http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Information-Design/Software A listing of the most recently indexed works about Design and Information Design and Software in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Information-Design/Software http://tc.eserver.org/35706.html http://tc.eserver.org/35706.html For a database administrator, DBM (database management) tools make tasks related to maintaining relational databases efficient and fast. Prior to the popularity of these tools, most DBA’s had to use the command line to create, edit, and delete databases. In this article, we present to you the top five most popular/most voted for database management tools. http://tc.eserver.org/35059.html http://tc.eserver.org/35059.html The two most well-known XSLT processors are probably the Apache project's Xalan (available in both a Java and C++ version) and the Java-based Saxon, which was written by XSLT 2.0 specification editor Michael Kay. If those are the only two XSLT processors you currently use, it's worth checking out Daniel Veillard's libxslt. http://tc.eserver.org/34330.html http://tc.eserver.org/34330.html I decided to simplify the DITA publishing process for myself by building a Windows interface to Ant. Ant was developed to allow programmers to write a simple build file in an XML format, and then process that XML file with the Ant build software. http://tc.eserver.org/34331.html http://tc.eserver.org/34331.html This procedure is used to modify the DITA Open Toolkit build files to allow an external map file reference and alias strings to be added to the HTML Help Project file before building, as part of the transformation to Microsoft HTML Help (CHM) format. http://tc.eserver.org/33905.html http://tc.eserver.org/33905.html Advances in word processing technology now enable people to author simple documents in an interface they are familiar with. They no longer need to know a lot about markup, the schema in use, or be distracted by other concerns than writing what they want to write. This simpler interface, built upon a Microsoft "Smart Doc" solution provides support for authors who are focused on the content they are writing rather than the markup that describes it. At the same time, the author is producing valid XML that can be routed for review and approval, used for multi-channel delivery, or reused by other authors in the enterprise. Several scenarios of how such an authoring/management system could be used to solve business challenges are described. http://tc.eserver.org/33761.html http://tc.eserver.org/33761.html XML editors have traditionally been modeled after the first SGML editor written in 1985, a long time before creating, managing, and distributing structured information was well understood. Now, nearly 20 years later, there are more choices for users interested in creating structured information. Specifically, this presentation discusses alternatives that include Web-based distributed collaborative XML document creation, "tag-free" tools, non-formatting structured editors, and even using common office tools in creating your XML documents. http://tc.eserver.org/31159.html http://tc.eserver.org/31159.html Thanks to my Google News Alert service, I recently discovered some on-demand XML Editors supporing DITA. While Salesforce democratized software on-demand in the CRM market, I am still perplexed on the future of on-demand pure play software. So let's see first what makes on-demand software, also known as Saas (Software as a Service), so attractive nowadays. I see five compelling reasons. http://tc.eserver.org/30110.html http://tc.eserver.org/30110.html Most PDF files do not include bookmarks. This is a pity, because they are so easy to add, and because the real-world usability of longer PDF files suffers significantly by their absence. And there's no shortage of tools for creating and managing bookmarks, as this product survey article explains. http://tc.eserver.org/30108.html http://tc.eserver.org/30108.html Demonstrates and explains a collection of handy tips dealing with various tools and features of Adobe Acrobat. http://tc.eserver.org/30105.html http://tc.eserver.org/30105.html New office document standards like the OpenDocument Format(ODF) and Office Open XML (OOXML), however, are making office document integration in business processes a reality. A key benefit of ODF and OOXML for developers is the reuse of existing standards. http://tc.eserver.org/28069.html http://tc.eserver.org/28069.html During a recent development effort, one of our clients was alarmed at the conversion costs of the proposed XML-based content management system compared to the existing MS Word-based process. This was just one instance of an alarming trend of balking at XML-based systems in favor of using public web folders, indexed by some full-text search engine, as part of a local intranet. In the short run, these edit, drop, and index solutions have some appealing features, including low development and conversion costs. But they are short-lived systems that either wither from lack of functionality or rapidly outgrow their design. http://tc.eserver.org/28006.html http://tc.eserver.org/28006.html More and more people are working with texts and documents in XML format. With the increasing popularity of XML, the number of XML editors is also increasing and it can be difficult to choose the editor that best suits a particular user or task. The aim of this Information Paper is to provide an introduction to different features XML editors can have and the