http://tc.eserver.org/dir/DocBook A listing of the most recently indexed works about DocBook 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/DocBook http://tc.eserver.org/35041.html http://tc.eserver.org/35041.html With DITA implementations on the rise, and an entrenched DocBook community already in place, the resulting market interest has spurred interest in automated DocBook to DITA conversion. So I would expect offerings of automated DocBook to DITA conversion scripts to emerge in the next 6-10 months. This article addresses the real questions, "What should I expect from automated tools?" and "Will they work for me?" from the viewpoint of live experience with numerous DocBook to DITA conversions. The answers to these questions are not usually obvious. http://tc.eserver.org/35017.html http://tc.eserver.org/35017.html XML provides a way to identify data items and subcomponents within any structured data set, but has its roots in documentation development and production. Robust, open standards for XML document markup and a rich set of freely available tools for XML document parsing and format conversion make it easy to install and configure a complete documentation development and formatting environment on any UNIX® or Linux® system. http://tc.eserver.org/35018.html http://tc.eserver.org/35018.html Discover simple solutions to reuse information in XML documentation, such as how to use XInclude to include other documents at a given point in a document and how to use XPointer to include small document fragments from other documents or a similar pool of information in XML format. Also, get tips for structuring XML documentation to simplify information reuse, and learn how to maintain stand-alone documents that you can incorporate into larger documents. http://tc.eserver.org/35019.html http://tc.eserver.org/35019.html XML is an optimal format for writing documentation that you can use with many different documentation software packages and production environments. In this third article in the series, discover how to create single-source documents that can produce output in a variety of different output formats. http://tc.eserver.org/34784.html http://tc.eserver.org/34784.html DocBook is a set of tools for implementing XML (Extended Markup Language)-based structured documentation. It is developed back in 1991 and is widely used today by those technical writers who generate single-sourced documentation. It is especially well suited for software, hardware and networking documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/34486.html http://tc.eserver.org/34486.html When IBM decided to focus on topic-oriented documentation, it created the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), even though there was already a huge investment in DocBook. Moving to a new architecture was a decidedly non-trivial undertaking--both technically and politically--so it is worth an inquiry as to the reasons for making that move. http://tc.eserver.org/33968.html http://tc.eserver.org/33968.html More than a decade ago DocBook became the standard for the few brave souls forging ahead in XML publications. DocBook offered a cheaper and more efficient way to publish to multiple formats. Single-sourcing became a reality for hardware and software companies. However, in recent years, many in technical documentation publications have proclaimed DITA as the standard for XML documentation. DITA offered architecture in which to create and publish structured content. Are these two seemingly rival standards really that different? This article from Teresa Mulvihill answers this question with comparative examples, and allows you, the audience, to decide for yourselves. http://tc.eserver.org/32086.html http://tc.eserver.org/32086.html First of all, understand that you don’t have to learn it. Every year more and more toolds come out that help place a layer between you and the native XML. In a few years time you will hardly even realise there is XML underneath. http://tc.eserver.org/32087.html http://tc.eserver.org/32087.html XML is the future. You hear it at every conference you go to, in every magazine you pick up, in every article you read on-line. For technical writers, right now that future comes down to two products—DocBook or DITA. But what exactly are they, and which one should you choose? They are schemas for creating XML. http://tc.eserver.org/32037.html http://tc.eserver.org/32037.html Both the DITA and the DocBook specification are quite alive and well in organizations, and each is evolving into its own distinct application niches, with DITA looking to be turning into the default standard for large scale enterprises, while DocBook works more effectively at the small to intermediate level. What’s perhaps more interesting is the Microsoft Word, even with support for XML as provided by OOXML, is not making as much of an inroad in the structured document market, in great part because it is fairly difficult to constrain people’s use of the word-processing program to a limited, finite subset of potential styles. http://tc.eserver.org/31161.html http://tc.eserver.org/31161.html Having new DocBook standards in place may do little to push adoption. An important factor in driving user adoption is the availability of software that implements the standard. It would be interesting to see whether big software companies would jump on the bandwagon...Unless the open-source community comes to the rescue! http://tc.eserver.org/31156.html http://tc.eserver.org/31156.html DocBook and DITA both have their places. They're both excellent for single sourcing. DocBook is better for what I call monolithic single