On 23/03/2022 06:52, Nicolas Goaziou wrote:
Max Nikulin writes:
Another point is more serious. Besides citations there are internal
cross-references. Org supports them but only in a rudimentary form.
Actually cross-references are similar to citations in the sense that
they can have style, prefixes and suffixes, and their appearance
depends on target properties. Another feature is grouping. However
cross-references should not be handled by citation backends, they
require different handlers. Unfortunately there is no way to define
custom "citation" type e.g. "[ref:...]" in addition to "[cite:...]".
There is too little information here for me to understand what
cross-references (or grouping) are, or why they would require different
handlers. In any case, if such thing are deemed necessary in Org Cite,
one can always start a new thread.
Frankly speaking, for me it was enough just to use available LaTeX
commands. I never thought about corner cases, but feature request
requires such analysis.
By grouping I mean the existing feature of org-cite: several keys with
common prefix and suffix, items within such group may be sorted.
Citation handlers obtain information necessary for formatting from a
bibliography database. For cross-references such additional info should
be pulled from other parts of the same document. There is no point to
mix the code for both cases withing the same handler, it is better to
combine independent handlers and to allow each type to have alternative
implementations. I agree with those who say that cross-references and
citations are rather independent when implementation is considered.
Judging from the description, org-ref (with org-refproc as an optional
addition) does the job taking advantage of multiple custom link types
for the same actual standard internal link target.
Sphinx has a feature that is an interesting border case between internal
cross-references and external links (almost citations). Readthedocs
sites host mapping tables for python packages. It is possible to fetch a
file that associates e.g. anchors and section names. In generated docs
anchors (similar to custom_id values) are replaced by section names and
link target points to particular location in the external file.
Nicolas, concerning a new thread, I have an impression that you are busy
with over activities since you are participating in discussions not so
frequently. So I am unsure at which moment it is appropriate to raise
such question that otherwise may just be buried in the list archive.
Sometimes I am in doubts if an idea deserves a dedicated thread or
initial feedback may be received from a related rather generic topic.
To assign additional properties, info "(org) Links in HTML export"
https://orgmode.org/manual/Links-in-HTML-export.html recommends usage
of "#+ATTR_HTML", but such technique has several issues:
This is a different issue. Citations are not link, and have a fixed set
of properties.
Outside of Org, citations are links. Along with cross-references they
worked before appearance of the web. To be recognizable on paper they
may have a bit special form. An author may choose what will appear in
the text: page number, section number, or section text. For HTML links
page number option is not meaningful.
Within Org citations look like generalized links: a citation may have
multiple targets, they have more properties: prefixes, suffixes
(including common ones), style, and locators. However there is no
description.
Internal links in Org (built-in ones without additional packages) are
more limited than full-fledged cross-references. When exported they have
the same form.
I consider fixed set of properties as a problem. At first I tried to
draw attention to additional link attributes. Then I realized that
block-level elements may have arbitrary attributes. It would be a great
feature to have some syntax construct to assign attributes for
particular inline object. People actively use link types as an
additional property, but it gives just one degree of freedom. Sometimes
more parameters are required and abusing link types means combinatorics
explosion. Encoding extra properties inside link targets sometimes is
enough (as in org-ref) but some times it is inconvenient.
Advantages of arbitrary attributes for inline objects for links:
- Within the same paragraph only part of links may be marked as
"nofollow noopener" during exporting to HTML.
- Each link may have its own title.
- Link types similar to org-ref cross-references ("pageref", "nameref",
"eqref", etc.) becomes an extra attribute while link type and link
target remains the standard one for Org (heading text, custom id, name
attribute).
For citations some values may be passed to specific citation backend
overriding default value derived from style. It should be similar to
babel header arguments specific to particular language or export options
for particular format.
Leaving groups aside, attributes for inline objects may be a convenient
extension.
