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Centrum voor Teksteditie en Bronnenstudie |
Centre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies |
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a research centre of the Royal Academy of Dutch Language and Literature |
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3. Overview of DALF document structure |
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3. Overview of DALF document structure 5. Letter-specific textual features 6. Correlations of logical and physical structures 7. Modifications to TEI element classes Appendix A Reference documentation for DALF elements and classes |
To start the presentation of the DALF DTD, this section gives a brief overview of the structure of DALF letters. Like any other TEI document, a DALF letter consists of 2 major constituents: a header part containing meta-data about the letter, and a text part, containing the encoded text. Furthermore, an overview is given of all global attributes that can occur on all elements of the DALF DTD. 3.1. Minimal DALF headerThe distinguishing feature of a header for DALF letters is the mandatory presence of a <letDesc> element in <sourceDesc>. A detailed account of the DALF header is given in section 4. The DALF header. The following example incorporates the further requirements for the header of the TEI scheme (see http://www.tei-c.org/P4X/HD.html), to give an impression of the elements that must minimally be present in the DALF header: <teiHeader>
<fileDesc>
<titleStmt>
<title>61/ 03.02.1945 Stijn Streuvels to Maurits De Meyer. Ingooigem</title>
</titleStmt>
<publicationStmt>
<publisher>Centrum voor Teksteditie en Bronnenstudie / Centre for Scholarly Editing and Document Studies</publisher>
<pubPlace>Gent</pubPlace>
<date value="2002">2002</date>
<availability status="restricted">
<p>© Copyright 2002, CTB</p>
</availability>
</publicationStmt>
<sourceDesc>
<letDesc>
<letIdentifier>
<country>Belgium</country>
<settlement>Antwerp</settlement>
<repository>AMVC</repository>
<collection>S 935/B2</collection>
<idno>171373/2882</idno>
</letIdentifier>
<letHeading>
<author attested="yes">Stijn Streuvels</author>
<addressee attested="yes">Maurice De Meyer</addressee>
<placeLet attested="yes">Ingooigem</placeLet>
<dateLet attested="yes">1945-02-03</dateLet>
</letHeading>
<physDesc>
<type>postcard</type>
<support>
<p>cardboard postcard, writing in ink on one side only</p>
</support>
<extent>
<dimensions>
<height units="mm">140</height>
<width units="mm">90</width>
</dimensions>
</extent>
</physDesc>
<envOcc occ="yes" />
</letDesc>
</sourceDesc>
</fileDesc>
</teiHeader>
3.2. DALF document structureThe simplest type of letter is written by only one author, by and large during a singular time span. This should be encoded with a <text> element, in which present envelopes can be encoded with the <envelope> element at the same structural level as <body>. The letter itself is embedded in <body>, with possibilities to encode formal opening and closing constructions in separate <opener> and <closer> elements (the latter possibly followed by <ps> elements for postscripts). The body text is preferably enclosed in <p> tags. Editorial notes and lists of links can be listed in a <back> part. <TEI.2>
<teiHeader>...</teiHeader>
<text>
<envelope>...</envelope>
<body>
<opener>
<address>...</address>
<dateline>...</dateline>
<salute>...</salute>
...
</opener>
<p>...</p>
<closer>
<salute>...</salute>
<signed>...</signed>
...
</closer>
<ps>...</ps>
</body>
<back>
<note>...</note>
<join>...</join>
...
</back>
</text>
</TEI.2>
For letters in which substantial parts can be distinguished, those parts can be encoded in separate <div> elements, with a type value of ‘letPart’. Specific meta-information concerning those different parts constituting the letter can be provided in the header under different <letPart> elements. Groups of physically distinct letters can be encoded using the <group> tag, with a distinct <text> element for each letter. The information for those letters can be given in the header by using different <sourceDesc> elements for the letters concerned. As the additional TEI tagset for linking was included in the DALF DTD, it is possible to link different text parts with a corresp attribute to the id-values of their representations in the header. The following table summarises the correspondence between header descriptions and text elements for different kinds of letter structure:
Note that just like all other forms of encoding, the structural encoding one applies to a letter is a direct consequence of his/her theoretical conception of what ‘is’ a letter. For example, when a letter is written by one author on the recto side, and continued by another on the verso side, should those be encoded as separate parts inside one letter, or as two distinct letters? Although it is difficult to draw hard and fast rules regarding this question, encoders using the DALF tagset are encouraged to hold a logical-functional view in this matter. This means that the functional autonomy of these parts should be used as a criterium. When there is evidence that both sides clearly have a common communicative purpose, they can be considered as one composite letter. Otherwise they can be considered as a group of two separate letters. It must be clear that choices like these always are interpretative. In order to maintain consistent encoding, encoders should explicate their presuppositions about the letter governing their encoding practice, in the <encodingDesc> element inside the <teiHeader> element (see http://www.tei-c.org/P4X/ref-ENCDESC.html). 3.3. Global attributesAll elements in the DALF DTD can have the same basic set of attributes, possibly expanded with specific ones (explained in these guidelines in the discussion of the elements). Since a number of additional TEI tagsets were selected in the composition of the DALF tagset, the set of global attributes for each DALF element consists of the following:
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Up: Contents Previous: 2. The DALF DTD Next: 4. The DALF header
Date: 2003 (revised 2005-05-04) Author: Edward Vanhoutte & Ron Van den Branden (revised Ron Van den Branden).
© Copyright CTB 2004