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

Common 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 Prefaces 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. Prefaces are usually listed in the Table of Contents.

Parents

These elements contain preface: book, part.

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 the Preface.

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).

See Also

appendix, article, book, chapter, colophon, dedication, part, partintro, set.

Examples

For examples, see book.