| 1 | <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> |
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| 2 | |
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| 3 | <html> |
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| 4 | <head> |
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| 5 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us"> |
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| 6 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> |
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| 7 | <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="../../boost.css"> |
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| 8 | |
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| 9 | <title>Writing Documentation for Boost - HTML Design</title> |
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| 10 | </head> |
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| 11 | |
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| 12 | <body link="#0000FF" vlink="#800080"> |
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| 13 | <table border="0" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0" width="100%" summary= |
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| 14 | "header"> |
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| 15 | <tr> |
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| 16 | <td valign="top" width="300"> |
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| 17 | <h3><a href="index.html"><img height="86" width="277" alt="C++ Boost" |
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| 18 | src="../../boost.png" border="0"></a></h3> |
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| 19 | </td> |
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| 20 | |
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| 21 | <td valign="top"> |
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| 22 | <h1 align="center">Writing Documentation for Boost</h1> |
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| 23 | |
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| 24 | <h2 align="center">HTML Design</h2> |
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| 25 | </td> |
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| 26 | </tr> |
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| 27 | </table> |
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| 28 | <hr> |
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| 29 | |
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| 30 | <dl class="page-index"> |
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| 31 | <dt><a href="#introduction">Introduction</a></dt> |
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| 32 | |
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| 33 | <dt><a href="#common-pages">Common Pages Included in HTML |
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| 34 | Documentation</a></dt> |
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| 35 | |
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| 36 | <dd> |
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| 37 | <dl class="page-index"> |
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| 38 | <dt><a href="#index-page">Index</a></dt> |
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| 39 | |
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| 40 | <dt><a href="#overview-page">Overview</a></dt> |
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| 41 | |
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| 42 | <dt><a href="#definitions-page">Definitions</a></dt> |
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| 43 | |
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| 44 | <dt><a href="#rationale-page">Rationale</a></dt> |
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| 45 | |
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| 46 | <dt><a href="#configuration-page">Configuration Information</a></dt> |
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| 47 | |
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| 48 | <dt><a href="#faq-page">Frequently Asked Questions</a></dt> |
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| 49 | |
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| 50 | <dt><a href="#bibliography-page">Bibliography</a></dt> |
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| 51 | |
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| 52 | <dt><a href="#acknowledgements-page">Acknowledgment</a></dt> |
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| 53 | |
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| 54 | <dt><a href="#header-page">Header Reference</a></dt> |
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| 55 | </dl> |
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| 56 | </dd> |
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| 57 | |
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| 58 | <dt><a href="#layout">Layout</a></dt> |
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| 59 | |
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| 60 | <dd> |
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| 61 | <dl class="page-index"> |
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| 62 | <dt><a href="#page-banner">Page Banner</a></dt> |
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| 63 | |
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| 64 | <dt><a href="#page-index">Page Index</a></dt> |
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| 65 | |
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| 66 | <dt><a href="#content">Documentation Content</a></dt> |
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| 67 | |
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| 68 | <dd> |
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| 69 | <dl class="page-index"> |
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| 70 | <dt><a href="#doc-footnotes">Footnotes</a></dt> |
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| 71 | </dl> |
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| 72 | </dd> |
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| 73 | |
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| 74 | <dt><a href="#revision-info">Revision Information</a></dt> |
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| 75 | |
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| 76 | <dt><a href="#copyright">Copyright Information</a></dt> |
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| 77 | </dl> |
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| 78 | </dd> |
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| 79 | |
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| 80 | <dt><a href="#format">Format</a></dt> |
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| 81 | |
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| 82 | <dd> |
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| 83 | <dl class="page-index"> |
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| 84 | <dt><a href="#style-sheets">Cascading Style Sheets</a></dt> |
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| 85 | |
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| 86 | <dd> |
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| 87 | <dl class="page-index"> |
