[docbook] calloutlist element question

[René Haché <rene-hache at shaw dot ca>]

To whom it may concern,

 

I am unclear of the <calloulist> element and it's function. I am fairly new to docbook and xml, so I am not sure if this is something common to programmers. Specifically, what is a "calloutlist", a "callout" and what is the meaning of the "arearefs" attribute?

 

The following definition for calloutlist was found at the docbook.org site, but it is unclear to me: calloutlist: A CalloutList is a list of annotations or descriptions. Each Callout points to the area on a Graphic, ProgramListing, or Screen that it augments.

 

Here is an example in code:

<chapter>

    <title>Example</title>

        <calloutlist>

            <callout arearefs=""></callout>

        </calloutlist>

</chapter>

 

Help would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

René