extent to which these features are implemented in various editors. It also presents the result of an evaluation exercise where different user groups tried a number of the editors. http://tc.eserver.org/27951.html http://tc.eserver.org/27951.html So you know all about reading and parsing XML files, and even checking if they're well-formed and valid. Now, take a step into more advanced territory with this expose of two objects that let you dynamically create well-formed XML documents in your ASP.NET scripts. http://tc.eserver.org/26565.html http://tc.eserver.org/26565.html Spend any time with Visio and you'll find yourself wondering how glue works. In the real world, it's pretty straightforward: put glue between two things and they'll stick. Although glue is used for sticking shapes together in Visio, the metaphor ends there. http://tc.eserver.org/25616.html http://tc.eserver.org/25616.html Few information architects tap the full power of Visio. For the IA, Visio is a means to an end—a mechanism for capturing some ideas on paper before they are transformed into graphics, HTML, and code. http://tc.eserver.org/25607.html http://tc.eserver.org/25607.html This article will expand upon the Visio techniques presented in the last Special Deliverable and will build on them, showing how to create a widget that can be toggled between two states. http://tc.eserver.org/24875.html http://tc.eserver.org/24875.html Reviews Altova Authentic, a free, WYSIWYG, Windows-based, forms-based XML editor. http://tc.eserver.org/22773.html http://tc.eserver.org/22773.html How can I convert Word documents to PDF and ensure their embedded Excel documents also get converted? http://tc.eserver.org/22774.html http://tc.eserver.org/22774.html How can I tell if JBIG2 compression was used on my PDF file? http://tc.eserver.org/22772.html http://tc.eserver.org/22772.html Is there a way to take a regular PDF and make it searchable? http://tc.eserver.org/22592.html http://tc.eserver.org/22592.html Dynamic stamps consist of the PDF image of the stamp and a text form field that contains JavaScript to make your stamp dynamic. For example, the Dynamic Stamp 'Approved' contains a form field that generates user name, time and date. http://tc.eserver.org/22298.html http://tc.eserver.org/22298.html How you can combine layers and scripting to power up PDFs to deliver richer, more versatile content. http://tc.eserver.org/22299.html http://tc.eserver.org/22299.html Although Templates have been around since version 3 of Acrobat there was never any really useful supporting information or technical documentation to make use of them. Version 5 and 6 of Acrobat changed all that making it possible to take full control of Templates to create truly dynamic PDF documents. http://tc.eserver.org/21852.html http://tc.eserver.org/21852.html Keep calm for presentations by taking a little PDF. http://tc.eserver.org/21726.html http://tc.eserver.org/21726.html Information professionals have a love-hate relationship with technology. We love IT because it has made our jobs necessary by enabling the creation and connection of tremendous volumes of content, applications and processes. We hate IT because it constantly threatens to replace the need for us. http://tc.eserver.org/21594.html http://tc.eserver.org/21594.html La aparición de navegadores cada vez más visuales y mejor estructurados como Vivísimo, Grokker o TouchGraph está empezando a agitar un mundo que parecía estático. Pparece que el referente en este campo está aún más allá del horizonte, pero cada día estamos más cerca. http://tc.eserver.org/21365.html http://tc.eserver.org/21365.html No column on information architecture deliverables would be complete without at least some mention of tools. Dan Brown offers three tips on using Visio, Microsoft's diagramming application, that should make your life easier and more efficient. http://tc.eserver.org/20813.html http://tc.eserver.org/20813.html This service will retrieve a Web page and automatically generate Dublin Core metadata, either as HTML META tags or as RDF/XML, suitable for embedding in the HEAD section of the page. http://tc.eserver.org/14403.html http://tc.eserver.org/14403.html Systems engineering is moving away from specially-designed and built systems to integration of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software. COTS brings new challenges to technical communicators. In the past, we found all our information in-house, now it comes from many sources. We must change our process from pure development to information integration, and we must be part of the COTS selection process. http://tc.eserver.org/13637.html http://tc.eserver.org/13637.html In one of my past articles, A Pattern/Framework for Client/Server Programming in Java, I discussed a pattern for client/server development using java. That article does not answer exactly how the two parties, client and server, communicate with each other. We require an application-level protocol to do the talking between two entities. It sets up rules about how the two applications/entities communicate and understand each other over a network. If you happen to know the TCP/IP networking model or the OSI networking model, you will observe that network-based communication is implemented in layers, with the application layer at the top and the physical layer at the bottom. This article discusses issues you must face when implementing an application-level protocol and how XML proves to be an excellent choice to represent and implement the application-level protocol.