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| 88 | <dt><a href="#boost-style-sheet">Boost Style Sheet</a></dt> |
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| 89 | </dl> |
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| 90 | </dd> |
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| 91 | </dl> |
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| 92 | </dd> |
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| 93 | |
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| 94 | <dt><a href="#templates">Templates</a></dt> |
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| 95 | |
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| 96 | <dd> |
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| 97 | <dl class="page-index"> |
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| 98 | <dt><a href="#index-template">Index Page Template</a></dt> |
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| 99 | |
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| 100 | <dt><a href="#overview-template">Overview Page Template</a></dt> |
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| 101 | |
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| 102 | <dt><a href="#definitions-template">Definitions Page |
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| 103 | Template</a></dt> |
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| 104 | |
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| 105 | <dt><a href="#rationale-template">Rationale Page Template</a></dt> |
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| 106 | |
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| 107 | <dt><a href="#configuration-template">Configuration Page |
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| 108 | Template</a></dt> |
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| 109 | |
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| 110 | <dt><a href="#faq-template">FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page |
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| 111 | Template</a></dt> |
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| 112 | |
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| 113 | <dt><a href="#bibliography-template">Bibliography Page |
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| 114 | Template</a></dt> |
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| 115 | |
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| 116 | <dt><a href="#acknowledgements-template">Acknowledgments Page |
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| 117 | Template</a></dt> |
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| 118 | |
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| 119 | <dt><a href="#header-template">Header Page Template</a></dt> |
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| 120 | </dl> |
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| 121 | </dd> |
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| 122 | </dl> |
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| 123 | |
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| 124 | <h2><a name="introduction" id="introduction"></a>Introduction</h2> |
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| 125 | |
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| 126 | <p>Boost places no requirements on the design of HTML documentation for |
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| 127 | library submitters. If you are submitting a library for which documentation |
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| 128 | already exists in either HTML or in a form easily converted to HTML then |
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| 129 | there is no need for you to read this document. However, if you have not |
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| 130 | yet written the documentation, or if you expect to have to translate |
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| 131 | documentation written in a format not easily convertible to HTML then this |
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| 132 | document can give you a lot of information on how to go about writing |
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| 133 | documentation in HTML.</p> |
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| 134 | |
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| 135 | <p>In several places this document assumes you're writing the documentation |
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| 136 | to conform to the structure described in the <a href= |
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| 137 | "structure.html">Documentation Structure</a> document. There is no |
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| 138 | requirement that your documentation content follow these guidelines, but |
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| 139 | they provide an effective way to communicate technical specifications for a |
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| 140 | library in a terse yet precise manner that's familiar to many Boost |
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| 141 | users.</p> |
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| 142 | |
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| 143 | <p>This document also contains links to <a href="#templates">HTML template |
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| 144 | files</a> that can be used to rapidly develop documentation for a library |
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| 145 | submission. These templates follow the guidelines presented here and in the |
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| 146 | <a href="structure.html">Documentation Structure</a> document.</p> |
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| 147 | |
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| 148 | <h2><a name="common-pages" id="common-pages"></a>Common Pages Included in |
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| 149 | HTML Documentation</h2> |
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| 150 | |
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| 151 | <p>Most HTML documentation projects will contain some common pages. General |
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| 152 | guidelines for these common pages are provided below.</p> |
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| 153 | |
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| 154 | <h3><a name="index-page" id="index-page"></a>Index</h3> |
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| 155 | |
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| 156 | <p>The index page is the first page presented to a user when he browses the |
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| 157 | documentation. Generally this page should not contain any actual content, |
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| 158 | but instead contains a list of links to specific content. At a minimum this |
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| 159 | list should contain a link to every HTML page contained in the |
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| 160 | documentation. Optionally, sub-lists may be provided for individual pages |
