Handler (configured using the
<application>Control Center</application>), typically the
<application>GNOME Help Browser</application>. The help
browser should show either the first page of the application
manual, or else the relevant page thereof. Application help
is described in more detail in <xref
linkend="applicationhelpbuttons" /> below.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="contextsensitivehelpintro">
<title>Application Context Sensitive Help (coming in
GNOME-2.0)</title>
<para>
Context sensitive help is a system which will allow the user
to query any part (button, widget, etc.) of an application
window. This is done by either entering a CS Help mode by
clicking on an icon or by right clicking on the application
part and selecting "What's This" or whatever is decided on
at the time. Context sensitive help is described in more
detail in <xref linkend="writingcontextsensitivehelp" />
below.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="userguide">
<title>The GNOME User Guide</title>
<para>
The <citetitle>GNOME User Guide</citetitle> describes the
GNOME desktop environment and core components of GNOME such
as the <application>panel</application> and
<application>control center</application>. In GNOME 1.x this
was the main and only source of documentation. In GNOME 2.0
this will become a document for the web and for printing
that is derived from various parts chosen in the system that
are necessary for the new user to understand.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="userdocs">
<title>User Documents</title>
<para>
Aside from the <citetitle>GNOME User Guide</citetitle>,
there are several other documents to help GNOME users learn
GNOME, including the <citetitle>GNOME FAQ</citetitle>,
<citetitle>GNOME Installation and Configuration
Guide</citetitle>, and the <citetitle>GNOME Administrators
Guide</citetitle>.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="developerdocs">
<title>Developer Documents</title>
<para>
There are many White Papers, Tutorials, HOWTO's and FAQ's to
make programming GNOME and GNOME applications as easy as
possible.
</para>
<para>
API documentation is also available for the GNOME libraries. This is
detailed documentation of the code that is used to build GNOME
apps. You can keep up with the GNOME API docs on the <ulink
url="http://developer.gnome.org/doc/API/" type="http">GNOME API
Reference</ulink> page.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="projectdocs">
<title>Project Documents</title>
<para>
Some GNOME projects have documentation to maintain
consistency in their product and to help new contributors
get up to speed quickly. Among these are the GDP documents,
such as the one you are reading now.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# DocBook Basics ############### -->
<sect1 id="docbookbasics">
<title>DocBook Basics </title>
<!-- ####### DocBook Basics | Introduction to DocBook ####### -->
<sect2 id="introtodocbook">
<title>Introduction to DocBook</title>
<para>
To understand DocBook, a basic understanding of SGML is
helpful. SGML stands for Standard General Markup Language and
is one of the first markup languages every created. HTML is
actually derived from SGML and XML is a subset of SGML. SGML
uses what is called a Document Type Definition to specify
<emphasis>elements</emphasis> which are contained between
brackets, < and >. Text is marked by both beginning and
ending elements, for example in the DocBook DTD, one denotes a
title with <sgmltag><title></sgmltag>The
Title<sgmltag></title></sgmltag>.
</para>
<para>
The DTD (in the case of the GDP, DocBook) defines rules for how the
elements can be used. For example, if one element can only be used when
embedded within another, this is defined in the DTD.
</para>
<para>
An SGML file is just a plain ASCII file containing the text
with the markup specified above. To convert it to some easily
readable format, you need special tools. The GDP uses <emphasis>DocBook
Tools</emphasis>, a free package of utilities for working with DocBook
which includes <emphasis>Jade</emphasis>, which does the SGML/DSSL
parsing. You can read more about DocBook Tools in <xref
linkend="installingdocbook" />.
</para>
<para>
The final appearance of the output (e.g. PostScript or HTML)
is determined by a
<emphasis>stylesheet</emphasis>. Stylesheets are files,
written in a special language (DSSSL — Document Style
Semantics and Specification Language), which specify the
appearance of various DocBook elements, for example,
what fonts to use for titles and various inline elements, page
numbering style, and much more. DocBook tools come with a
collection of stylesheets (Norman Walsh's modular
stylesheets); GNOME Document Project uses some customized
version of this stylesheets — see <xref
linkend="gdpstylesheets"/>.
</para>
<para>
The advantage of specifying the <emphasis>structure</emphasis>
of a document with SGML instead of specifying the
<emphasis>appearance</emphasis> of the document with a typical
word processor, or with html, is that the resulting document
can be processed in a variety of ways using the structural
information. Whereas formatting a document for appearance
assumes a medium (typically written text on a standard-sized
piece of paper), SGML can be processed to produce output for a
large variety of media such as text, postscript, HTML,
Braille, audio, and potentially many other formats.
</para>
<para>
Using 'content' as the elements to define the text of a document also
allows for search engines to make use of the actual elements to make a
"smarter search". For example, if you are searching for all documents
written by the author "Susie" your search engine could be made smart
enough to only search <author> elements, making for a faster and more
accurate search.
</para>
<para>
Since the overall appearance of the output is determined not by the DTD
or the SGML document, but rather by a stylesheet, the appearance of a
document can be easily changed just by changing the stylesheet. This
allows everyone in the project to create documents that all look the
same.
