doctools2toc_introduction(n)					Documentation tools				      doctools2toc_introduction(n)

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NAME

       doctools2toc_introduction - DocTools - Tables of Contents

DESCRIPTION

       doctoc (short for documentation tables of contents) stands for a set of related, yet different, entities which are working together for the
       easy creation and transformation of tables and contents for documentation.

       These are

       [1]    A tcl based language for the semantic markup of a table of contents.  Markup is represented by Tcl commands.  Beginners should start
	      with  the  doctoc language introduction.	The formal specification is split over two documents, one dealing with the doctoc language
	      syntax, the other a doctoc language command reference.

       [2]    A set of packages for the programmatic manipulation of tables of contents in memory, and their conversion between  various  formats,
	      reading and writing. The aforementioned markup language is one of the formats which can be both read from and written to.

       [3]    The  system for the conversion of tables of contents is based on a plugin mechanism, for this we have two APIs describing the inter-
	      face between the packages above and the import/export plugins.

       Which of the more detailed documents are relevant to the reader of this introduction depends on their role in the documentation process.

       [1]    A writer of documentation has to understand the markup language itself. A beginner to doctoc should read the more informally written
	      doctoc  language	introduction first. Having digested this the formal doctoc language syntax specification should become understand-
	      able. A writer experienced with doctoc may only need the doctoc language command reference from time to time to refresh her memory.

	      While a document is written the dtp application can be used to validate it, and after completion it  also  performs  the	conversion
	      into  the  chosen  system of visual markup, be it *roff, HTML, plain text, wiki, etc. The simpler dtplite application makes internal
	      use of doctoc when handling directories of documentation, automatically generating a proper table of contents for them.

       [2]    A processor of documentation written in the doctoc markup language has to know which tools are available for use.

	      The main tool is the aforementioned dtp application provided by Tcllib. The simpler dtplite does not expose doctoc to the  user.	At
	      the bottom level, common to both applications, however we find the three packages providing the basic facilities to handle tables of
	      contents, i.e. import from textual formats, programmatic manipulation in memory, and export to textual formats. These are

	      doctoools::toc
		     Programmatic manipulation of tables of contents in memory.

	      doctoools::toc::import
		     Import of tables of contents from various textual formats. The set of supported formats is extensible  through  plugin  pack-
		     ages.

	      doctoools::toc::export
		     Export of tables of contents to various textual formats. The set of supported formats is extensible through plugin packages.
       See also section Package Overview for an overview of the dependencies between these and other, supporting packages.

       [3]    At  last, but not least, plugin writers have to understand the interaction between the import and export packages and their plugins.
	      These APIs are described in the documentation for the two relevant packages, i.e.

	      o      doctoools::toc::import

	      o      doctoools::toc::export

RELATED FORMATS

       The doctoc format does not stand alone, it has two companion formats.  These are called docidx and doctools, and they are intended for  the
       markup  of keyword indices, and of general documentation, respectively.	They are described in their own sets of documents, starting at the
       DocTools - Keyword Indices and the DocTools - General, respectively.

PACKAGE OVERVIEW

					   ~~~~~~~~~~~ doctools::toc ~~~~~~~~~~~
					  ~~		       |	       ~~
		       doctools::toc::export ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ | ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ doctools::toc::import
			       |			       |		       |
	       +---------------+-------------------------+     |    +------------------+---------------+-----------------------+---------------+
	       |	       |			 |     |    |		       |	       |		       |	       |
       doctools::config        =			 |     |    |		       =       doctools::include       doctools::config doctools::paths
			       |			 |     |    |		       |
		       doctools::toc::export::<*>	 |     |    |	       doctools::toc::import::<*>
			       doctoc			 |     |    |		       doctoc, json
			       json			 |     |    |		       |	   \
			       html			 |     |    |	       doctools::toc::parse \
			       nroff			 |     |    |		       |	     \
			       wiki			 |     |    |  +---------------+	      json
			       text			 |     |    |  |	       |
						       doctools::toc::structure        |
										       |
									       +-------+---------------+
									       |		       |
		 doctools::html  doctools::html::cssdefaults	       doctools::tcl::parse    doctools::msgcat
		       |									       |
		 doctools::text  doctools::nroff::man_macros					       =
												       |
											       doctools::msgcat::toc::<*>
												       c, en, de, fr
												       (fr == en for now)
	       ~~      Interoperable objects, without actual package dependencies
	       --      Package dependency, higher requires lower package
	       =       Dynamic dependency through plugin system
	       <*>     Multiple packages following the given form of naming.

BUGS, IDEAS, FEEDBACK
       This document, and the package it describes, will undoubtedly contain bugs and other problems.  Please report such in the category doctools
       of the Tcllib SF Trackers [http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=12883].  Please also report any ideas for enhancements you may have for
       either package and/or documentation.

SEE ALSO

       doctools2doc_introduction, doctools2idx_introduction

KEYWORDS

       contents, conversion, formatting, markup, parsing, plugin, semantic markup, table of contents

CATEGORY

       Documentation tools

COPYRIGHT

       Copyright (c) 2009 Andreas Kupries <andreas_kupries@users.sourceforge.net>

doctools2toc								2.0					      doctools2toc_introduction(n)