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| 161 | linking to specific subjects within the page. These sub-lists should form a |
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| 162 | "tree" hierarchy based on the level of heading tag used for the specific |
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| 163 | subject. Inclusion of such sub-lists for every page can make the index |
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| 164 | rather lengthy, and since each page should include its own <a href= |
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| 165 | "#page-index">Page Index</a>, it may make the navigation of the |
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| 166 | documentation easier if such sub-lists are avoided. However, there is one |
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| 167 | exception to this guideline: reference documentation should contain a link |
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| 168 | to every header file in the library and a sub-list with a link to every |
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| 169 | macro, value, type, class, function and object (see <a href= |
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| 170 | "structure.html">Documentation Structure</a>) found in the header. Users |
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| 171 | aren't always sure what header file any of these may be contained in, so |
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| 172 | this structure in the index allows for easy navigation of the reference |
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| 173 | documentation.</p> |
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| 174 | |
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| 175 | <p>The index list should generally be constructed using an HTML "definition |
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| 176 | list" (<dl> and <dt> tags). A definition list has no bullets or |
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| 177 | ordered specifications and produces a cleaner layout then an unordered list |
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| 178 | (<ul> and <li> tags) or an ordered list (<ol> and |
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| 179 | <li> tags). If you choose to use the common <a href= |
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| 180 | "#boost-style-sheet">Boost Style Sheet</a> you should add a |
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| 181 | <code>class="index"</code> attribute/value pair to the <dl> tag.</p> |
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| 182 | |
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| 183 | <p>An Index page <a href="#index-template">template</a> is provided for |
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| 184 | use.</p> |
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| 185 | |
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| 186 | <h3><a name="overview-page" id="overview-page"></a>Overview</h3> |
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| 187 | |
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| 188 | <p>The Overview page is used to introduce the reader to the library. It |
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| 189 | should give a high-level overview of the purpose of the library and |
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| 190 | introduce the reader to any concepts they may be unfamiliar with. This may |
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| 191 | also be an appropriate place for some "light" rationale, though more |
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| 192 | thorough presentation of any rationale would be better placed in the |
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| 193 | <a href="#rationale-page">Rational Page</a>.</p> |
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| 194 | |
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| 195 | <p>Like most content pages, the Overview page should include a <a href= |
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| 196 | "#page-index">Page Index</a>.</p> |
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| 197 | |
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| 198 | <p>An Overview page <a href="#overview-template">template</a> is provided |
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| 199 | for use.</p> |
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| 200 | |
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| 201 | <h3><a name="definitions-page" id="definitions-page"></a>Definitions</h3> |
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| 202 | |
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| 203 | <p>The Definitions page is used to provide a list of definitions for terms |
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| 204 | that a user may be unfamiliar with.</p> |
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| 205 | |
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| 206 | <p>The definition list should generally be constructed using an HTML |
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| 207 | "definition list" (<dl> and <DT> tags). A definition list has |
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| 208 | no bullets or ordered specifications and produces a cleaner layout then an |
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| 209 | unordered list (<UL> and <li> tags) or an ordered list |
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| 210 | (<ol> and <li> tags). If you choose to use the common <a href= |
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| 211 | "#boost-style-sheet">Boost Style Sheet</a> you should add a |
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| 212 | <code>class="definition"</code> attribute/value pair to the <dl> |
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| 213 | tag.</p> |
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| 214 | |
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| 215 | <p>Because this page's content should only contain a list of definitions, |
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| 216 | it should not have a <a href="#page-index">Page Index</a>.</p> |
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| 217 | |
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| 218 | <p>A Definitions page <a href="#definitions-template">template</a> is |
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| 219 | provided for use.</p> |
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| 220 | |
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| 221 | <h3><a name="rationale-page" id="rationale-page"></a>Rationale</h3> |
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| 222 | |
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| 223 | <p>The Rationale page is used to provide lengthy descriptions of the |
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| 224 | rationale behind the library's design. This information helps users to |
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| 225 | understand why a library was designed the way it was and may reduce the |
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| 226 | frequency of a number of frequently asked questions. For a better |