</para>
<para>
As stated before, the GDP uses the DocBook DTD. For a list of
introductory and reference resources on DocBook, see <xref
linkend="resources" />. The following sections also provide
convenient instructions on which markup tags to use in various
circumstances. Be sure to read <xref linkend="conventions" />
for GDP documentation-specific guidelines.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ###### DocBook Basics | XML and SGML ########-->
<sect2 id="xml">
<title>XML and SGML</title>
<para> In not so distant future (probably before GNOME 2.0),
DocBook itself and GNOME Documentation project will migrate from
SGML to XML. This transition should be relatively painless:
(almost) all DocBook tags will remain the same. However, XML has
stricter syntax rules than SGML; thus, some constructions which
are valid in SGML will not be valid in XML. Therefore, to be
ready for this transistion, it is <emphasis>strongly
advised</emphasis> that the documentation writers conform to XML
syntax rules. Here are most important differences:
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term> <emphasis>Minimization</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
It is possible with some implementations of SGML to use
minimizations to close elements in a document by using
</>, for example:
<literal><sgmltag><title></sgmltag>The
Title<sgmltag></></sgmltag></literal>. This is not
allowed in XML. You can use <command>sgmlnorm</command> command,
included in DocBook Tools package, to expand minimized tags;
if you are using <application>Emacs</application> with psgml
mode, you can also use menu command
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>Modify</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Normalize</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <emphasis>Self-closing tags</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
Also, in SGML some tags are allowed not to have closing
tags. For example, it is legal for
<sgmltag><xref></sgmltag> not to have a closing tag:
<literal><sgmltag><xref
linkend="someid"></sgmltag></literal>. In
XML, it is illegal; instead, you should use
<literal><sgmltag><xref
linkend="someid"/></sgmltag></literal> (note the
slash!).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <emphasis>Case sensitive tags</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
In XML, unlike SGML, tags are case-senstive
<sgmltag><title></sgmltag> and
<sgmltag><TITLE></sgmltag> are different tags!
Therefore, please always use lowercase tags (except for
things like <literal>DOCTYPE, CDATA</literal> and
<literal>ENTITY</literal>, which are not DocBook tags).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### DocBook Basics | Structure Elements ####### -->
<sect2 id="structure"> <title> Structure Elements</title>
<sect3 id="section">
<title>Sections and paragraphs</title>
<para>
Top-level element of a book body must be
<sgmltag><chapter></sgmltag>; it may contain one or more
<sgmltag><sect1></sgmltag>, each of them may contain
<sgmltag><sect2></sgmltag> and so on up to
<sgmltag><sect5></sgmltag>. Top-level element of an
article body must be <sgmltag><sect1></sgmltag>. For
usage example, see the template.
</para>
<para> Please try to avoid using deeply nested sections; for
most situations, <sgmltag><sect1></sgmltag> and
<sgmltag><sect2></sgmltag> should be sufficient. If not,
you probably should split your <sgmltag><sect1></sgmltag>
into several smaller ones.
</para>
<para> Use the tag <sgmltag><para></sgmltag> for
paragraphs, even if there is only one paragraph in a
section—see template for examples.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="notes">
<title>Notes, Warnings, And Tips</title>
<para>
For notes, tips, warnings, and important information, which
should be set apart from the main text (usually as a
paragraph with some warning sign on the margin), use tags
<sgmltag><note></sgmltag>, <sgmltag><tip></sgmltag>,
<sgmltag><warning></sgmltag>,
<sgmltag><important></sgmltag> respectively. For example:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<tip>
<title>TIP</title>
<para>
To speed up program compilation, use <application>gcc</application>
compiler with Pentium optimization.
</para>
</tip>]]> </programlisting> produces
</para>
<tip id="extip">
<title>TIP</title>
<para>
To speed up program compilation, use
<application>gcc</application> compiler with Pentium
optimization. </para>
</tip>
<para>
Note that this should not be inside a
<sgmltag><para></sgmltag> but between paragraphs.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="figures">
<title> Screenshots and other figures</title>
<para>
To include screenshots and other figures, use the following
tags:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<figure id="shot1">
<title>Screenshot</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Screenshot of a program</screeninfo>
<graphic format="PNG" fileref="figures/example_screenshot" srccredit="ME">
</graphic>
</screenshot>
</figure>]]>
</programlisting>
replacing <filename>example_screenshot</filename> with the
actual file name (without extension). The result will look like this:
<figure id="shot1">
<title>Screenshot</title>
<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Screenshot of a program</screeninfo>
<graphic format="PNG"
fileref="figures/example_screenshot" srccredit="ME">
</graphic>
</screenshot>
</figure>
</para>
<note>
<title>NOTE</title>
<para>
Notice in this example that the screenshot file name does
not include the file type extension — to find out
why, please read <xref linkend="jadeimages" />.
</para>
</note>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="listing">
<title>Program listings and terminal session</title> <para>
To show a file fragment—for example, program
listing—use <sgmltag><programlisting></sgmltag> tag:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<programlisting>
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Gnumeric spreadsheet
Exec=gnumeric
Icon=gnome-gnumeric.png
Terminal=0
Type=Application
</programlisting>]]>
</programlisting>
which produces
<programlisting>
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Gnumeric spreadsheet
Exec=gnumeric
Icon=gnome-gnumeric.png
Terminal=0
Type=Application
</programlisting>
As a matter of fact, all examples in this document were
produced using <sgmltag><programlisting></sgmltag>.
