capitalize-first

CSL Development
21

Elena Razlogova wrote:

bruce–
julian actually already weighed in on this–note that he agrees that
we need the attribute i’m requesting. as i mention my previous email,
his example below can be handled by the “sentence” attribute.

So then the upshot is that you are suggesting that we only have
“capitalize-first” but change it’s behavior?

Also, in looking at the existing list again, why do we have both
“capitalize-all” and “title”? How are they different?

Bruce

PS - This change is Simon’s doing, so I didn’t pay close attention to it
earlier.

22

So I see two issues to resolve:

  1. does CSL need a rule that says that the first character of a string
    is capitalized, but all others are left alone? The answer is “no” if
    we
    consider that the existing options should cover the use cases you
    outline (irrespective of how Zotero currently implements this), and
    otherwise “yes.”

We’ve been discussing this all week. I thought we agreed on this
already.

… if we conclude yes, then:

  1. what should the name of that value be, and how should it be
    described, such that users and developers are totally clear on how it
    differs from both “capitalize-first” and “sentence”?

I didn’t realize “sentence” style was a separate option (and neither
did you, judging from your emails on Tue). If you have “sentence”
style why don’t you just set “capitalize-first” to do what I ask.
Instead of:

    "capitalize-first"
  > # capitalize first character of every word;
    # other characters displayed lowercase

have:

    "capitalize-first"
  > # capitalize first character of every word;
    # other characters are displayed as entered by the user

Julian’s argument for the current use of this function was NATURE >
Nature example which can (and should) be done with sentence case.

I’m ambivalent on the answer to 1, and keep hoping that someone else
will render an opinion on it. Julian? Simon?

I would be interested in their opinion, but I’m not sure Simon has
time for this.

On 2, for me the distinction between “capitalize-first-letter” and
“capitalize-first” is unclear. I would hope we could come up with
something else, but am not sure ATM what. Again, any ideas?

Yes, they are confusing. I suggest just repurposing the current
function, as above.

I’m sorry to press on this, but I’d rather decide this before 1.0.3
comes out (which could be tonight) so Chicago bibliography styles work
correctly after the upgrade.

Best,
Elena> Bruce

23

Elena Razlogova wrote:

So I see two issues to resolve:

  1. does CSL need a rule that says that the first character of a string
    is capitalized, but all others are left alone? The answer is “no” if
    we
    consider that the existing options should cover the use cases you
    outline (irrespective of how Zotero currently implements this), and
    otherwise “yes.”

We’ve been discussing this all week. I thought we agreed on this
already.

We didn’t discuss it in relation to the full range of the other options,
which was the purpose of stepping back. I also am still, frankly, a
little uneasy about this change. But it’s a fairly minor one probably
unlikely to have any major impacts, and in an area that’s still a bit of
a moving target, so we might as well see how it goes.

… if we conclude yes, then:

  1. what should the name of that value be, and how should it be
    described, such that users and developers are totally clear on how it
    differs from both “capitalize-first” and “sentence”?

I didn’t realize “sentence” style was a separate option (and neither
did you, judging from your emails on Tue). If you have “sentence”
style why don’t you just set “capitalize-first” to do what I ask.
Instead of:

    "capitalize-first"
  > # capitalize first character of every word;
    # other characters displayed lowercase

have:

    "capitalize-first"
  > # capitalize first character of every word;
    # other characters are displayed as entered by the user

That would be fine with me, except that I’d change the language to avoid
any particular expectations about applications (the “users” thing). So
“other characters are displayed as entered by the user” → “other
characters are passed on as is” or some such.

BTW, I noticed that Simon used single hash characters in this section of
the schema. These are comments when transformed to XML. The double-hash
are more formal annotations. For stuff like this, we should use the latter.

So I’ve checked in that change, along with the more substantive change.

…

On 2, for me the distinction between “capitalize-first-letter” and
“capitalize-first” is unclear. I would hope we could come up with
something else, but am not sure ATM what. Again, any ideas?

Yes, they are confusing. I suggest just repurposing the current
function, as above.

OK, done.

I’m sorry to press on this, but I’d rather decide this before 1.0.3
comes out (which could be tonight) so Chicago bibliography styles work
correctly after the upgrade.

No problem.

Bruce

24

Elena Razlogova wrote:

bruce–
julian actually already weighed in on this–note that he agrees that
we need the attribute i’m requesting. as i mention my previous email,
his example below can be handled by the “sentence” attribute.

So then the upshot is that you are suggesting that we only have
“capitalize-first” but change it’s behavior?

Yes–many thanks for making the change.

Also, in looking at the existing list again, why do we have both
“capitalize-all” and “title”? How are they different?

From looking at cite.js “capitalize-all” means capitalizing every
word, including prepositions, etc.

Elena