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| 227 | description of why rationale is important see the <a href= |
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| 228 | "http://www.boost.org/more/lib_guide.htm#Rationale">Rationale rationale</a> |
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| 229 | in the general submission guidelines.</p> |
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| 230 | |
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| 231 | <p>Like most content pages, the Rationale page should include a <a href= |
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| 232 | "#page-index">Page Index</a>.</p> |
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| 233 | |
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| 234 | <p>A Rationale page <a href="#rationale-template">template</a> is provided |
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| 235 | for use.</p> |
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| 236 | |
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| 237 | <h3><a name="configuration-page" id="configuration-page"></a>Configuration |
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| 238 | Information</h3> |
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| 239 | |
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| 240 | <p>The Configuration Information page is used to document configuration |
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| 241 | macros used by the library. Such macros belong in one of three groups: |
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| 242 | macros used by library implenters defined in |
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| 243 | <code><boost/config.hpp></code>, macros used by library users to |
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| 244 | detect platform configuration information and macros defined by library |
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| 245 | users to configure library behavior.</p> |
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| 246 | |
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| 247 | <p>Like most content pages, the Overview page should include a <a href= |
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| 248 | "#page-index">Page Index</a>.</p> |
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| 249 | |
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| 250 | <p>A Configuration page <a href="#configuration-template">template</a> is |
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| 251 | provided for use.</p> |
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| 252 | |
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| 253 | <h3><a name="faq-page" id="faq-page"></a>Frequently Asked Questions</h3> |
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| 254 | |
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| 255 | <p>As a library matures the users will have questions about the usage of |
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| 256 | the library. Often users will ask the same questions over and over again. |
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| 257 | Rather than having to deal with answering the question every time it's |
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| 258 | asked, a Frequently Asked Questions (commonly known as FAQs) page can be |
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| 259 | used to document the questions and answers. This is such a valuable piece |
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| 260 | of documentation not only for the users but for the maintainers as well, |
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| 261 | that a FAQ page should be provided from the outset. If there are no |
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| 262 | questions that will obviously become a FAQ, the initial page may just |
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| 263 | indicate that there are no FAQs yet. This empty place holder helps to |
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| 264 | indicate to the users that you plan to address any FAQs as they occur.</p> |
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| 265 | |
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| 266 | <p>The <a href="#page-index">Page Index</a> for the FAQ page should contain |
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| 267 | a list of all the questions contained in the document. The actual question |
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| 268 | entries should be formatted with the question in a heading tag and the |
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| 269 | answers in standard paragraph format. This provides a clean presentation |
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| 270 | that's easy to read.</p> |
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| 271 | |
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| 272 | <p>A Frequently Asked Questions page <a href="#faq-template">template</a> |
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| 273 | is provided for use.</p> |
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| 274 | |
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| 275 | <h3><a name="bibliography-page" id= |
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| 276 | "bibliography-page"></a>Bibliography</h3> |
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| 277 | |
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| 278 | <p>The Bibliography page is used to document any bibliographical |
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| 279 | information associated with references made within the documentation to |
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| 280 | external resources. Parenthetical references are used within the |
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| 281 | documentation which link to entries in the Bibliography page. |
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| 282 | Bibliographical entries provide detailed information about the external |
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| 283 | resource and may contain hyper links to the resource if it's available |
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| 284 | online. There are several formal styles used for writing bibliographies. |
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| 285 | You may use what ever style you want, but one of the better styles to |
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| 286 | consider using can be referenced <a href= |
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| 287 | "http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html">here</a>.</p> |
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| 288 | |
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| 289 | <p>Since the Bibliography page should contain only bibliographical |
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| 290 | information there is no need for a <a href="#page-index">Page |
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| 291 | Index</a>.</p> |
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| 292 | |
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| 293 | <p>A Bibliography page <a href="#bibliography-template">template</a> is |
