atw: Re: XML - a requirement for a TechWriter looking forwork?
- From: Hedley Finger <hfinger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:09:12 +1000
Warren:
I can agree with the below. I spent one day getting a website in CSS sorted.
Then four months tweaking the code to get it to work in Netscape, FIreFox,
Mozilla, IE etc. 4 months...
I thought I was embarked on this voyage of discovery until I found YAML
(Yet Another Multicolumn Layout) a freebie under CC licence from
<http://www.yaml.de>. This is an XHTML/CSS framework that provides a
skeleton that addresses all the bugs in the different browsers. You
remove <div>s, add elements, change logos, re-order columns, etc. to get
YOUR design. You can use Dreamweaver but the developer provides a
special CSS file to address its limitations as Dw does not fully support
CSS.
Point is it really helps if you know XML and CSS, DOCTYPE, etc. to get
the most out of this framework.
James:
This article is useful, and it hasn't dated much...
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/oreilly/xml/news/dontlearn_0701.html
Well, this is a naughty advertisement for DocBook pure and simple. The
author sets up a straw man and then knocks it down. To learn
*sufficient* XML you don't have to learn all those other X* technologies
to work as technical writer in DocBook, DITA, HP Tag, or whatever. And
what Michael(tm) [yes, that's his name] forgets to tell you is that
DocBook contains an element for every conceivable document component to
address all types of publications from encyclopaedias, acts of
parliament, to cafe menus (I exaggerate only a little).
And too many of the elements have tag names that are quite obscure. The
whole framework is like a set of blueprints for the Empire State
Building merged with those of a Cunard liner when all you want to do is
build a garden shed in the backyard. The DITA specification is much
smaller and specifically targeted at technical communication, so if you
want to learn XML, CSS, etc. go to <http://www.w3schools.com/> first
then look at DITA.
Here endeth the sermon,
Hedley
--
Hedley Finger
28 Regent Street Camberwell VIC 3124 Australia
Tel. +61 3 9809 1229 Fax. (call phone first)
Mob. (cell) +61 412 461 558
Email. "Hedley Finger" <hfinger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
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