SGML docs and pdf single-quotes

Hi all,

Using the pdf version of the postgres manual I wonder if
it wouldn't be better to replace single-quotes inside
<programlisting> with &apos; (apostrophe).

There are two advantages:

1. it makes it possible to copy-and-paste examples from
the pdf file.

2. it prevents running together of two (or more)
single-quotes into a single double-quote.

Both problems occur only in pdf, not in html.

A disadvantage is that sgml source files become less
human-readable.

I compiled such a converted pdf with the attached perl
program.

The perl program can easily be made to generate the diffs
for all sgml files; I'll do that if it is considered
useful. On the other hand, maybe this conversion of ' to
&apod; should be built into the xslt processing (to leave
the sgml more readable)?

Erik Rijkers

"E. Rijkers" <er(at)xs4all(dot)nl> writes:
> Using the pdf version of the postgres manual I wonder if
> it wouldn't be better to replace single-quotes inside
> <programlisting> with &apos; (apostrophe).

Having to deal with entity-izing & and < is bad enough;
doing it for ' is something up with which I will not put.

> On the other hand, maybe this conversion of ' to
> &apod; should be built into the xslt processing (to leave
> the sgml more readable)?

That would be tolerable.

regards, tom lane

Added to TODO:

* Convert single quotes to apostrophes in the PDF documentation

http://archives.postgresql.org/pgsql-docs/2007-12/msg00059.php

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tom Lane wrote:
> "E. Rijkers" <er(at)xs4all(dot)nl> writes:
> > Using the pdf version of the postgres manual I wonder if
> > it wouldn't be better to replace single-quotes inside
> > <programlisting> with &apos; (apostrophe).
>
> Having to deal with entity-izing & and < is bad enough;
> doing it for ' is something up with which I will not put.
>
> > On the other hand, maybe this conversion of ' to
> > &apod; should be built into the xslt processing (to leave
> > the sgml more readable)?
>
> That would be tolerable.
>
> regards, tom lane
>
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