</para>
<para>
To show a record of terminal session—i.e., sequence of
commands entered at the command line—use
<sgmltag><screen></sgmltag> tag:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<screen>
<prompt>bash$</prompt><userinput>make love</userinput>
make: *** No rule to make target `love'. Stop.
</screen>]]>
</programlisting>
which produces
<screen>
<prompt>bash$</prompt><userinput>make love</userinput>
make: *** No rule to make target `love'. Stop.
</screen>
Note the use of tags <sgmltag><prompt></sgmltag> and
<sgmltag><userinput></sgmltag> for marking system prompt
and commands entered by user.
<note>
<title>NOTE</title>
<para>
Note that both <sgmltag><programlisting></sgmltag>
and <sgmltag><screen></sgmltag> preserve linebreaks,
but interpret SGML tags (unlike LaTeX
<markup>verbatim</markup> environment). Take a look at
the source of this document to see how you can have SGML
tags literally shown but not interpreted,
</para>
</note>
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="lists">
<title> Lists</title>
<para>
The most common list types in DocBook are
<sgmltag><itemizedlist></sgmltag>,
<sgmltag><orderedlist></sgmltag>, and
<sgmltag><variablelist></sgmltag>.
</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term> <sgmltag><itemizedlist></sgmltag></term>
<listitem><para>
This is the simplest unnumbered list, parallel to
<sgmltag><ul></sgmltag> in HTML. Here is an example:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Show backup files</guilabel> — This will
show any backup file that might be on your system.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Show hidden files</guilabel> — This will
show all "dot files" or files that begin with a dot. This
files typically include configuration files and directories.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Mix files and directories</guilabel> — This
option will display files and directories in the order you
sort them instead of
always having directories shown above files.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
]]>
</programlisting>
and output:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Show backup files</guilabel> —
This will show any backup file that might be on
your system.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Show hidden files</guilabel> —
This will show all "dot files" or files that
begin with a dot. This files typically include
configuration files and directories.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<guilabel>Mix files and directories</guilabel>
— This option will display files and
directories in the order you sort them instead
of always having directories shown above files.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para> Note the use of <sgmltag>&mdash;</sgmltag>
for long dash (see <xref linkend="specsymb" />). Also,
please note that the result looks much nicer because the
terms being explained (<guilabel>Show backup
files</guilabel>, etc.) are set in a different font. In
this case, it was achieved by using <link
linkend="gui"><sgmltag><guilabel></sgmltag></link>
tag. In other cases, use appropriate tags such as
<link linkend="gui"><sgmltag><guimenuitem></sgmltag></link>,
<link
linkend="filenames"><sgmltag><command></sgmltag></link>,
or — if none of
this applies — use
<link linkend="gui"><sgmltag><emphasis></sgmltag></link>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <sgmltag><orderedlist></sgmltag></term>
<listitem><para>
This list is completely analogous to
<sgmltag><itemizedlist></sgmltag> and has the same
syntax, but it produces numbered list. By default,
this list uses Arabic numerals for numbering entries;
you can override this using <sgmltag>numeration</sgmltag>,
for example <sgmltag><orderedlist
numeration="lowerroman"></sgmltag>. Possible values of
these attribute are <sgmltag>arabic</sgmltag>,
<sgmltag>upperalpha</sgmltag>,
<sgmltag>loweralpha</sgmltag>,
<sgmltag>upperroman</sgmltag>,
<sgmltag>lowerroman</sgmltag>.
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <sgmltag><variablelist></sgmltag></term>
<listitem><para>
This list is used when each entry is rather long, so
it should be formatted as a block of text with some
subtitle, like a small subsection. For example, the lines
you are reading now were produced by
<sgmltag><variablelist></sgmltag>. The source looked
liked this:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term> <sgmltag><itemizedlist></sgmltag></term>
<listitem><para>
This is the simplest unnumbered list, parallel to
<sgmltag><ul></sgmltag> in HTML. Here is an example:...
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <sgmltag><orderedlist></sgmltag></term>
<listitem><para>
This list is completely analogous to
<sgmltag><itemizedlist></sgmltag>
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term> <sgmltag><variablelist></sgmltag></term>
<listitem><para>
This list is used when each entry is rather long,...