sourcing, while DITA is better suited for discrete single sourcing. http://tc.eserver.org/31157.html http://tc.eserver.org/31157.html If you follow the latest trends or have been to a conference recently, you may find the idea of choosing an XML schema puzzling. Isn't the question really, 'How should I customize DITA to do what I want'? While there are many good reasons to choose DITA, it's not the only schema in town. http://tc.eserver.org/30753.html http://tc.eserver.org/30753.html DocBook is an easy-to-understand and widely used DTD. Dozens of organizations use DocBook for millions of pages of documentation, in various print and online formats, worldwide. http://tc.eserver.org/29287.html http://tc.eserver.org/29287.html If you line DocBook and DITA up, I think DITA can point to four technical differences that are arguably features in its favor. http://tc.eserver.org/27740.html http://tc.eserver.org/27740.html Gets you started with DocBook, an SGML/XML dialect that describes the content of technical articles and other documents. David discusses the benefits of using DocBook, and then describes how to plan and modularize a large document conversion project. http://tc.eserver.org/26372.html http://tc.eserver.org/26372.html DocBook provides a system for writing structured documents using SGML or XML. It is particularly well-suited to books and papers about computer hardware and software, though it is by no means limited to them. http://tc.eserver.org/26373.html http://tc.eserver.org/26373.html This howto attempts to clear the fog and mystery surrounding the DocBook markup system and the tools that go with it. It is aimed at authors of technical documentation for open-source projects hosted on Linux, but should be useful for people composing other kinds on other Unixes as well. http://tc.eserver.org/26309.html http://tc.eserver.org/26309.html A brief tutorial on creating cross-platform WebHelp (similar to that produced by RoboHelp) using DocBook. http://tc.eserver.org/26307.html http://tc.eserver.org/26307.html A set of slides that gives a brief introduction to DocBook and why it is useful for technical writers. Also available in PDF format. http://tc.eserver.org/26308.html http://tc.eserver.org/26308.html DocBook is a powerful tool for creating and maintaining documentation. However, there are a number of factors you should consider before you move your documentation to DocBook. This article discusses reasons for and against making the switch to DocBook. http://tc.eserver.org/26310.html http://tc.eserver.org/26310.html An introduction to XML (Extensible Markup Language) and how technical writers can use it to create and manage their documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/26306.html http://tc.eserver.org/26306.html There are a number of tools available for transforming DocBook XML documents to various formats. All of these tools have strengths, as well as some noticeable weaknesses and drawbacks. This article looks at the benefits of using the XMLmind FO Converter, a graphical, highly configurable, and cross-platform application designed to transform DocBook XML files to any supported output format. http://tc.eserver.org/26195.html http://tc.eserver.org/26195.html A one-page reference card for DocBook elements. http://tc.eserver.org/26193.html http://tc.eserver.org/26193.html This is a collation of some Frequently Asked questions regarding Docbook. The initial focus will be on the XML version of the DTD, and the XSLT based stylesheets. http://tc.eserver.org/26192.html http://tc.eserver.org/26192.html These are XSL stylesheets for the DocBook DTD and its derivatives (Simplified DocBook, etc.) to generate PDF/print documents or Web/HTML content. http://tc.eserver.org/26196.html http://tc.eserver.org/26196.html DocBook is a collection of standards and tools for technical publishing. DocBook was originally created by a consortium of software companies as a standard for computer documentation. But the basic 'book' features of DocBook can be used for other kinds of content, so it has been adapted to many purposes. http://tc.eserver.org/26191.html http://tc.eserver.org/26191.html This book is designed to be the clear, concise, normative reference to the DocBook DTD. This book is the official documentation for the DocBook DTD. http://tc.eserver.org/26197.html http://tc.eserver.org/26197.html A tutorial on writing documentation that will be used in a particular project. http://tc.eserver.org/26194.html http://tc.eserver.org/26194.html Structured documentation is semantic, rather than presentational. Components have identifiable structure. HTML and Word are somewhat structured. DocBook is strictly structured. http://tc.eserver.org/25442.html http://tc.eserver.org/25442.html DocBook is an XML vocabulary that is particularly well suited to books and papers about computer hardware and software. http://tc.eserver.org/25443.html http://tc.eserver.org/25443.html DocBook is officially available as a [WWW] Document Type Definition (DTD) for both XML and SGML. It is unofficially available in other forms as well. http://tc.eserver.org/24653.html http://tc.eserver.org/24653.html LaTeX and DocBook (and for that matter any manner of XML editors), which could be considered excellent single-sourcing tools, are almost never discussed. http://tc.eserver.org/18546.html http://tc.eserver.org/18546.html The DocBook document type definition (DTD) was developed during the 1990s to provide an application independent method for creating computer documentation. Versions of the DocBook DTD have been created for both SGML and XML. You can create an embedded index in DocBook using index elements.