atw: Re: DocBook

Hi Kristina

DocBook is one of the oldest standard XML schemas. It is therefore
more mature than some others (such as DITA) but also means that it
suffers from an outdated architecture which makes it pretty
inflexible.

Converting to any kind of XML-based authoring is not a trivial
exercise and you should first work out what benefits such a move would
give you. You can then look at various schemas and tools and see if
they can help you achieve those specific benefits.

For example, if one of your requirements is for customised publication
(conditional text, etc), DocBook almost certainly is not going to be
the best fit for you (and any schema would probably require heavy
customisation - which may mean a completely home-grown schema is a
better option).

Your choice of editor will similarly be constrained by what your
requirements are, here are a few brief opinions.

* Most XML editors will not give you a printable document without a
lot of work.

* Word 2003 claims to do XML authoring but I have heard bad things
about its ability to use schemas other than the standard Microsoft
schema (I have no direct experience with this but somehow it does not
surprise me).

* FrameMaker (especially the latest version) has some very nice tools
for moving to XML and, when you include plug-ins, is probably the best
tool for people that need to write documents rather than web content.

Hope that helps.

-Melanie Kendell


On Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:24:14 +0800, kadang@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<kadang@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> We are looking at converting some of our manuals and help to DocBook. I
> have done quite a bit of web searching, looking for information and
> applications, but thought that I should also call on your experience.
> 
> Does anyone use DocBook to write their documentation? What do you use it
> for? How have you found it to use? How did you find out how to write to the
> DocBook DTD? Which editor do you use to write your documentation?
> 
> Thanks for your comments.
> 
> Kristina Cunningham
> 
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