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The 'teixlite' DTD IV

The next few pages look briefly at the middle layer of structure of the teixlite dtd. This is the layer that will usually be used to mark up the actual text itself. This page looks at the body element and it's content.

The 'body' element.

The element declaration for the body element appears below. As can be seen it contains a hugh number of elements! However don't 'freak out', we can get by with just a few of these. The elements that are likely to be used for marking up gutenberg texts (and the ones we will be examining) have been emboldened the first time they appear.


<!ELEMENT body 
	((argument | byline | docAuthor | docDate | epigraph | head 
	| opener | salute | signed | index | interp | interpGrp 
	| lb | milestone | pb | gap | anchor)*, ((((eg | bibl | 
	biblFull | l | lg | p | sp | cit | q | label | list | listBibl 
	| note | stage), (index | interp | interpGrp | lb | milestone 
	| pb | gap | anchor)*)+, (divGen, (index | interp | interpGrp 
	| lb | milestone | pb | gap | anchor)*)*, ((div, (div | 
	divGen | index | interp | interpGrp | lb | milestone | pb 
	| gap | anchor)*) | (div0, (div0 | divGen | index | interp 
	| interpGrp | lb | milestone | pb | gap | anchor)*) | (div1, 
	(div1 | divGen | index | interp | interpGrp | lb | milestone 
	| pb | gap | anchor)*))?) | ((divGen, (index | interp | 
	interpGrp | lb | milestone | pb | gap | anchor)*)*, ((div, 
	(div | divGen | index | interp | interpGrp | lb | milestone 
	| pb | gap | anchor)*) | (div0, (div0 | divGen | index | 
	interp | interpGrp | lb | milestone | pb | gap | anchor)*) 
	| (div1, (div1 | divGen | index | interp | interpGrp | lb 
	| milestone | pb | gap | anchor)*)))), ((byline | closer 
	| epigraph | salute | signed | trailer), (index | interp 
	| interpGrp | lb | milestone | pb | gap | anchor)*)*) >

Example

The following example shows how the body element is used.

 <body>
  <div1 type="chapter">
   <head>
    <num>CHAPTER I.</num><title> LASSITER</title>
   </head>
  <p>
  A sharp clip-crop of iron-shod hoofs deadened and died away, and
  clouds of yellow dust drifted from under the cottonwoods out over
  the sage.
  </p>
      ...[the book]...
  </div1>
 </body>

Note that this use of the title element as a chapter title heading, although legal, is frowned upon by TEI purists. The officil documentation suggests that the title element should be used as follows: "contains the title of a work, whether article, book, journal, or series, including any alternative titles or subtitles"

Many of the other elements have an obvious meaning. The following table shows some of the more commonly used elements. You are directed to the official documentation for the semantics of the other elements.

Element	Semantics	Notes
p	A paragraph	As with most book DTD's the paragraph element is the workhorse of the DTD.
head	A header	In TEI this element is used where some kind of heading is required. It is often used for a title of some kind. The `head` element is used as content of numerous other elements. For better or worse it is often used to delimit the headings of a poem or chapter, the various subsections such as the title or a chapter number. The different types of content can be defined by a `type` attribute.
trailer	A block of markup found at the end of a division.	This is the counterpart to the `head` element.
epigraph	An epigraph	This element contains a quotation, anonymous or attributed, appearing at the start of a section or chapter, or on a title page.
argument	Often used to describe a chapter summary.	The `argument` element must contain a `head` element. This is followed by numerous other elements such as `p, q, l, lg, and cit` elements.
div	A division or section.	This is the major divisioning or sectioning element of the DTD. It is recursive and ccan contain numerous copies of itself. Different types of division are differentiated by an attribute, usually the `'type'` attribute.
div0-div7	Non recursive divisions or sections	Unlike the `div` element this element is non recursive. It can contain the next division down in the hierarchy but cannot contain a `div` element.
divGen	A marker for a new section	`divGen` is an empty element used for marking a division in the text, but it does not enclose the division
lg	line group	This is used for any section that must employ lines such as verses or lines in a blank verse play. The `lg` element is recursive.
l	An individual line of text.	Can occur as content of many elements.
q	A quotation
cit	A citation	Often used in conjunction with the `q` element. A `q` element can contain a `cit` element and vice-versa.
list	A list	TEI lite has only one list. the different kinds of list are distinguished by attributes.
label	A label
note	A note	Is usually used for a footnote, either by the original author, or by the editor.An attribute should be used to distinguish the various uses.
opener	Opening material	Used to distinguish opening material. As with many instances in TEI the exact use is defined by an attribute.
salut	A salutation	e.g. The opening of a letter.
signed	A signature	e.g. the signature of a contract or a letter. Distinguish from the `name` element.
stage	Usually used in connection with a stage direction or stage related activity.	Can occur as content of numerous other elements including the `div` elements. The various uses are refined using an attribute. This element is also recursive.
speaker	speaker	Used mostly in plays to identify the characters.
sp	speach	Used mostly in plays to identify a speech. Among other things it can contain `stage, speaker, l, lg` and `p` elements.

The next page shows how the div elements of TEI are used.

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The HTML Writers Guild

The 'teixlite' DTD IV

The 'body' element.

Example