CONDOC format description

This specification on GitHub should be treated as the source of truth for CONDOC document format.

1. Overview

CONDOC stands for 'connections document'. This document is used when you want to enhance other people's content. A CONDOC does not contain primary content of its own. Instead, it specifies:

  • A reference to an external “main” document.
  • A set of outbound connections to additional documents. Connections may contain floating links.

2. Structure

A CONDOC document consists of the following top-level elements:

<condoc> 
<title>...</title> (optional) 
<description>...</description> (optional) 
<main>...</main> (required) 
<connections>...</connections> (optional) 
</condoc>

2.1 <title> (optional)

Human-readable title of the CONDOC.

2.2 <description> (optional)

A brief description of the purpose or scope of the CONDOC.

2.3 <main> (required)

A URL pointing to the primary document that this CONDOC enhances.
The referenced document may be:

  • an HDOC (standalone or embedded in an HTML page),
  • a CDOC,
  • or a standard HTML document.
    When referencing HTML documents, parsing rules must be included in the URL.

2.4 <connections> (optional)

Container for all outgoing connections. The structure of this section is identical to the <connections> section defined for HDOC and CDOC documents.

Example of CONDOC format:

<condoc>

<title>Famous Men of the Middle Ages</title>

<description>The Project Gutenberg eBook with table of contents added as a separate document</description>

<main>https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/3725/pg3725-images.html#pr=c/body/r/.page</main>

<connections>
<doc url="https://readersweb.org/examples/famous-men/table-of-contents.hdoc" title="Table of contents of the Project Gutenberg eBook &quot;Famous Men of the Middle Ages&quot;" hash="1f25bd">
i:25422;l:19;h:60e455;e:QUg=_i:5;l:19;h:3c1f60;e:QWg=
i:33104;l:14;h:df0913;e:QU4=_i:43;l:14;h:457c77;e:QW4=
...
</doc>
</connections>

</condoc>

5. Example CONDOCs

To view working examples, install the Visible Connections browser extension and open the following files:

Floating links were modified