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RE: XML-based Help Authoring tools for customized help
Subject:RE: XML-based Help Authoring tools for customized help From:"Bill Lawrence" <scribe -at- matrixplus -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 11 Dec 2003 11:25:37 -0500
There
There is actually a fourth option. One can subset an existing tagging
structure, such as Docbook. I believe Sun Microsystems uses this
approach. There is also a subset of Docbook readily available:
simplified Docbook. This reduces the tagging complexity considerably,
while remaining completely compatible with the existing tool chain.
There may also be some readily available subsets for TEI as well, which
might also be worth a look.
I tend to lean heavily toward a "canned" solution such as Docbook
because it's easier to get it running and the maintenance thrust upon
your organization is considerably less. However, there's no doubt that
it can be a problem for authors in some environments. I've worked for
companies where the technical writers had backgrounds in both computer
science and writing, and Docbook was never a problem. However, I've
also worked for a company where the writers were used to WYSIWYG tools
(Word and Frame mostly), and some never became comfortable with the
tools. They also never became comfortable for writing for an online
environment instead of paper manuals, but that's another tale.
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