I think that the simple answer to your question is that I do not recall
anyone raising the problem before.
On another point, I'm not sure why you would want or need to have a table
either in the source document or the output HTML. There's only so much
positioning one can do in HTML. You can't resize the image so that's a
given. You can align it horizontally, put space above and below and wrap
text around it, none of which seems to require an HTML table accomplish- an
align attribute on <img> and some CSS properties in a style attribute should
suffice.
As to the encoding solution, there may be several possibilities short of
complete tag abuse, depending on where the reference to the image resides.
If it's in a <p> within <bioghist>, a logical possibility, here's one
choice.
<bioghist>
<dao id="p1" href="bobs.jpg">
<p>Some text <ptr target="p1"> more about the life and fast times of Bob,
the creator of these records.</p>
</bioghist>
Then you just need a stylesheet template the positions bioghist/p/ptr where
you want it on the page and you create an <img> whose src attribute has the
value of the href attribute in the <dao> element whose id attribute matches
the value of <ptr>'s target attribute. It's actually less complex than that
sentence was. You could avoid hardwiring the attributes into <dao> and
<ptr> and generate them on the fly with the XSL generate-id() function put I
wouldn't recommend that.
Whether that's tag abuse or not, I leave to you decide. Admittedly it's
convoluted and a more elegant solution may either be out there and I'm
missing it or will have to await the next version of EAD.
Anyone else have an idea for Mark?
Michael
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Carlson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 4:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: <dao> and embedded images
But this doesn't really address the issue of positioning a DAO at a
particular point within the text of a <p> element. For instance, in your
<bioghist><p> element, you may want to embed an image within the flow of
text:
<bioghist>
<p>John Smith was born on Feb. 14, 1898 in Dallas, Texas... [embed
image]</p>
<table> seems the logical way to accomplish this and is available within
<p>. It also seems the most standardized way (i.e. a way that most style
sheets would be able to render it correctly) rather than making a local
style sheet change based on local practice. I guess my question is, why
isn't <dao> available within a <table>...<entry> while <extptr> is? What
was the reasoning behind this decision?
Mark
On Thu, 17 Jun 2004, Fox, Michael wrote:
> You can always open a <daodesc> within <dao> and it has <table> and <p>
> available within it. So the horse comes after the cart and not before it
in
> this case. Otherwise, if you have a standard pattern for the display of
> such images, that could be built into a stylesheet. Whether one uses a
> table in the HTML output to position text and image is another matter.
> There are other options.
>
> Michael Fox
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mark Carlson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Thursday, June 17, 2004 3:38 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: <dao> and embedded images
>
>
> I would like to get some input about embedding images within the body of a
> finding aid. These would be images from the collection of materials being
> described, so <dao> (or <daogrp>) seems to be the appropriate element to
> use. In this situation, it looks like the only place that <dao> can be
> used as a standalone element is within <scopecontent>, <bioghist> and
> <odd>, but there are no attributes within <dao> (other than "altrender")
> that control *how* the image displays, such as alignment and whether it
> should flow with the text or be displayed separately from it.
>
> For an image that should display within the flow of text (for instance,
> within a <p> element) or for the ability to control the display more
> precisely, the logical solution seems to be to put it within a <table>
> element. In this scenario you could control width, alignment and other
> display features via a combination of specific attributes available in
> <table> and its child elements. However, <dao> is not a valid element
> within <table>...<entry>. This seems inconsistent, since a similar
> linking element <extptr> is valid within <table>...< entry>.
>
> What would the recommendation be considering the current limitations about
> where <dao> (daogrp) can be used? It seems that for consistency that
> <dao> should be valid within a <table>...<entry> element just as <extptr>
> is.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Mark Carlson
> Computer Support Analyst I
> Special Collections Division
> University of Washington Libraries
> Seattle, WA, USA
> http://www.lib.washington.edu/specialcoll/findaids/
>
|