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> Rather than just provide generic help that covers all possible
> options, we'd
> like to generate customized help as it is called by the user.
> ...
> We are discussing two approaches: XML and a database approach (I realize
> there is potentially some overlap here).
I've been working in this area for a ten years or so, going back to when XML
was still a gleam in SGML's eye, and I would say that the answer to XML vs
database is not one or the other but both.
Databases schemas and XML schemas both provide ways to model the structure
of content. Database systems provide specific mechanisms for storing and
retrieving content according to those structures. To implement the system
you describe, you are going to need to model your content, store it
according to that model, retrieve it based on the model, synthesize it into
an appropriate help statement for the user, and format it for display. This
involves several database functions, whether or not you use a specific
database system to drive them.
The question, therefore, is do you also need XML, and the answer is almost
certainly yes. There are common structures that occur in documents that are
not easily modeled by a database schema, so a combination of XML and
database schemas is probably the right solution.
> Does anybody have experiences to share or sources of information
> (websites/books/etc) on database-driven documentation (not restricted to
> websites)? We are at the infant stages of this project, so now is the time
> to explore all our options and maybe try a few things out. Right now, I'm
> looking for conceptual type stuff.
This is a huge part of what the company I work for does, both from a tools
point of view and from a methodology point of view. Contact me off list and
I can provide you with a wide variety of resources.
---
Mark Baker
Stilo Corporation
1900 City Park Drive, Suite 504 , Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1J 1A3
Phone: 613-745-4242, Fax: 613-745-5560
Email mbaker -at- ca -dot- stilo -dot- com
Web: http://www.stilo.com
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