On 1/29/2012 11:08 AM, Jim Adcock wrote:
A precondition is to have a fairly complete and explicit set of rules about which markup is acceptable, necessary, and sufficient (which may if necessary differ by project, but differences should be avoided.) The accomplishment of the application of the necessary and sufficient markup should produce a single version which would comprise a canonical source for all final published versions by the application of stylesheets, translators, XSLT transformations, unix-style filters, manual adjustments and enhancements, or other means. (Additional resources may require inclusion, such as images for illustrations, etc.)
I don't see where this is any different than the "rules" which are in place for HTML right now.
The difference is that right now there practically are /no/ rules in place for HTML (or perhaps there are /unwritten/ rules, but I have no idea what they are). According to the HTML FAQ, http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:HTML_FAQ#1._The_only_absolute_rule_i...: "The only absolute rule is that the HTML should be valid according to one of the W3C HTML standards, and, if used, CSS must also be valid." The FAQ goes on to provide some guidance on how to use HTML, but it barely scratches the surface of the rules needed for HTML to be a master format. The pgdp Wiki has some more pertinent advice at http://www.pgdp.net/wiki/The_Proofreader%27s_Guide_to_EPUB#How_to_Author_HTM... but even this good advice is incomplete, and hardly qualifies as PG "rules." So, if Project WOPR is going to do a better job at creating a master format than currently exists, a much more complete set of rules will need to be created, probably rules that would address most, if not all, of the constructs in the list you posted a few days ago. Such a set of rules does not now exist, but I am convinced that it could be created if people are committed to compromise.