</para></listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
]]>
</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<para>
Lists can be nested; in this case, the stylesheets
are smart enough to change the numeration (for
<sgmltag><orderedlist></sgmltag>) or marks of each entry
(in <sgmltag><itemizedlist></sgmltag>) for sub-lists
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### DocBook Basics | Inline Elements ####### -->
<sect2 id="inline">
<title>Inline Elements</title>
<sect3 id="gui">
<title>GUI elements</title>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><guibutton></sgmltag> — used for
buttons, including checkbuttons and radio buttons
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><guimenu></sgmltag>,
<sgmltag><guisubmenu></sgmltag> —used for
top-level menus and submenus
respectively, for example <literal><![CDATA[
<guisubmenu>Utilities</guisubmenu> submenu of the
<guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>]]></literal>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><guimenuitem></sgmltag>—an entry in a
menu
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><guiicon></sgmltag>—an icon
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><guilabel></sgmltag>—for items which have
labels, like tabs, or bounding boxes.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><interface></sgmltag>— for most everything
else... a window, a dialog box, the Panel, etc.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
If you need to refer to a sequence of menu choices, such as
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu>
<guisubmenu>Utilities</guisubmenu> <guimenuitem>GNOME
terminal</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>
there is a special construction for this, too:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>Main Menu</guimenu> <guisubmenu>Utilities</guisubmenu>
<guimenuitem>GNOME terminal</guimenuitem> </menuchoice>]]>
</programlisting>
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="links">
<title>Links and references</title>
<para>
To refer to another place in the same document, you can use
tags <sgmltag><xref></sgmltag> and
<sgmltag><link></sgmltag>. The first of them
automatically inserts the full name of the element you refer
to (section, figure, etc.), while the second just creates a
link (in HTML output). Here is an example:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[An example of a <link linkend="extip">tip</link> was given in
<xref linkend="notes" />. ]]>
</programlisting>
which produces: An example of a <link
linkend="extip">tip</link> was given in <xref
linkend="notes" />.
</para>
<para>
Here <sgmltag>notes</sgmltag> and <sgmltag>extip</sgmltag>
are the id attributes of <xref linkend="notes" /> and of the
example of a tip in it.
</para>
<para> To produce a link to an external source, such as a
Web page or a local file, use <sgmltag><ulink></sgmltag>
tag, for example:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[ To find more about GNOME, please visit <ulink type="http"
url="http://www.gnome.org">GNOME Web page</ulink> ]]>
</programlisting>
which produces: To find more about GNOME, please visit
<ulink type="http" url="http://www.gnome.org">The GNOME Web
Site</ulink> You can use any of the standard URL types, such
as <literal>http, ftp, file, telnet, mailto</literal> (in
most cases, however, use of <literal>mailto</literal> is
unnecessary—see discussion of
<sgmltag><email></sgmltag> tag).
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="filenames"> <title>Filenames, commands, and other
computer-related things</title>
<para>
Here are some tags used to describe operating system-related
things:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para> <sgmltag><filename></sgmltag> — used
for filenames,
e.g.<sgmltag><filename></sgmltag>
foo.sgml
<sgmltag></filename></sgmltag>
produces: <filename>foo.sgml</filename>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para> <sgmltag><filename
class="directory"></sgmltag> — used for
directories, e.g.<sgmltag><filename
class="directory"></sgmltag>/usr/bin
<sgmltag></filename></sgmltag>
produces: <filename
class="directory">/usr/bin</filename>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><application></sgmltag> — used for
application names,
e.g. <sgmltag><application></sgmltag>Gnumeric
<sgmltag></application></sgmltag> produces:
<application>Gnumeric</application>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><command></sgmltag> — used for
commands entered on command line, e.g.
<sgmltag><command></sgmltag>make install
<sgmltag></command></sgmltag> produces:
<command>make install</command>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<sgmltag><replaceable></sgmltag> — used for
replaceable text, e.g.
<sgmltag><command></sgmltag>db2html<sgmltag><replaceable></sgmltag>
foo.sgml
<sgmltag></replaceable></sgmltag><sgmltag></command></sgmltag>
produces: <command>db2html
<replaceable>foo.sgml</replaceable></command>.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="keys">
<title>Keyboard input</title>
<para> To mark up text input by the user, use
<sgmltag><userinput></sgmltag>.
</para>
<para> To mark keystrokes such as shortcuts and other
commands, use <sgmltag><keysym></sgmltag> and
<sgmltag><keycap></sgmltag>. The difference — as
far as I understand — is that
<sgmltag><keycap></sgmltag> is used for physical keys on
the keyboard
(<sgmltag><keycap></sgmltag>A<sgmltag></keycap></sgmltag>,
<sgmltag><keycap></sgmltag>Ctrl<sgmltag></keycap></sgmltag>),
while <sgmltag><keysym></sgmltag> is used for "logical"
symbols, for example
<sgmltag><keysym></sgmltag>Ctrl-q<sgmltag></keysym></sgmltag>.
In most cases, you should use
<sgmltag><keysym></sgmltag>. </para> <para> To mark up
a sequence of keystrokes, use the
<sgmltag><keycombo></sgmltag> wrapper:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<keycombo>
<keysym>Ctrl-x</keysym>
<keysym>Ctrl-f</keysym>
</keycombo>]]>
</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
Finally, if you want to show a shortcut for some menu
command, here are the appropriate tags (rather long):
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<menuchoice>
<shortcut>
<keysym>Ctrl-q</keysym>
</shortcut>
<guimenuitem> Quit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>]]>
</programlisting>
which produces simply
<menuchoice>
<shortcut> <keysym>Ctrl-q</keysym> </shortcut>
<guimenuitem> Quit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="email">
<title>E-mail addresses</title> <para> To mark up e-mail
address, use <sgmltag><email></sgmltag>:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[ The easiest way to get in touch with me is by e-mail
(<email>me@mydomain.com</email>)]]>
</programlisting>
which produces: The easiest way to get in touch with me is
by e-mail (<email>me@mydomain.com</email>) Note that
<sgmltag><email></sgmltag> automatically produces a link
in html version.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="specsymb">
<title> Special symbols </title>
<para>
DocBook also provides special means for entering
typographic symbols which can not be entered directly
form the keyboard (such as copyright sign). This is done using
<emphasis>entities</emphasis>, which is SGML analogue of
macros, or commands, of LaTeX. They generally have the form
<sgmltag>&entityname;</sgmltag>. Note that the semicolon
is required.
