XML-XML standards for multipe channel publications
XML useful for content re-use
XML (Extensible Markup Language) is a coding language. This is used to mark content and define the meaning of content. For example it shows whether something is a title, a keyword or an instruction. XML can be applied to many different kinds of publications. With XML you create and manage content in a medium and product neutral way. It is not until the publication process that you define the format in a style sheet. That way content can be easily reused for different publications.
Defining meaning of content
XML-coding consists of elements and attributes. An element defines the meaning of the content, with an attribute you can further specify an element, for example a note from the warning type. Which elements and attributes can be used, can be described in a DTD (Document Type Definition) or XML-schema. You can define your own DTD/XML-schema or use an existing standard such as DITA, DocBook, JATS or QTI. There are different XML-editors on the market to create and manage XML-documents. It is advised to use one of these.
The standard
for most
content
structures
DITA
DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) is a standard that is developed by OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards). DITA is XML based architecture for creating, production and publication of information. With DITA you can structure almost all types of content, especially technical documentation, but also learning & training material. I advise to use the recent version DITA 1.3.
DITA supports topic based writing. That means you make small information units (topics) which than are joined together in a map in which you show their hierarchies.
No rigid construction
Sometimes the possibilities of DITA are too extensive, than it is desirable to limit the propositions to structure. On the other hand it is possible that just that one important structure is missing that defines your content. Luckily DITA is not a rigid construction. It can be adjusted to individual requirements. Therefore a specific specialized mechanism is made with which you can extend or constrain DITA.
Easy application
A large part of the XML-editors support the DITA-standard. The DITA XML schemas and other DITA specific matter are already implemented in editors and make application of DITA easier.
DITA L&T
DITA L&T is a special module specific for learning and training material. It offers a small set of interactions like multiple choice or open questions. Educational content often is much more complex than content for learning and training.
Extension L&T Extra Interactions
Often you want to use also other interaction types like fill-in-the-blank or graphic-gap-match. Together with FontoXML and Crius Group I have developed an extension with much more interaction types. Furthermore, MathML and SVG are integrated in extension so they can be used in DITA L&T. The extension is an open source DITA OT 2.0 plugin. Some of my clients already using it. Also it will be used in the publishing suite “Alfred” from the Crius Group and in the FontoXML DITA editor from FontoXML.
XSL-T/-FO
XSL-T stands for Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations and is a standard for transforming XML-documents to another format e.g. (X)HTML or transform on XML to another. An XML-document has a tree structure. XSL-T transformations use this tree structure when transforming parts of the XML. XSL-T itself is written in XML. In practice, XSL-T often is used together with XSL-FO. XSL-FO stands for XSL Formatting Objects. In XSL-FO the layout of a document can be defined. With XSL-T and XSL-FO together you can transform XML-documents to PDF.
DITA OT
DITA Open Toolkit (OT) is an open source DITA publication tool. With DITA OT you can create different output formats like PDF, XHTML, Microsoft Compiled HTML Help and more. DITA OT uses XSL-T and XSL-FO. Out of the box DITA OT can transform DITA XML-documents. But it is possible to configure DITA OT and create your own specific lay-out. To do so, the stylesheets must be changed or even new ones must be developed.
The standard for different output formats
The standard for validating content structures
XML-schema
With a XML-schema (W3C standard (World Wide Web Consortium)) you can define which codes (elements and attributes) may be used in your XML document. Also determined are which context, order and how often an element may occur. A list, for example, may contain an unlimited number of list items.
Developing DTD/XML-schema
To develop a DTD/XML-schema, it is wise to
• first do a reliable content/information analysis;
• make a concept of the structures;
• and, during the development, constantly check the DTD/XML-schema with content examples.
DITA specialization
Instead of developing your own XML-schema you can take DITA and make your own specialization of it to fit your requirements.
Content & information analysis
To make efficient use of information and to publish it correctly, it is important to have a good overview of your information. Which information do you have available? How is it composed and structured?
To do a thorough analysis people involved will be interviewed and concept material will be checked. Subsequently you will receive a report with the results. If desired, recommendations and advise will be given for further steps.
The base for all