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| 294 | provided for use.</p> |
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| 295 | |
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| 296 | <h3><a name="acknowledgements-page" id= |
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| 297 | "acknowledgements-page"></a>Acknowledgment</h3> |
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| 298 | |
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| 299 | <p>The Acknowledgment page is used to give credit where credit is due. When |
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| 300 | individuals provide input on the design or implementation, or when you make |
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| 301 | use of someone else's work, you should acknowledge them. This is a courtesy |
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| 302 | that you'd expect others to extend to you, so you should strive to |
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| 303 | acknowledge the efforts of everyone else in your own documentation.</p> |
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| 304 | |
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| 305 | <p>Since the Acknowledgment page should contain only a list of |
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| 306 | acknowledgment there is no need for a <a href="#page-index">Page |
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| 307 | Index</a>.</p> |
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| 308 | |
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| 309 | <p>An Acknowledgments page <a href= |
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| 310 | "#acknowledgements-template">template</a> is provided for use.</p> |
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| 311 | |
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| 312 | <h3><a name="header-page" id="header-page"></a>Header Reference</h3> |
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| 313 | |
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| 314 | <p>The Header Reference pages are the most important pages in your |
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| 315 | documentation. They document all library headers, including all the macros, |
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| 316 | values, types, classes, functions and objects defined in them. In general |
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| 317 | it may prove useful to follow the guidelines in <a href= |
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| 318 | "structure.html">Documentation Structure</a> when writing the content for |
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| 319 | these pages.</p> |
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| 320 | |
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| 321 | <p>Like most content pages, the Header Reference pages should include a |
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| 322 | <a href="#page-index">Page Index</a>.</p> |
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| 323 | |
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| 324 | <p>A Header Reference page <a href="#header-template">template</a> is |
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| 325 | provided for use.</p> |
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| 326 | |
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| 327 | <h2><a name="layout" id="layout"></a>Layout</h2> |
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| 328 | |
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| 329 | <p>There are certain page layout concepts that will be used frequently in |
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| 330 | many of your pages. This section outlines some general guidelines that you |
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| 331 | can follow when designing each of these layout concepts for your |
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| 332 | documentation.</p> |
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| 333 | |
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| 334 | <h3><a name="page-banner" id="page-banner"></a>Page Banner</h3> |
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| 335 | |
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| 336 | <p>The Page Banner is located at the very top of a page and provides quick |
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| 337 | information about the page contents. This includes the Boost logo, which |
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| 338 | indicates to the reader that this page is part of the Boost web site, a |
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| 339 | title for the documentation (generally the library name) and the page |
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| 340 | title. The Boost logo should hyper link to the Boost home page on the index |
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| 341 | page and to the index page on all other pages. This allows the user to |
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| 342 | easily navigate through the Boost web site and through the documentation. |
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| 343 | The <title> tag for the HTML page should consist of the documentation |
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| 344 | title and the page title separated by a hyphen.</p> |
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| 345 | |
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| 346 | <p>The Page Banner should be separated from the rest of the page by the use |
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| 347 | of an <hr> tag. This helps to clearly separate the actual content |
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| 348 | from the title information and produces cleaner text.</p> |
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| 349 | |
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| 350 | <h3><a name="page-index" id="page-index"></a>Page Index</h3> |
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| 351 | |
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| 352 | <p>The page index is used to quickly navigate to the various sections of |
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| 353 | the documentation on the page, and when present should be located just |
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| 354 | below the Page Banner.</p> |
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| 355 | |
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| 356 | <p>The index list should generally be constructed using an HTML "definition |
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| 357 | list" (<dl> and <DT> tags). A definition list has no bullets or |
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| 358 | ordered specifications and produces a cleaner layout then an unordered list |
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| 359 | (<UL> and <li> tags) or an ordered list (<ol> and |
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| 360 | <li> tags). If you choose to use the Boost Style Sheet you should add |
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| 361 | a <code>class="page-index"</code> attribute/value pair to the <dl> |