</para>
<para>
here is partial list of most commonly used enitites:
</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>
<sgmltag>&amp;</sgmltag> — ampersend (&)
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<sgmltag>&lt;</sgmltag> — left angle bracket (<)
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<sgmltag>&copy;</sgmltag> — copyright sign (©)
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<sgmltag>&mdash;</sgmltag> — long dash (—)
</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>
<sgmltag>&hellip;</sgmltag> — ellipsis (…)
</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
<para>
Note that the actual look of the resulting symbols depends
on the fonts used by your browser; for example, it might
happen that long dash (<sgmltag>&mdash;</sgmltag>) looks
exactly like the usual dash (-). However, in the PostScript
(and thus, in print) the output will look markedly better if
you use appropriate tags.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# GDP Documentation Conventions ############### -->
<sect1 id="conventions">
<title>GDP Documentation Conventions </title>
<!-- ####### GDP Documentation Conventions | All Documentation ####### -->
<sect2 id="conventionsalldocs">
<title>Conventions for All GDP Documentation</title>
<sect3 id="xmlcomp">
<title> XML compatibility </title>
<para>
All GNOME documentation should conform to XML syntax
requirements, which are stricter than SGML ones — see
<xref linkend="xml" /> for more informaion.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="authorsnames">
<title> Authors' names</title>
<para>
All GNOME documentation should contain the names of both the
application authors and documentation authors, as well as a
link to the application web page (if it exists) and
information for bug submission — see templates for an
example.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### GDP Documentation Conventions | All Documentation ####### -->
<sect2 id="conventionsappdocs">
<title>Conventions for Application Documentation</title>
<sect3 id="applicationversionid">
<title>Application Version Identification</title>
<para>
Application documentation should identify the version of the
application for which the documentation is written:
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[
<sect1 id="intro">
<title>Introduction</title>
<para>
blah-blah-blah This document describes version 1.0.53 of gfoo.
</para>
</sect1>]]>
</programlisting>
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="license">
<title> Copyright information </title>
<para> Application
documentation should contain a copyright notice, stating the
licensing terms. It is suggested that you use the same
licensing terms as used by this Handbook (these are the terms
that used by Free Software Foundation for its own
documentation). You could also use some other license allowing
free redistribution, such as GPL or Open Content license. If
documentation uses some trademarks (such as UNIX, Linux,
Windows, etc.), proper legal junk should also be included (see
templates).
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Writing Application Manuals ###############-->
<sect1 id="writingapplicationmanuals">
<title>Writing Application and Applet Manuals</title>
<para>
Every GNOME application(applet) should have a
manual specific to that particular application. This manual
should be a complete and authoritative guide. The manual
should describe what the application(applet) does and how to use
it. Manuals will typically describe each window or panel of the
application(applet), using screenshots(PNG format only) when
appropriate. They should also describe each feature and
preference option available.
</para>
<note>
<title>Documentation Availability</title>
<para>
Applications(applets) should not rely on documentation which
is only available on the internet. All manuals and
other documentation should be packaged with the
application(applet) and be made available to the user through
the standard GNOME help system methods described below.
</para>
</note>
<para> Application manuals should be based on the template in
<xref linkend="template1" />. Applet manuals should be based on
the template in <xref linkend="template2" />.
</para>
<note>
<title>Manuals For Large Applications</title>
<para>
Manuals for very large applications, such as GNOME Workshop
components should be a <sgmltag><book></sgmltag> (and thus
use <sgmltag><chapter></sgmltag> for each primary section)
, instead of <sgmltag><article></sgmltag> which most
applications use(with each primary section being a
<sgmltag><sect1></sgmltag>).
</para>
</note>
<note>
<title>Applet Manuals in GNOME 2.0</title>
<para>
Note that applet manuals in GNOME 2.0 are treated in a special
way. The manuals for all applets are merged into a single
virtual document by Nautilus. For this reason, the header
information for applet manuals is omitted and the first
section of each applet is
<sgmltag><sect1></sgmltag>. Applet manuals will typically
have several sections, each of which is
<sgmltag><sect2></sgmltag>.
</para>
</note>
<para>
Application manuals should be made available by having a
"Manual" entry in the <guimenu>Help</guimenu> pull-down menu
at the top of the
application, as described in <xref linkend="listingdocsinhelpmenu" />.
Applets should make their manuals available by
right-clicking on the applet.
</para>
</sect1>
<!-- ############### Listing Documents in the Help Menu ############# -->
<sect1 id="listingdocsinhelpmenu">
<title>Listing Documents in the Help Menu</title>
<note>
<title>Developer Information</title>
<para>
This section is for developers. Documentation authors
generally do not need to know this material.
</para>
</note>
<para>
Typically the application manual and possibly additional help
documents will be made available to the user under the
<guimenu>Help</guimenu> menu at the top right of the
application. To do this, you must first write a
<filename>topic.dat</filename> file. The format for this file is:
<programlisting>
One line for each 'topic'.
