Re: XML-based Help Authoring tools for customized help

[eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com]

"Mark Baker" <listsub -at- analecta -dot- com> wrote on 12/15/2003 12:28:13 PM:
> as Eric has articulated, for choosing Frame rather than Docbook.

Mark, you've fallen into exactly the same trap as others in this discussion.
Docbook is in no way whatsoever comparable to FrameMaker. You don't choose
Docbook instead of FrameMaker. You're mixing the concepts up I'm afraid.

Docbook, as you have written, is only a DTD. You can adopt the Docbook DTD and
use FrameMaker as you content creation tool and your output generation tool.
Docbook is to a valid Docbook document as Normal.dot is to a Word file produced
using Normal.dot. Although in the case of unstructured FrameMaker or MSWord,
their templates lack control over structure. But, Docbook lacks all formatting
and the Docbook document is just tagged text. Until you start adding all the
various tools, validators, formatters, etc.

FrameMaker just fills in for a combination of composer/content generator and
sgml/XML validator for the authors and as the print output engine for the
production people.

You can use Docbook and a FrameMaker inclusive toolset.
You can use Docbook and MSWord inclusive toolset (I'll assume the XML aware
version of Word anyway).
You can use Docbook and one of several other commercial toolsets.
You can use Docbook and one of several open-source toolsets.
You can use Docbook and a unique assembly of tools.

Or all of the above, but replace Docbook with your own DTD. I've talked with
Lynne Price who has implemented Docbook based solutions using a number of tools.
And according to my conversations with her, most clients who wanted Docbook
supported completely eventually started paring it down to the minimum number of
elements and functionality required.

Whether you start with your own DTD, a pared down Docbook DTD, or a variation
Docbook plus your own requirements, the Docbook standard is still useful for
interchange with other Docbook conscious systems. That's what XSLT is for.

All this discussion, at not one word of the advantages or disadvantages of
Docbook structure. Blech.

If we move back a step or three and look at the requirements again there are
several things to look at individually:

- How is the information best structured. (Which DTD for information gathering)
- What tools are best for gathering the information.
- How is the information best stored. (which has an impact on the input DTD(s))
- What tools are best to store the information.
- How is the information best assembled for delivery and in how many different
ways. (output DTD(s))
- What tools are best to assemble the information.
- How are the various outputs formatted.
- What tools are best to produce the various required formatting.

And often 'best' is purely subjective. We now save all FM generated SGML
fragments into a document repository and then use scripts to further splinter
the fragments and then assemble the final deliverable SGML and FM to format it
for paper and PDF. Another group of tools produces electronic output.

But, for another project it was far more intelligent to use many of FrameMaker's
strengths that are impossible/very difficult to reproduce and maintain in SGML
and we store all content in FM documents and at production time run numerous
scripts to obtain the production paper and PDF and save as SGML to feed the
electronic document production workflow.

Eric L. Dunn
Senior Technical Writer

Contemplating the accumulating snow outside...



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