atw: Re: XML software for Word-like formatting

Hi Dave
 
You didn't mention what your motivation was for moving to an XML publishing 
solution. A typical reason is to reduce cost, by improving writing efficiency, 
allowing re-use of content, and automating some of the production tasks. 
 
XML is an enormously broad area, covering every field of human endeavour. XML 
is used in the research of ancient Sumerian poetry, in spacecraft design, in 
managing census data, in calibrating scientific instruments, in publishing 
newspapers, in financial transactions, in software configuration, in user 
interface design, and for thousands or millions of other applications, 
including technical communication. 
 
In the technical communications space, apart from XHTML (an XML used for Web 
content) and word processing XMLs (Word's OOXML and OpenOffice's ODF), the two 
most important XML applications are DocBook and DITA. Both of these XMLs are 
mature enough that you don't have to work in a code view. Like most XMLs, DITA 
and DocBook separate content from its presentation. This means you can't really 
have a WYSIWYG editor, because as an author of content, you are not responsible 
for the presentation; you are responsible for the words. To make a rich, 
productive, non-code working environment possible, DITA and DocBook editors 
employ WYSIOO - What You See Is One Option. Tools such as XMetaL, Serna and 
XMLmind let you write, edit, delete and otherwise craft the content in a 
Word-like interface. However, they don't give you good mechanisms for producing 
that content in a reading format, because that's the job of a publishing tool, 
not an authoring tool. (There are a few all-in-one tools that try to do both 
editing and publishing, but these tend to be very expensive and often 
ineffective.)
 
Pagination belongs in the publishing tool. You can formulate tables in the 
WYISOO editing tool (that is, put content into rows and cells), but how that 
table is eventually presented will be up to the rules in the publishing tool. 
Graphics are part of the content, so they are added in the editing tool. 
 
I suggest that your first task is to work out which XML application is most 
suited to your documents. That will require you to become familiar with the 
underlying structured, semantic authoring principles of DocBook, DITA, or 
whatever XML application you choose. Only then should you consider what tools 
will suit your requirements. If you end up using DITA, you'll find there are 
dozens of tools, including DITA-centric CMS solutions, Web-based DITA editors, 
multiple-author tools, and DITA-based review software.
 
Hope this helps.
 
Tony Self

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