Query content in change paper

[KatePalmerLilley]

In the Orchestrator run a change paper preview for CR8001. Can you explain what the text in the Orange bar means and why it's there please?

[pjmonks]

That warning is a concession to have these complex item descriptions appear in change papers at all. Normally we can compare description text between items because they are usually just paragraphs and links. However, you also have a lot of content containing tables (and complex tables at that). This is an example of the Commissioning Data Set Addressing Grid supporting information:

Comparing this content with similar content in another branch is extremely difficult, and produces an end result that is not actually useable. The differences that are highlighted will appear intermingled - so new content and striked out content appears however the difference algorithm decides. When it comes to a table like this, where table cells are merged and span across columns, it results in a table that no longer makes any sense.

When it comes to DITA generation, DITA authoring syntax is much stricter with structure than HTML. For example, the exact number of columns in any table must be defined for the entire table and adhered to in every row. In this case, how many columns are in this table - 2, 3 or 4? It is hard to say, so the added/removed differences will end up adding new table cells in rows when there shouldn't be.

The only way for this content to appear in change papers is to not have it directly compared at all, which is why that warning is present. It states that we can detect a difference in the description but we can only show the content from the branch you're looking at, we cannot compare it with the previous release.

[stevebowring]

Hi @AngelaFaulding and @KatePalmerLilley - can you tell us how often these types of table are produced?

Is it just for Commissioning Data Sets, or any Data Set? Could these table appear in both Basic and Data Set Change Papers?

It looks like there is a business decision to made about how we portray these changes going forward...

[stevebowring]

In Tuesday 29/10 catch up, System C outlined which tables were affected:

Impacted content Tables in Data Set Constraints, Supporting Information, NHS Business Definitions and XML Schema Constraints.

Content not impacted Less complex 'DITA generated' tables - such as 'Also know as',

Why is this happening? When baseline data & information were imported wholesale into Mauro it included tables that cannot be easily updated with changes by DITA outputs. These tables often include bespoke number of columns and rows, with cells merged in a unpredictable way.

If Mauro attempts to update these type of tables with new/updated/deleted content the columns and rows become disjointed and difficult to read.

Current capability For complex tables Change Papers will show the future state - i.e. changed data and not the data that will be replaced.

Business decision Does this meet our User's needs - is it clear and helpful? If not - what work is necessary to understand what is desirable and feasible?

[stevebowring]

How to check current capability Run CR8001 through stylesheets and see how complex tables are displayed

[NellySSJ]

In the current process (not using Mauro) the change papers produced have broken tables already. Although broken, they do highlight where a change has been made. This is what users are currently used to. It’s assumed in the change papers produced using Mauro, that the table shown is a version of the table with the latest changes. There is a line in the change paper that appears above the table that mentions that this is ‘current’ version of the table.

Action - Need to run a test to see how a table with changes that appear in the change paper now. Depending on what the table shows: If it’s a broken table (like what we had previously) – we could leave as is If it’s a table showing the latest data – we need to update the line describing the table, making it clear what its showing.

[AngelaFaulding]

@NellySSJ and @KatePalmerLilley - I have run CR8001 though the Orchestrator and this is what appears. The line of text above no longer appears. @KatePalmerLilley - did you make changes to the addressing grid?