Grouping Definitions

[hedley.finger at myob.com]

As well as grouping para and char tags alphabetically by beginning their 
names with their general class and adding a specific suffix (e.g. 
"HeadingChapter", "HeadingSection", etc.) may I suggest that you prefix 
them with short codes to quickly apply them from the keyboard.

Thus "HeadingChapter" might become "hc_HeadingChapter", "HeadingSection" 
might become "hs_HeadingSection", etc. to be readily applied by typing 
Ctrl-9, typing 'hc' or whatever, then pressing Enter.  Char formats can be 
named similarly.  So can variables (insert with Ctrl-0) and conditional 
formats (Ctrl-4 apply, Ctrl-5 remove specific format (handy when several 
formats are overlapped).  I would not create some char formats by meaning, 
particularly emphasis, unless you use the same formats for different 
languages where different conventions apply.  Are you really going to 
create an essentially italic format for 'Emphasis', 'ShipNames', 
'BookTitles', 'OperaTitles', etc. and all the other usages where italic is 
applied by convention.  Probably not.

Try naming cross-references by a name that reflects their purpose and 
appearance in the text, e.g. 'Chapter_99,_"Title",_on_page_99', 
'Step_9_in_"Heading"_on_page_99', etc. as you can't specify xrefs from the 
keyboard.

Why all the underscores?  Some third-party tools don't like spaces in 
format names or require awkward workarounds to handle them.  So plan for 
the future and don't use spaces in format names.  Ever.

--
Hedley Finger
Training Content Developer and Tools Specialist
MYOB Australia Pty Ltd <http://myob.com/au>
P.O. box 371   Blackburn VIC 3130   Australia
12 Wesley Court   Tally Ho Business Park   East Burwood VIC 3151 Australia
<mailto:hedleyDOTfingerATmyobDOTcom>
Tel. +61 3 9222 9992 x 7421,   Mob. (cell) +61 412 461 558

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