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| 362 | tag.</p> |
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| 363 | |
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| 364 | <p>Most pages should include a Page Index.</p> |
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| 365 | |
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| 366 | <h3><a name="content" id="content"></a>Documentation Content</h3> |
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| 367 | |
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| 368 | <p>The page's actual documentation content will be formatted according to |
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| 369 | the specific needs of individual pages, and should be placed right after |
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| 370 | the Page Index if present, or after the Page Banner if not. In general the |
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| 371 | documentation content will take the form of paragraph text contained |
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| 372 | underneath section headings.</p> |
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| 373 | |
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| 374 | <h3><a name="doc-footnotes" id="doc-footnotes"></a>Footnotes</h3> |
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| 375 | |
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| 376 | <p>Footnotes may be used within a page's documentation. Within the |
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| 377 | documentation content a footnote reference should take the form of a |
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| 378 | footnote number in parentheses (the parentheses make it easier for the |
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| 379 | reader to click on the hyper link) hyper linking to the actual footnote at |
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| 380 | the bottom of the page's documentation content. You may either use the |
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| 381 | <sup> tag to format such footnote numbers, or, preferably, you can |
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| 382 | use a CSS style class in order to distinguish the number as a footnote |
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| 383 | instead of as part of the actual text. If you choose to use the common |
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| 384 | <a href="#boost-style-sheet">Boost Style Sheet</a>, a <code>footnote</code> |
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| 385 | class is defined for this purpose.</p> |
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| 386 | |
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| 387 | <h3><a name="revision-info" id="revision-info"></a>Revision |
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| 388 | Information</h3> |
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| 389 | |
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| 390 | <p>At the bottom of every page should be some revision information |
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| 391 | indicating when the page was last revised. This information should be |
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| 392 | separated from the rest of the page above by an <hr> tag. The |
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| 393 | following HTML code snippet can be used to track this revision information |
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| 394 | (this code uses some server components that exist on the Boost web site to |
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| 395 | automatically track revision dates with out the need for hand editing the |
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| 396 | date text):</p> |
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| 397 | <pre> |
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| 398 | <hr> |
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| 399 | <p>Revised |
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| 400 | <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" S-Type="EDITED" S-Format="%d %B, %Y" startspan --> |
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| 401 | 01 January, 2001 |
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| 402 | <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="39359" --> |
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| 403 | </p> |
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| 404 | </pre> |
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| 405 | |
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| 406 | <h3><a name="copyright" id="copyright"></a>Copyright Information</h3> |
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| 407 | |
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| 408 | <p>The very bottom of the page should contain any copyright information |
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| 409 | that applies to the document.</p> |
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| 410 | |
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| 411 | <h2><a name="format" id="format"></a>Format</h2> |
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| 412 | |
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| 413 | <p>This section provides general guidelines for formatting documentation |
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| 414 | using HTML. The description of the various "common pages" gave specific |
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| 415 | details for formatting specific sections of the documentation, which should |
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| 416 | override these guidelines.</p> |
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| 417 | |
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| 418 | <h3><a name="code-format" id="code-format"></a>Code</h3> |
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| 419 | |
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| 420 | <p>Code within the documentation should be placed within either |
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| 421 | <code></code> or <pre></pre> tags. For code that's |
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| 422 | placed inline with other text you use <code></code> tags, while |
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| 423 | <pre></pre> tags are used for code "blocks". If a cascading |
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| 424 | style sheet is used to specify formatting for these tags, a fixed width |
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| 425 | sans serif font should be used. This insures that the code is easily |
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| 426 | distinguishable from the rest of the text. It may also be beneficial to set |
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| 427 | the style for <pre></pre> tags to indent the text, to help |
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| 428 | separate code blocks from other structural HTML blocks. The <a href= |
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| 429 | "#boost-style-sheet">Boost Style Sheet</a> specifies formatting for these |
