Re: replacement for titlepage and more metadata commands

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2025 22:11:11 +0100
> From: Patrice Dumas <pertusus@free.fr>
> 
> Hello,
> 
> Here is a proposal to move on on the @titlepage redesign, which is mainly
> based on Gavin ideas in
> https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-texinfo/2019-03/msg00029.html
> 
> I propose to add a @documentinfo block which would contain information
> that can be used for diverse purposes, but in particular to do the formatting
> previously assigned to @titlepage.  It would include
> 1) already existing @-commands, such as @title
> 2) a new block commmand that corresponds the the current content after the
>   first @page of @titlepage that I propose to name @publicationinfoextra
>   (is @titleverso in Gavin mail).  It could be generated automatically
>   if not present.
> 3) we could, optionnally, add a new block @-command that would allow to
>   format the cover, corresponding to the current @titlepage content before
>   the first @page.  It could be named @cover.  Using @cover instead of
>   providing enough metadata such that the cover can be automatically formatted
>   would be discouraged in the documentation.
> 4) optionnally, more metadata @-commands, maybe only in a second step, and
>   in particular a generic metadata @-command that, in my opinion, is missing
>   from the Texinfo language.
> 
> @titlepage would also remain to be backward compatible, but would be
> interpreted as the new @-commands.
> 
> Any comment on the general scheme and on the inclusion of 3) and 4)
> optional features (that I think we should include)?

Gavin's message from 2019 is basically a list of possible additions,
not all of them orthogonal.  Given that and the above description, it
is hard for someone like myself, who is not an expert in TeX and
@titlepage business, to respond intelligently to your proposals
without seeing examples.  So how about showing one or more examples of
formatting @titlepage block with the current commands, and what would
it look like under this/these proposal(s)?

In addition, I think it is very important that you look at non-trivial
title pages in existing manuals and see how to accommodate with the
new commands what they are trying to do with the existing ones.

And finally, can you describe the rationale for these changes in the
language?  What are the problems with the current title-page
constructs and commands that require an overhaul of this kind?

Thanks.