Two columns, as defined by perl -e 'split(/\s+/,$aline,2)'
First column is the HTML file (and optional section) for the topic,
relative to the app's help file dir.
Second column is the user-visible topic name.
</programlisting>
For example, <application>Gnumeric</application>'s
<filename>topic.dat</filename> file is:
<programlisting>
gnumeric.html Gnumeric manual
function-reference.html Gnumeric function reference
</programlisting>
When the application is installed, the
<filename>topic.dat</filename> file should be placed in the
<filename
class="directory">$prefix/share/gnome/help/<replaceable>appname</replaceable>/C/</filename> directory
where <replaceable>appname</replaceable> is replaced by the
application's name. The application documentation (converted
from SGML into HTML with <command>db2html</command>) should be
placed in this directory too.
</para>
<note>
<para>
If the help files are not present in the correct directory, the
menu items will NOT appear when the program is run.
</para>
</note>
<para>
The <filename>topic.dat</filename> file is used by the GNOME
menu building code to generate the <guimenu>Help</guimenu>
menu. When you define your menu:
<programlisting>
GnomeUIInfo helpmenu[] = {
{GNOME_APP_UI_ITEM,
N_("About"), N_("Info about this program"),
about_cb, NULL, NULL,
GNOME_APP_PIXMAP_STOCK, GNOME_STOCK_MENU_ABOUT,
0, 0, NULL},
GNOMEUIINFO_SEPARATOR,
GNOMEUIINFO_HELP("<emphasis>appname</emphasis>"),
GNOMEUIINFO_END
};
</programlisting>
the line specifying <varname>GNOMEUIINFO_HELP</varname> causes
GNOME to create a menu entry which is tied to the documentation
in the directory mentioned above. Also, all the topics in the
<filename>topic.dat</filename> file will get menu entries in the
<guimenu>Help</guimenu> menu. When the user selects any of these
topics from the <guimenu>Help</guimenu> menu, a help browser
will be started with the associated HTML documentation.
</para>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Application Help Buttons ############### -->
<sect1 id="applicationhelpbuttons">
<title>Application Help Buttons</title>
<note>
<title>Developer Information</title>
<para>
This section is for developers. Documentation authors
generally do not need to know this material.
</para>
</note>
<para>
Most GNOME applications will have <guibutton>Help</guibutton>
buttons. These are most often seen in Preference windows. (All
Preference windows should have <guibutton>Help</guibutton>
buttons.) Most <guibutton>Help</guibutton> buttons will connect
to the application manual, although some may connect to special
documents. Because the <guibutton>Help</guibutton> buttons do
not generally have their own special documentation, the
documentation author(s) do not need to do very much. However,
the application author must be careful to guarantee that the
application correctly opens the help documentation when the
<guibutton>Help</guibutton> buttons are pressed.
</para>
<para>
To make the Help buttons call the correct document in the GNOME Help
Browser the developer should add code based on the following example:
</para>
<programlisting>
gchar *tmp;
tmp = gnome_help_file_find_file ("module", "page.html");
if (tmp) {
gnome_help_goto(0, tmp);
g_free(tmp);
}
</programlisting>
<note>
<title>NOTE</title>
<para>
The example above is in the C language, please refer to other
documentation or forums for other GNOME language bindings.
</para>
</note>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Packaging Applet Documentation ############### -->
<sect1 id="packagingappletdocs">
<title>Packaging Applet Documentation</title>
<sect2 id="appletfiles">
<title>Applet Documentation Files</title>
<para>
In GNOME 2.0 each applet will have its own documentation
packaged and installed separately, and the GNOME 2.0 help
browser (<application>Nautilus</application>) will dynamically
merge the applet documents into a single virtual document.
During the transitionary stage between GNOME 1.0 and GNOME
2.0, each applet has its own manual(stored with the applet in
CVS), but they are merged together manually into a single
document before distribution. Telsa
<email>hobbit@aloss.ukuu.org.uk</email> is the maintainer of
this document. Applet documentation should be sent to Telsa
(or placed in CVS) who will make sure they are correctly
packaged with the applets. The applet author should be
contacted to modify the menu items to bind to the applet
documentation if necessary.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="appletmenu">
<title>Adding Documentation to An Applet Menu</title>
<note>
<title>Developer Information</title>
<para>
This section is for developers. Documentation authors
generally do not need to know this material.
</para>
</note>
<para>
Applets should have <guimenu>About</guimenu> and
<guimenu>Manual</guimenu> menu items, typically as the first
and second top-most items in the menu respectively. This
section describes how the developer creates these menu items
and links them to the documentation.
</para>
<para>
To add an applet's manual to its applet menu, use:
<programlisting>
/* add an item to the applet menu */
applet_widget_register_callback(APPLET_WIDGET(applet), "manual",
_("Manual"), &open_manual, NULL);
</programlisting>
Here the second argument is an arbitrary name for the
callback, the third argument is the label which will appear
when the user right clicks on the applet, and the fourth
argument is the callback function.
</para>
<para>
You will need to write a simple callback function to open the
help browser to the appropriate document. This is done using
the <function>gnome_help_file_find_file</function> function,
as described in <xref linkend="applicationhelpbuttons" />.
