{"id":852,"date":"2014-08-11T09:51:34","date_gmt":"2014-08-11T09:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/uahost.uantwerpen.be\/bdmp\/EncodingManual\/?page_id=852"},"modified":"2014-09-12T11:53:34","modified_gmt":"2014-09-12T11:53:34","slug":"how-to-read-the-manual","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bdmpmanual.uantwerpen.be\/index.php\/how-to\/how-to-read-the-manual\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Read the Manual"},"content":{"rendered":"

General Remarks<\/h3>\n

If this is the first time you are visiting this website (or even reading our Encoding Manual\u00a0in general), it might be a good idea to start off by reading our General Remarks<\/a> pages. The first three of those (First Things First: Markup<\/a>,\u00a0Elements and Tags<\/a>, and\u00a0<\/span>Attributes and Their Values<\/a>) offer some very basic information on (TEI-)XML in general, while\u00a0the last three (Special Case: @xml:id<\/a>,\u00a0Entities<\/a>, and\u00a0Spacing<\/a>) each discuss a specific feature of (our) encoding in more detail.<\/p>\n

Specific Tags<\/h3>\n

If you are interested in a specific element, you can try navigating your way to its description by entering its name in the search bar\u00a0(in the sidebar on the righthand side of each page). Or, if you know whether it's an element that either belongs in The Header<\/a> or in The Text<\/a>, you can navigate your way to either one of those pages, and find their respective elements presented in a tree-like structure in the sidebar on your right, that tells you on which level you would be most likely to find that element.\u00a0In The Text<\/a> section, this tree-like structure displays all of the tags we use in the <text><\/code> element. The Header<\/a> section works a little differently, as it is subdivided into the <teiHeader><\/code>'s\u00a0three major modules (one of which is subdivided into three submodules). Each of these (sub)modules contains more detailed information on all of the tags that can be used within\u00a0those modules.<\/p>\n

Code<\/h3>\n

As you may already have noticed in the above, when\u00a0elements, attributes, entities, small snippets of code etc. are mentioned in the text, they are\u00a0rendered in red with a grey background like this: <element><\/code> @attribute<\/code> #&entity;<\/code>. We are currently in the process of linking the elements that are mentioned in the text to their individual tag descriptions, so you can click on them for an even faster navigation experience. When this process is finished, we will let you know through the\u00a0News and Updates<\/a> page.<\/p>\n

Larger strings of code\u00a0are separated from the text itself (like you would a <blockquote><\/code>), put inside a blue panel, and rendered with syntax highlights.\u00a0Although we try to make these strings of code as readable as possible by using hard returns and spacing to indicate element nesting, they may not fit inside the panel, depending on your screen size. In that case, you can always scroll the panel horizontally\u00a0to read the rest of the code, as in the following example:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

[xml]<\/p>\n

This is an example of a very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very long string of code.<\/p>\n

Scroll this panel horizontally to read all of the code.[\/xml]<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div><\/p>\n

Validation information<\/h3>\n

Each tag description starts with a table that contains the element's validation information. This table should speak for itself: in the\u00a0XML transcription of the text, the element has to be a direct child<\/strong> of one of the tags in the Contained by<\/strong> row, and can only have <\/strong>those\u00a0<\/strong>elements\u00a0<\/b>in the\u00a0May Contain<\/strong> row as its direct children<\/strong>. To find out why this is the case (and what are child or parent tags in the first place), please read the Validation<\/a> section of the Elements and Tags<\/a> page. The last row of the table contains the attributes the element may have, with obligatory attributes rendered in\u00a0<\/span>blue<\/span><\/span>, and\u00a0optional attributes rendered in\u00a0<\/span>black<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other information<\/h3>\n

The rest of the tag description gives you more information about the element\u00a0itself. The first part, titled 'What is it?<\/strong>' will give you a short description of what the element\u00a0stands for, and how we use it. If the element\u00a0in question has any attributes, they will be listed under the next heading, titled 'Attributes<\/strong>'.\u00a0This section is subdivided into different 'tabs',\u00a0\u00a0each of which explains the use of one of the element's attributes, like this:<\/p>\n