scott said:

All that's required is a tab-delimitted file (or database or spreadsheet) with 2 columns: id, annotation.

again, i say, please provide people with this solution! if it's as easy as you say, it shouldn't take much time. right?

Now, in your favorite scripting or programming language, iterate thru the file, read the id and annotation, then replace the former with the latter in the marked-up book.  (Including the appropriate (X)HTML wrapper, as noted.)

you've got some slippery thinking here about the "id" markers. do they already exist in the text? how did they get there? how did the database, which links id markers and annotations, come into existence? how are annotations shared with others? can annotations be made on annotations? what about things like graphics and movies -- how can they be utilized as annotations?

For someone who doesn't write scripts, it's not trivial.  For someone who does, it's a few lines of code.

as above, if it's just a few lines of code, why won't you write 'em?

Note that with a little more techie work, the process could be simplified for the annotaters.

that simplification would be a good thing, yes, a good thing indeed.

They could add the annotation text directly in the document, surrounded by unique delimiters. 

and maybe with just a little bit more techie work, you could provide those "unique delimiters" for them, save them the trouble. not everyone knows x.h.t.m.l., and not everyone wants to learn it.

Then, a script could generate any version, e.g. replace delimiters with (X)HTML wrapper and/or with a generated unique ID; extract the annotations to a separate (X)HTML file that can be printed on its own, etc.

sounds nifty. i'll implement this for a plain-text file, and you do the implementation for a marked-up file, and we'll see who gets done first, and who has the solution that proves to be more powerful and robust. how about it scott? are you up for the challenge?

All this stuff is pretty easy for a college student with any scripting experience.

then it should be a piece of cake for you, scott, right?

Sure, in the ideal world.  Meanwhile, inserting unique IDs is a pragmatic solution.

i think that such a "pragmatic solution" would prove to be a false economy, by causing more problems than it solves, over the long run. any time you fork the original text into a different file, you're creating a brittleness that will bite you, and causing yourself unnecessary editing trouble in the future.

Of course there's some work involved to sync the marked version with any future PG updates

that's exactly what i was just talking about, yep.

but given "diff" tools, it's not that much work for a handful of annotated books.  (And, with a little work, could be largely automated.)

have you ever done this type of work? have you been successful in automating it? if so, then you would be well-advised to start a business, and charge the world for your expertise, since there are lots of companies who are finding it expensive to do this, and they would dearly love to find a less-costly solution...

And, I'm all in favor of someone taking the time to get an XPATH solution working.

me too! how about you doing that work? -bowerbird