</para>
<para>
You will also want to add an <guimenu>About</guimenu> menu
item to the applet's menu. This is a
stock menu item and is done:
<programlisting>
applet_widget_register_stock_callback (APPLET_WIDGET(applet), "about",
GNOME_STOCK_MENU_ABOUT, _("About"), &my_applet_cb_about,
NULL);
</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
More information can be found at <ulink type="http"
url="http://developer.gnome.org/doc/tutorials/applet/index.html">Writing
GNOME panel applets using the GTK+/GTK-- widget set</ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Writing Context Sensitive Help ###############
-->
<sect1 id="writingcontextsensitivehelp">
<title>Writing Context Sensitive Help (coming in GNOME-2.0)</title>
<para>
Context sensitive help, also known as "pop-up" help, will allow
a user to obtain help information about specific buttons or
parts of an application.
</para>
<para>
Context sensitive help is still under development and not all
the details are available at this time. However, the basics can
be shown here so that you can understand how the system will
work.
</para>
<para>
The Context Sensitive Help system is designed to allow the
developer to give an id to a particular portion of the User
Interface, for example, a button. Once the interface is complete
a Perl script can then be run against the interface code to
create a "map" file. This map file allows the developer or
writer to associate particular paragraph sections from an XML
document to the interface items.
</para>
<para>
The XML used for the document is a small XML DTD that is being
developed to use the same tags (albeit, much fewer) as DocBook
so that writers do not have to re-learn a new DTD.
</para>
<para>
Once the document is written and map file is complete, when the
user launches context sensitive help on the interface (either by
pressing a button and then clicking on the interface item they
want information on, or by right mouse clicking on the interface
item and selecting a pop-up menu item like "What's This") a
small transient window will appear with brief but detailed
information on the interface item.
</para>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Referring to Other GNOME Documentation
############# -->
<sect1 id="referring">
<title>Referring to Other GNOME Documentation (coming in
GNOME-2.0)</title>
<para>
In the GNOME 2.0 Help System, you will be able to create links
from one document to another. The exact mechanism for doing
this is in development.
</para>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Basics of Documentation Style ###############
<sect1 id="basics">
<title>Basics of Documentation Style</title>
####### Basics of Documentation Style | Planning #######
<sect2 id="styleplanning">
<title>Planning</title>
<para>
</para>
</sect2>
####### Basics of Documentation Style | Structure #######
<sect2 id="stylestructure">
<title>Structure</title>
<para>
</para>
</sect2>
####### Basics of Documentation Style | Grammar #######
<sect2 id="stylegrammer">
<title>Grammar</title>
<para>
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1> -->
<!-- ################# Teamwork ############### -->
<sect1 id="teamwork">
<title>Teamwork</title> <!-- ####### Teamwork | Working With The
GDP Team ####### -->
<sect2 id="teamworkgdp">
<title>Working With The GDP Team</title>
<para>
The GDP team is a valuable resource for any documentation
author. GDP members can answer most questions documentation
authors have during the course of their work. It is also
important to make sure you are not duplicating work of other
GDP members by visiting the <citetitle>GDP Documentation
Status Table</citetitle> (<ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/doctable/"
type="http">http://www.gnome.org/gdp/doctable/</ulink>) and
assigning a documentation item to yourself. This table also
provides a forum for making suggestions and announcements for
each documentation item. The best way to get in touch with
GDP members is on the #docs IRC channel at irc.gnome.org or
else by emailing the <ulink type="http"
url="http://www.gnome.org/mailing-lists/index.shtml">
<citetitle>gnome-doc-list mailing list</citetitle></ulink>.
</para>
<para>
After an author has finished a document (or even a draft
version of the document), it is a good idea to ask a member of
the GDP team to read the document, checking it for grammar,
proper DocBook markup, and clarity. One may typically find
another author to do this by either asking on the #docs IRC
channel at irc.gnome.org or by emailing the <ulink type="http"
url="http://www.gnome.org/mailing-lists/index.shtml">
<citetitle>gnome-doc-list mailing list</citetitle></ulink>.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Teamwork | Working With Developers ####### -->
<sect2 id="teamworkdevelopers">
<title>Working With Developers</title>
<para>
Writing documentation typically involves a certain amount of
interaction with the developers of GNOME or the application
which is being documented. Often a document author will need
to ask the developer technical questions during the course of
writing a document. After the document is finished, it is good
idea to ask the developer to read the document to make sure it
is technically correct. The documentation author should also
make sure that the application author correctly binds and
packages the documentation with the application.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Teamwork | Working With Users #######
<sect2 id="teamworkusers">
<title>Working With Users</title>
<para>
Some document authors may wish to get feedback on their
documents directly from users. This may be done by ...
</para>
</sect2>-->
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Finishing a Document ############### -->
<sect1 id="finishing">
<title>Finishing A Document</title>
<!-- ####### Finishing a Document | Editting the Document ####### -->
<sect2 id="editting">
<title>Editing The Document</title>
<para>
When the document is finished, the document should be edited
by another member of the GDP for spelling, clarity, and
DocBook markup. It should also be read by an application
author to make sure the document is technically accurate.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Finishing a Document | Submitting the Document ####### -->
<sect2 id="submitting">
<title>Submitting The Document</title>
<para>
After the document has been edited and checked for technical
accuracy, it is ready to be combined with the application or
documentation package. This is typically done by passing the
document to the application or package developer. In some
cases, the documents can be committed directly into CVS,
however this should only be done after obtaining permission to
make CVS commits from the developer. Note that in many cases,
the application may need to be modified to correctly link to
the documentation. The packaging system (tarballs and binary
packages) may also need to be modified to include the
documentation in the package. Generally, this should be done
by the developers.
