Experience with db5 and fop-9X

I've been attempting to use docbook 5 (with
fop1.extensions=1) and the
new FOP 0.92beta to make PDF documents . Previously I've
been using
DB4 and fop-0.20.5

First, the good parts:

The transition to DB5 was pretty easy. At least I think it
was, I'm
not 100% convinced I'm using it. How can I be sure?

I don't use more than a basic DB stuff, and after a brief
panic that
my entities wouldn't work, I found you could still use
!DOCTYPE to get
them in. Phew. Probably not the right way to do it, but it
works.

<?xml version="1.0"
encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE book [
  <!ENTITY % variables SYSTEM "variables.ent"
>
  <!ENTITY % keymap SYSTEM "keymap.ent" >
%variables;
%keymap;
]>

<book xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/d
ocbook" version="5.0"
xml:lang="en">
...

Keeps work - yay! No longer does it seem that I get page
breaks
between pictures and captions.

The not so good:

Image scaling seems to be  problem. With DB4/fop-0.20
something like
<figure><title>Example</title>
  <mediaobject><imageobject>
     <imagedata fileref="EDA-2.png"
format="PNG"/>
  </imageobject></mediaobject>
</figure>
worked nicely. With big images they were scaled to fit into
the page
width. Smaller images just took the space they needed.
With the new stuff, the above with a big image will either
generate an
exception as it can't fit it on the page, or else it will
fit, but
half of it will be off the edge of the page. I can fix this
by putting
width="100%"  as part of it, but I either need
to do this on a case by
case basis, or force everything to be full size. I miss the
auto
sizing!

PDF bookmarks are back after getting the docbook-xsl-1.70.1
stuff.
However the title page bookmark takes me to the part1
header, rather
than the front page, which is a little odd.

Floats still don't seem to work still. Any attempt to
specify a float
seems to make the whole floating thing vanish completely. I
think this
is a fop issue.

Of course the worst thing about DB5 is not having Bob
Stayton's guide.
Most of it still seems to work, but I get the impression I
could be
doing things better.

In summary, apart from the image issue, it wasn't as scary
a journey
as I thought it might be.

Julian.

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> -----Original Message-----
> From: Julian Onions 

> Image scaling seems to be  problem. With DB4/fop-0.20
something like
> <figure><title>Example</title>
>   <mediaobject><imageobject>
>      <imagedata fileref="EDA-2.png"
format="PNG"/>
>   </imageobject></mediaobject>
> </figure>
> worked nicely. With big images they were scaled to fit
into the page
> width. Smaller images just took the space they needed.
> With the new stuff, the above with a big image will
either generate an
> exception as it can't fit it on the page, or else it
will fit, but
> half of it will be off the edge of the page. I can fix
this by putting
> width="100%"  as part of it, but I either
need to do this on a case by
> case basis, or force everything to be full size. I miss
the auto
> sizing!


This seems to be a long-standing issue:
http://issues.apache.org/bugzilla/show_bug.cgi?id=37136

I haven't investigated it very thoroughly, but FOP 0.9X
apparently conforms
more strictly to the XSL specification than does 0.20.5.


> PDF bookmarks are back after getting the
docbook-xsl-1.70.1 stuff.
> However the title page bookmark takes me to the part1
header, rather
> than the front page, which is a little odd.

Can you please provide a small sample document that
demonstrates this?


> Floats still don't seem to work still. Any attempt to
specify a float
> seems to make the whole floating thing vanish
completely. I think this
> is a fop issue.

Yes, it is:
http://xmlgraphics.apache.org/fop/compliance.ht
ml#fo-object-float

/MJ



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