preface
preface — Introductory matter preceding the first chapter of a book
Synopsis
Content Model
preface ::=
(beginpage?,prefaceinfo?,
(title,subtitle?,titleabbrev?),
(toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*,
tocchap?,
(((calloutlist|glosslist|bibliolist|itemizedlist|orderedlist|
segmentedlist|simplelist|variablelist|caution|important|note|
tip|warning|literallayout|programlisting|programlistingco|
screen|screenco|screenshot|synopsis|cmdsynopsis|funcsynopsis|
classsynopsis|fieldsynopsis|constructorsynopsis|
destructorsynopsis|methodsynopsis|formalpara|para|simpara|
address|blockquote|graphic|graphicco|mediaobject|
mediaobjectco|informalequation|informalexample|informalfigure|
informaltable|equation|example|figure|table|msgset|procedure|
sidebar|qandaset|task|productionset|constraintdef|anchor|
bridgehead|remark|highlights|abstract|authorblurb|epigraph|
indexterm|beginpage)+,
(sect1*|
(refentry)*|
simplesect*|
(section)*))|
(sect1+|
(refentry)+|
simplesect+|
(section)+)),
(toc|lot|index|glossary|bibliography)*)
Attributes
Name | Type | Default |
status | CDATA | None |
Description
Preface
is a preface or forward in a Book
. The Preface
element may appear more than once and should be used for all introductory chapter-like material. For example, a Book
might have both a Foreward and an Introduction. Both should be tagged as Preface
s in DocBook.
Processing expectations
Formatted as a displayed block. Usually introduces a forced page break and often starts on the next recto page. It is common for the page numbers in prefaces to be displayed as roman numerals rather than arabic numerals. Preface
s are usually listed in the Table of Contents.
Children
The following elements occur in preface: abstract
, address
, anchor
, authorblurb
, beginpage
, bibliography
, bibliolist
, blockquote
, bridgehead
, calloutlist
, caution
, classsynopsis
, cmdsynopsis
, constraintdef
, constructorsynopsis
, destructorsynopsis
, epigraph
, equation
, example
, fieldsynopsis
, figure
, formalpara
, funcsynopsis
, glossary
, glosslist
, graphic
, graphicco
, highlights
, important
, index
, indexterm
, informalequation
, informalexample
, informalfigure
, informaltable
, itemizedlist
, literallayout
, lot
, mediaobject
, mediaobjectco
, methodsynopsis
, msgset
, note
, orderedlist
, para
, prefaceinfo
, procedure
, productionset
, programlisting
, programlistingco
, qandaset
, refentry
, remark
, screen
, screenco
, screenshot
, sect1
, section
, segmentedlist
, sidebar
, simpara
, simplelist
, simplesect
, subtitle
, synopsis
, table
, task
, tip
, title
, titleabbrev
, toc
, tocchap
, variablelist
, warning
.
Attributes
status
Status
identifies the editorial or publication status of thePreface
.Publication status might be used to control formatting (for example, printing a “draft” watermark on drafts) or processing (perhaps a document with a status of “final” should not include any components that are not final).