</para>
<para>
The final step is to email the GNOME Translation Team at
<email>gnome-i18n@nuclecu.unam.mx</email> to notify them that
there is a new document for them to translate.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Resources ############### -->
<sect1 id="resources">
<title>Resources</title>
<!-- ####### Resources | Resources on the Web ####### -->
<sect2 id="resourcesweb">
<title>Resources On The Web</title> <para> The <ulink
type="http" url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/">GNOME Documentation
Project Web page</ulink> lists current GDP projects and members.
</para>
<para>
The <ulink url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/doctable/"
type="http">GDP Documentation Status Table</ulink> tracks the
status of all the various documentation components of GNOME.
</para>
<para>
Norman Walsh's <ulink url="http://www.docbook.org"
type="http"> <citetitle>DocBook: The Definitive
Guide</citetitle></ulink> in an excellent book on DocBook,
available both online and in print.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Resources | Books ####### -->
<sect2 id="resourcesbooks">
<title>Books</title>
<para>
Docbook: The Definitive Guide is available in both printed
form and on the web at:
<ulink url="http://www.docbook.org/tdg/index.html">
<citetitle>Docbook: The Definitive Guide</citetitle>
</ulink>
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Resources | Mailing Lists ####### -->
<sect2 id="mailinglists">
<title>Mailing Lists</title>
<para>
The <emphasis>gnome-docs-list</emphasis> mailing list is the
main discussion area for all contributors to the GNOME
Documentation Project. You can find out how to subscribe to
this list on <ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/mailing-lists/index.shtml"
type="http">GNOME Mailing Lists</ulink>. This is a rather
low-volume list, so you will not be flooded with messages.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ####### Resources | IRC ####### -->
<sect2 id="irc">
<title>IRC</title>
<para>
Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a fast and easy way to get in
touch with other GDP members. There are generally at least a
few members here who can answer questions or discuss
documentation issues. The IRC channel is #docs at
irc.gnome.org.
</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ################# Example Docs ###############
<appendix id="exampledocs">
<title>Example Docs</title>
####### Example Docs | Example 1: Application Manual #######
<sect1 id="ex1">
<title>Example 1: Application Manual</title>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[ (Put sgml here.)]]> </programlisting>
</sect1>
####### Example Docs | Example 2: Applet Manual #######
<sect1 id="ex2">
<title>Example 2: Applet Manual</title>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[(Put sgml here.)]]> </programlisting>
</sect1>
##### Example Docs | Example 3: Application Context Sensitive Help ####
<sect1 id="ex3">
<title>Example 3: Application Context Sensitive Help</title>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[(Put sgml here.)]]> </programlisting>
</sect1>
####### Example Docs | Example 4: Complete Application: gnome-hello #######
<sect1 id="ex4">
<title>Example 4: Complete Application: gnome-hello</title>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[(Put sgml here.)]]> </programlisting>
</sect1>
####### Example Docs | Example 5: Tutorial #######
<sect1 id="ex5">
<title>Example 5: Tutorial</title>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[(Put sgml here.)]]> </programlisting>
</sect1>
</appendix>-->
<!-- ################# Document Templates ############### -->
<appendix id="templates">
<title>Document Templates</title>
<!-- ####### Document Templates | Templates 1: Application Manual ####### -->
<sect1 id="template1">
<title>Template 1: Application Manual</title>
<para>
The following template should be used for all application
manuals. You can always get the latest copy of this
template from <ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/templates.html">GDP
Documentation Templates</ulink>.
<programlisting>&APP-TEMPLATE</programlisting>
</para>
</sect1>
<!-- ####### Document Templates | Templates 2: Applet Manual ####### -->
<sect1 id="template2">
<title>Template 2: Applet Manual</title>
<para>
The following template should be used for all applet
manuals. You can always get the latest copy of this
template from <ulink
url="http://www.gnome.org/gdp/templates.html">GDP
Documentation Templates</ulink>.
<programlisting>&APPLET-TEMPLATE</programlisting>
</para>
</sect1>
<!-- ####### Document Templates | Templates 3: Application Help #######
<sect1 id="template3">
<title>Template 2: Application Help</title>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[(Put sgml here.)]]> </programlisting>
</sect1>
####### Document Templates | Templates 4: Application Context Sensitive Help #######
<sect1 id="template4">
<title>Template 3: Application Context Sensitive Help</title>
<para>
Context sensitive help is still in development.
</para>
</sect1>
####### Document Templates | Templates 5: Complete Application: gnome-hello #######
<sect1 id="template5">
<title>Template 4: Complete Application: gnome-hello</title>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[(Put sgml here.)]]>
</programlisting>
</sect1>
####### Document Templates | Templates 6: Tutorial #######
<sect1 id="template6">
<title>Template 5: Tutorial</title>
<programlisting>
<![CDATA[(Put sgml here.)]]>
</programlisting>
</sect1>-->
</appendix>
</article>