Re: @part command and docbook

[Karl Berry]

Arnold,

I'm sorry, but what you want for @part is something completely different
than what I intended.  Oddly enough, I implemented what I intended :),
which was essentially just standalone "part pages" that bear no
relationship to the rest of the document.  For example, it is completely
intentional and desirable that there is no autonumbering.  Other people
had asked for this approach (not that I remember who any more), and it
is how I have seen parts used in traditional (not docbook-based) books.
Now I'm sorry I ever spent any time on it.

Anyway, it makes no sense to me to try to shoehorn what you want into
that ill-fitting framework.

We could conceivably come up with some new part-level command that does
what you want, but, well, I am feeling completely overwhelmed by the
amount of effort it will take to define this what-seems-a-tiny feature.

(Aside: in general, I can't see how you're *ever* going to get the exact
output you want, in every detail, through two different markup systems,
each with their own crazy limitations.  When I want to control my
output, which I very often do, I use TeX directly ... screw everything
else.  Oh well.  I know O'Reilly doesn't believe in TeX.)

Sorry,
k