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| 430 | tags.</p> |
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| 431 | |
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| 432 | <p><b>Note:</b> "Code" includes variable names, function names, etc.</p> |
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| 433 | |
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| 434 | <h3><a name="lists" id="lists"></a>Lists</h3> |
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| 435 | |
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| 436 | <p>Lists should be constructed as unordered (<UL> and <li> |
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| 437 | tags), ordered (<ol> and <li> tags) or definition (<dl> |
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| 438 | and <DT> tags) lists in HTML. You use an unordered list when you need |
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| 439 | a collection of items that don't have any kind of logical ordering, such as |
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| 440 | a list of data types that are defined by the library and can be used for a |
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| 441 | template argument. You use an ordered list when the collection of items |
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| 442 | must be grouped in a logical ordering, such as when enumerating the steps |
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| 443 | that an action logically performs. You use a definition list when the list |
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| 444 | consists of not only items that have no logical ordering, but also contains |
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| 445 | definitions/descriptions/etc. of the items. A good example of this is the |
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| 446 | function specifications as described in <a href= |
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| 447 | "structure.html">Documentation Structure</a>.</p> |
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| 448 | |
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| 449 | <h3><a name="graphics" id="graphics"></a>Graphics</h3> |
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| 450 | |
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| 451 | <p>Graphics should be used very sparingly, if at all. Graphic images |
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| 452 | greatly effect the download time for many people, which can discourage |
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| 453 | users from reading the documentation. If you need graphic images to help |
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| 454 | illustrate something in your documentation consider supplying only a link |
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| 455 | to the image within the documentation, instead of embedding it directly in |
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| 456 | the text. If an image is going to be included in the text of the document |
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| 457 | you should specify the image's size in the <img> tag, in order to |
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| 458 | allow the user's browser to optimize the formatting of the text before the |
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| 459 | image is loaded.</p> |
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| 460 | |
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| 461 | <h3><a name="non-breaking-spaces" id="non-breaking-spaces"></a>Non-breaking |
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| 462 | Spaces</h3> |
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| 463 | |
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| 464 | <p>Non-breaking spaces (&nbsp;) should be avoided in HTML text. |
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| 465 | Generally there are more appropriate ways to format the document, such as |
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| 466 | using list constructs or specifying indentation as a style attribute or in |
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| 467 | cascading style sheets.</p> |
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| 468 | |
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| 469 | <h3><a name="style-sheets" id="style-sheets"></a>Cascading Style |
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| 470 | Sheets</h3> |
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| 471 | |
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| 472 | <p>Cascading style sheets allow you to apply some advanced formatting |
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| 473 | styles to an HTML document. More importantly, they allow you to change the |
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| 474 | formatting in a single file and effect all pages using the style sheet. |
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| 475 | Instead of struggling to produce a specific format in HTML it's often |
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| 476 | easier and more flexible to specify the formatting in a style sheet.</p> |
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| 477 | |
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| 478 | <h4><a name="boost-style-sheet" id="boost-style-sheet"></a>Boost Style |
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| 479 | Sheet</h4> |
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| 480 | |
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| 481 | <p>The concept of using cascading style sheets to format HTML is such a |
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| 482 | good idea that it can be beneficial to apply this across the entire Boost |
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| 483 | site. Of course we can't require this (if Boost were to require such trivia |
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| 484 | for submissions it's likely that many programmers would be discouraged from |
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| 485 | contributing). However, a "standard" Boost style sheet |
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| 486 | (http://www.boost.org/boost.css) is supplied anyway, so that a contributer |
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| 487 | can quickly and easily produce clear and consistent documentation that |
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| 488 | reflects a Boost "brand" if they so choose. If, at a later date, it's |
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| 489 | decided to update the Boost "brand", it may be done in this single file and |
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| 490 | all documents using the style sheet will automatically be updated.</p> |
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| 491 | |
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| 492 | <p>The Boost supplied style sheet not only specifies styles for many |
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| 493 | standard tags, it also specifies several style "classes". A class is |
