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Re: [docbook] DocBook Index: more than three levels needed


LaRae,

DocBook defines only three levels of indexing. If you want more,
you must create a DocBook extension that adds the additional
levels you need, and then also create customized stylesheets that
know how to transform your added elements.

Maybe there is someone on the list who has already done that. But
I've never come across anyone who has.

Keep in mind that DocBook's core domain is computer software and
hardware documentation. In that domain, I don't think there is
much need for more than three levels in an index. And I think most
usage guides suggest that it's actually best to try to limit
indexes to two levels.

The only workaround I can suggest is that you could move some of
the level hierarchy into your primary or secondary index terms.
Like this:

  <indexterm>
  <primary>ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES:Fines, forfeitures and other penalties:Excise taxes</primary>
  <secondary>Collection</secondary>
  <tertiary>Refund of tax, penalty or interest paid more than once or illegally collected</tertiary>
  <indexterm>

  or

  <indexterm>
  <primary>ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES:Fines, forfeitures and other penalties</primary>
  <secondary>Excise taxes:Collection</secondary>
  <tertiary>Refund of tax, penalty or interest paid more than once or illegally collected</tertiary>
  <indexterm>

LaRae Chasteen <lchasteen@municode.com> writes:

> Greetings!
>  
> We are beginning to use DocBook to mark up codes of ordinances,
> and it is serving quite well! The books we publish, however,
> include in-depth indexes, with up to six levels of entries. Here
> is an example of an index entry from one of our publications:
>  
> ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
> 
> =Fines, forfeitures and other penalties
> 
> ==Excise taxes
> 
> ===Collection
> 
> ====Refund of tax, penalty or interest paid more than once or illegally collected ..... &sect;6-156
>  
> As far as we can see, the levels provided in DocBook (<primary>,
> <secondary> and <tertiary>) are not going to be in-depth enough
> to accommodate this level of indexing. 
>  
> This is what the mark-up might look like, but we need
> suggestions on how to handle the entries AFTER the tertiary
> level:
>  
> <section>
>     <title>Sec. 6-156. Refund of tax, penalty or interest paid more than once or illegally collected</title>
> ...
> <indexterm>
> <primary>ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES</primary>
> <secondary>Fines, forfeitures and other penalties</secondary>
> <tertiary>Excise taxes</tertiary>
> <what here?>Collection</what here?>
> <what here?>Refund of tax, penalty or interest paid more than once or illegally collected</what here?>
> <indexterm>
> ...
> </section>
>  
> We are hoping for advice from anyone who may have already
> encountered this issue, or thoughts about how we might handle
> it.
>  
> (Note that our product of primary concern is the printed
> version, and for this, we have XyEnterprise's XML Professional
> Publisher v7.2c.1, which can "extract" and print up to nine
> levels of index entries...that is, once we define the nine
> levels in mark-up for it to consume.)

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