Services for Data Integration    

The fact that many decisions need a combination of information sources makes easy integration of geospatial data an important data usability issue. Our vision is to achieve automated just-in-time integration. As a foundation, we present a system architecture with distributed data and services. Existing and evolving standards and technologies fitting into this architecture are presented along with their scope and shortcomings. A major point is the appropriate definition of data and operation semantics. Further research is needed here to make the automatic formation of service chains for data integration possible.

Riedemann, Catharina and Christian Timm. Data Science Journal (2003). Articles>Information Design>XML>Geography

Sharing Your Site with RSS

Jason shares his knowledge about RSS: What it is, how it's used, and why you need it. Just don't ask him what it stands for.

Cook, Jason. Webmonkey (2003). Design>Web Design>XML>RSS

Simple Web Syndication with RSS 2.0

Simply put RSS is an XML application for simple web feed syndication and content subscriptions. Let's say you have content on your site that you want to feed, or make available for other sites. This is known as web syndication. Most commonly this takes the form of sharing news headlines, product releases, or some similar timely content. RSS provides a standardized method for web sites to use when creating these feeds.

Dev Articles (2007). Articles>Information Design>XML>RSS

Single-Source Documentation: Docbook versus DITA

When it comes to documentation projects, primarily technical, medical, and scientific, using XML is a no-brainer. The heavy thinking comes when deciding which flavor of XML to use: DocBook or DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture). I have been a steadfast supporter of DocBook for over six years. I'd tried my hand at DITA and gave it up as a fad; lots of bells and whistles, but too complicated to integrate. And couldn't DocBook do everything DITA promised anyway?

Mulvihill, Teresa. LiveTechDocs (2008). Articles>Documentation>Single Sourcing>XML

SOAP

SOAP is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the Web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework that more abstract layers can build on. SOAP can be used to facilitate a Service-Oriented architectural pattern.

Wikipedia (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML>SOAP

Some Thoughts about SOAP versus REST on Security

REST is the underlying architecture of the World Wide Web and its two core specifications, URIs and HTTP. It has been proposed that instead of using new-from-scratch Web Services technologies we can get much more bang for our buck by understanding the full generality of what we've got. A community has arisen around this idea and we spend our time proving that what the Web already has is better than what is being developed. This page addresses the security weaknesses of the SOAP approach.

Prescod.net. Design>Web Design>Standards>XML

Standards with a Future

About ten years ago, a handful of highly specialised consultants were trying with missionary zeal to establish SGML as the basic format in technical communication; today, the XML-standard is no longer something that can be dispensed with, and is, in fact, even mandatory in many projects. This article takes a look in hindsight at the beginnings of SGML and XML, and the current developments and standards around XML, and also hazards a guess at what the years to come might hold in store.

Rath, Hans Holger. tekom (2006). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Standards-Based Publishing with XML, XSLT, XHTML and XSL-FO  

XML, the Extensible Markup Language recommendation by the W3C, separates content from processing. When you author XML, you describe your information semantically using a computer readable and human readable syntax. The syntax of XML is elements and attributes. We call this semantic markup.

Arbury, Autumn. tekom (2005). Articles>Information Design>XML>Semantic

Strategies in Re-Purposing Graphics for Interactive Intelligent Delivery

In the domain of aerospace/defense, a products life cycle may likely span up to 30 years. The amount of technical data required to manufacture, operate, and maintain those products is immense. The graphic representation of that data facilitates the communication of operational and maintenance instructions. This paper outlines issues with creating, authoring, revising, and delivering intelligence with graphics and the associated meta-data.

Woolsey, Jeremiah and Martin Jackson. XML Europe (2001). Articles>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Streamlining Content Creation and Publishing with XMetaL and DITA  

To streamline the product documentation process, many technical publication teams are moving to Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). Learn best practices for applying this information model, and hands-on techniques for improved content creation and publishing with JustSystems XMetaL.

Silver, Jerry. Intercom (2007). Articles>Content Management>XML>DITA

Striving for Success in DITA Conversion - A Quick Reference

Planning your conversion is always helpful, and should be part of your overall content strategy review.

Urbina, Noz. Data Conversion Laboratory (2008). Articles>Content Management>XML>DITA

Structured Authoring and XML  

Implementing structured authoring with XML allows organizations to create better content. The addition of hierarchy and metadata to content improves reuse and content management. These benefits, however, must be weighed against the time and money required to implement a structured authoring approach. The business case is compelling for larger writing organizations; they will be the first to adopt structured authoring. Over time, improvements in available tools will reduce the cost of implementing structured authoring and make it affordable for smaller organizations.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Scriptorium (2002). Design>Publishing>Information Design>XML

Structured Authoring and XML: Part One

Implementing structured authoring with XML allows organizations to create better content. The addition of hierarchy and metadata to content improves reuse and content management. These benefits, however, must be weighed against the time and money required to implement a structured authoring approach. The business case is compelling for larger writing organizations; they will be the first to adopt structured authoring. Over time, improvements in available tools will reduce the cost of implementing structured authoring and make it affordable for smaller organizations.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Structured Authoring and XML: Part Three

Not every content-creation group will benefit from structured authoring and XML. Sometimes, the expense of implementation outweighs the benefits realized, especially in smaller groups with less total page count.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2004). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Structured Authoring and XML: Part Two

In a structured authoring environment, authors create documents by assembling elements and text in an order permitted by the structure definition document. You might think of structured authoring as being similar to template-based authoring with a strict template. Authors do not assign formatting; the formatting is automatically assigned based on the structure of the document. Formatting may differ for different output media.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Structuring Your Documents for Maximum Reuse  

A major topic among information development managers these days is single sourcing--writing information once and using it many times. Structured documents are critical for single sourcing. So, let's explore: what we mean by structuring documents; why structuring is useful; some of the concerns that writers have about structuring documents.

Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. Center for Information-Development Management (2005). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>XML

Styling XML: An Opinionated Guide  

McLaughlin evaluates the abilities of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and XSLT (eXstensible Style Language for Transformation) to render XML content in Internet browsers.

McLaughlin, Douglas J. Intercom (2001). Design>Web Design>XML

Subsetting and Customizing DITA

This article explores ideas related to subsetting and customizing the DITA specification without the addition of new elements. Instead, we explore taking default rules and adapting them to meet the needs of specific writing and publishing environments. Introductory information about the DITA specification and the difference between subsetting and specialization is provided.

Aschwanden, Bernard. Publishing Smarter (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA

A Survey of XML Standards: Part 1

The world of XML is vast and growing, with a huge variety of standards and technologies that interact in complex ways. It can be difficult for beginners to navigate the most important aspects of XML, and for users to keep track of new entries and changes in the space. In this series of articles, Uche Ogbuji provides a guide to XML standards, including a wide range of recommended resources for further information.

Ogbuji, Uche. IBM (2004). Design>Information Design>Standards>XML

SVG as a Page Description Language

SVG has matured into a rich, fully featured graphics language resulting in its suitability for all traditional graphics applications. The SVG working group is continuing development of various profiles for use in specific application areas, such as mobile devices. One of the most important uses of computer graphics languages is in the area of printing. Many languages used for printing are proprietary and display various feature sets. SVG in contrast is vendor neutral, contains much of the functionality of existing languages for printing and is a wonderful candidate for future hard copy devices. A new SVG profile for printing is being developed as part of the SVG standardisation effort.

Danilo, Alex and Jun Fujisawa. SVG Open (2002). Articles>Graphic Design>XML>SVG

SVG: The New Flash

Macromedia has been the dominant force behind vector-based graphics and animation on the web for nearly the past 10 years. Times change, and new methods are always on the horizon. The upcoming contender for vector graphics is Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an XML-based language under development by the W3C.

Vitiello, Eric Jr. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Design>Web Design>XML>SVG

Take My Advice: Don't Learn XML

If you're a developer interested only in the data-oriented side of XML, and if you don't care about document authoring (writing books, articles, manuals, love poems, Web pages, whatever), feel free to ignore this article. If, on the other hand, document authoring is important to you (you're a technical writer, an HTML markup author, manager of a documentation group, an anonymous pamphleteer) and you're trying to decide whether it would be worthwhile for you to learn XML and use it for authoring documents, stick around. What you learn might save you a lot of time and spare you from some unnecessary frustration.

Smith, Michael. O'Reilly and Associates (2000). Design>Web Design>Writing>XML

Technical Communication, Knowledge Management, and XML    

Technical communicators can expand their roles into the realm of knowledge management if they augment their already considerable skills with a basic understanding of XML coding and a critical understanding of how this applied tool can allow us to shape, store, and transfer knowledge. To do this, they can start by examining how the use of tools and their relationship to the materials, assumptions, and methods of the scientific community contribute to the culture of research activity and then transferring these ideas to their workplaces. Additionally, they need to understand that knowledge management systems can include tacit knowledge. In their roles as knowledge managers, they can teach organization members how they can help design, access, and contribute to databases; alert them to new information as it is made available in knowledge repositories; and work to facilitate an environment of trust and sharing that allows knowledge management systems to flourish.

Applen, J.D. Technical Communication Online (2002). Design>Knowledge Management>XML>Metadata

Technical Context and Cultural Consequences of XML

The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is an open standard for creating domain- and industry-specific markup vocabularies. XML has become the predominant mechanism for electronic data interchange between information systems and can be described as a universally applicable, durable “Code of Integration.â€Ω As we celebrate its tenth anniversary, it is appropriate to reflect on the role XML has played and the technical ecosystem in which it functions. In this paper, we discuss both the environment from which XML arose and its technical underpinnings, and we relate these topics to companion papers in this issue of the IBM Systems Journal. We discuss the broad consequences of XML and argue that XML will take its place among the technical standards having the greatest impact on the world in which we live. We conclude with some reflections on the significant technical, economic, and societal consequences that XML is likely to have in the future.

Adler, S., R. Cochrane, J.F. Morar and A. Spector. IBM (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML

A Technical Writer's Introduction to XML  

XML is one of the hot topics in Web technology. More and more XML sites are being developed every day. You've probably seen XML without realizing it. It's also showing up in specific tools for technical writers: Sun's JavaHelp uses XML components. But when you try to learn about this exciting new technology, when you review the many books that are appearing on shelves, or sites popping up on the Web, you'll find that the information that is available is mostly aimed at developers. This session cuts through the technical detail to the core of XML, to the value that it brings to technical writers and their users. Unlike HTML, which is based on a specific set of tags, XML allows you to define your own tags. This means you have the ability to tag information based on content rather than format structure.

Rockley, Ann and Steve Manning. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Web Design>XML