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| 494 | specified for a given tag instead of being applied to all instances of a |
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| 495 | given tag type. Below is a list of the classes specified in the Boost style |
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| 496 | sheet and a description of when to use them:</p> |
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| 497 | |
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| 498 | <dl> |
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| 499 | <dt><b>index</b> Used for <dl> tags when writing index lists.</dt> |
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| 500 | |
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| 501 | <dt><b>page-index</b> Used for <dl> tags when writing page index |
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| 502 | lists.</dt> |
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| 503 | |
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| 504 | <dt><b>Footnote</b> Used when writing Footnote numbers.</dt> |
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| 505 | |
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| 506 | <dt><b>function-semantics</b> Used for <dl> tags when writing |
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| 507 | function semantic lists.</dt> |
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| 508 | </dl> |
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| 509 | |
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| 510 | <h2><a name="templates" id="templates"></a>Templates</h2> |
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| 511 | |
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| 512 | <p>Instead of hand coding every HTML page, HTML "templates" can be used |
|---|
| 513 | instead. The list below provides links to templates that may be used when |
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| 514 | writing documentation for a contribution to Boost. Links provided in these |
|---|
| 515 | templates assume the files will reside in the "traditional" directory |
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| 516 | hierarchy of <i>boost/libs/library/doc</i>. They may need correcting if the |
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| 517 | file will reside in some other location.</p> |
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| 518 | |
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| 519 | <p><b>Note:</b> Since these "templates" are just HTML pages simply clicking |
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| 520 | on the links below will load the template in your browser. You will need to |
|---|
| 521 | use a browser specific method to download the files instead of loading them |
|---|
| 522 | into the browser (for instance, on most Windows browsers you can right |
|---|
| 523 | click on the link and select the appropriate command from the context |
|---|
| 524 | sensitive menu).</p> |
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| 525 | |
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| 526 | <ul> |
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| 527 | <li><a name="index-template" id="index-template"></a><a href= |
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| 528 | "template/index.html">Index Page Template</a></li> |
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| 529 | |
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| 530 | <li><a name="overview-template" id="overview-template"></a><a href= |
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| 531 | "template/overview.html">Overview Page Template</a></li> |
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| 532 | |
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| 533 | <li><a name="definitions-template" id="definitions-template"></a><a href= |
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| 534 | "template/definitions.html">Definitions Page Template</a></li> |
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| 535 | |
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| 536 | <li><a name="rationale-template" id="rationale-template"></a><a href= |
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| 537 | "template/rationale.html">Rationale Page Template</a></li> |
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| 538 | |
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| 539 | <li><a name="configuration-template" id= |
|---|
| 540 | "configuration-template"></a><a href= |
|---|
| 541 | "template/configuration.html">Configuration Page Template</a></li> |
|---|
| 542 | |
|---|
| 543 | <li><a name="faq-template" id="faq-template"></a><a href= |
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| 544 | "template/faq.html">FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Page |
|---|
| 545 | Template</a></li> |
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| 546 | |
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| 547 | <li><a name="bibliography-template" id= |
|---|
| 548 | "bibliography-template"></a><a href= |
|---|
| 549 | "template/bibliography.html">Bibliography Page Template</a></li> |
|---|
| 550 | |
|---|
| 551 | <li><a name="acknowledgements-template" id= |
|---|
| 552 | "acknowledgements-template"></a><a href= |
|---|
| 553 | "template/acknowledgments.html">Acknowledgments Page Template</a></li> |
|---|
| 554 | |
|---|
| 555 | <li><a name="header-template" id="header-template"></a><a href= |
|---|
| 556 | "template/header.html">Header Page Template</a></li> |
|---|
| 557 | </ul> |
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| 558 | <hr> |
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| 559 | |
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| 560 | <p><a href="http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=referer"><img border="0" src= |
|---|
| 561 | "http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-html401" alt="Valid HTML 4.01 Transitional" |
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| 562 | height="31" width="88"></a></p> |
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| 563 | |
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| 564 | <p>Revised |
|---|
| 565 | <!--webbot bot="Timestamp" s-type="EDITED" s-format="%d %B, %Y" startspan -->04 |
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| 566 | December, 2006<!--webbot bot="Timestamp" endspan i-checksum="38514" --></p> |
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| 567 | |
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| 568 | <p><i>Copyright © 2001 <a href= |
|---|
| 569 | "mailto:williamkempf@hotmail.com">William E. Kempf</a></i></p> |
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| 570 | |
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| 571 | <p><i>Distributed under the Boost Software License, Version 1.0. (See |
|---|
| 572 | accompanying file <a href="../../LICENSE_1_0.txt">LICENSE_1_0.txt</a> or |
|---|
| 573 | copy at <a href= |
|---|
| 574 | "http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt">http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt</a>)</i></p> |
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| 575 | </body> |
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| 576 | </html> |
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