Beyond Text and Graphics: XML Makes Web Pages Function Like Applications

XML is displacing the traditional 'web page'--generally a static document, created with HTML. Most traditional web pages offer only slim interactivity and rely on an overworked server and CGI script. XML is promoting the concept of a 'weblication' (web application) that can work wonders on the web client without generating so much Internet traffic.

Freter, Todd. Sun Microsystems (1998). Design>Web Design>Metadata>XML

Build-to-Order Documents with DITA

It is entirely possible to deliver custom, on-demand documentation that is precisely suited to a user's needs. It can be done today, using web-interface strategies and the right document format. This post shows how such a system could be implemented with the DITA format, and shows why it would be an ideal document-delivery system for programmers.

Armstrong, Eric. Sun Microsystems (2007). Articles>Documentation>XML>DITA

Building a Bridge: DITA, DocBook, and ODF

Some folks here are taking a very strong look at DITA. I'm certainly one of them. But we also have a huge legacy of documents in Solbook format (Sun's subset of DocBook). There are tools for editing such documents, and tools for processing them. and there are many people who are comfortable with those tools. So DITA isn't going to replace the world, just yet. But DITA makes extensive reuse possible. It's a format with a serious future, because "reuse" is a very big deal. It lets you single-source your information content so have one place to make an edit. That sort of thing becomes important when you have multiple revisions of a product, and/or multiple variations. It becomes important when different tools and different products use the same information in different ways. It can drastically improve quality, ensure uniformity of presentation. Finally, structured formats like DITA and DocBook create the kind of consistently-tagged information that allows for useful automation.

Armstrong, Eric. Sun Microsystems (2007). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA

JavaHelp: A New Standard for Application Help and Online Documentation

JavaHelpTM software is a full-featured, platform-independent, extensible help system that enables developers and authors to incorporate online help in applets, components, applications, operating systems, and devices. Authors can also use the JavaHelp software to deliver online documentation for the Web and corporate Intranet.

Sun Microsystems. Resources>Documentation>Online

Ten Things to Know About Selecting a Content Management System

Will Snow, Engineering Manager for Sun Microsystems' Web portals for Java[TM] and Solaris[TM] application developers, is bullish on content management. Here is Snow's list of the ten things he learned about selecting a content management system.

Ort, Ed. Sun Microsystems (2000). Articles>Content Management>TC

Why Won't Microsoft Join Existing Standards Efforts?

Microsoft has stated on numerous occasions that they believe in and support open standards. But from my experience, they do this not by joining existing open standards efforts, but instead by creating entirely new, parallel (and arguably redundant) 'open standards' efforts around their own technologies. And often it seems these new standards efforts are around new, untested, and immature technologies that began life as proprietary to Microsoft--introduced into the standards process when a pre-existing open standards effort already exists, and exists around proven and shipping technologies which were developed in the open with lots of input from a variety of expert stakeholders.

Korn, Peter. Sun Microsystems (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Standards>Microsoft Word

Wikis, Docs, and the Reuse Proposition

The Darwin Informaton Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based document format that was designed from the ground up for reuse. It rocks. Content Managment Systms (CMSes) are designed to hold XML data. So in theory, a CMS system that lets you edit like a Wiki would be everything you need. But getting a system like that to work is a pretty tricky proposition.

Armstrong, Eric. Sun Microsystems (2007). Articles>Content Management>XML>DITA