TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
On Thursday, January 20, 2005 12:51 PM Mark Lewin wrote
> Hi all
>
> We're just about to start on a big new round of documentation and
> because it might end up in several different formats, I have suggested
> going down the XML route. Brave (silly?) of me, because I know very
> little about using XML to write technical manuals. But hey -- it will
> be good for my career, I keep telling myself.
>
> So now I've got to get up to speed quickly. All I know is that I need
> to choose a DTD, a CSS and some form of editor that can work with
> them. Can anyone suggest any free/open source tools? And maybe some
> good online or printed resources?
>
I would also suggest you look at DITA, the Darwin Information Typing
Architecture.
A number of the XML vendors have announced DITA support, including ArborText
and XMetal, and it appears that some folks have put together a FrameMaker
EDD as well.
One brief technical point: you are right that you need to choose some sort
of style sheet mechanism to go from any XML to, say, print or HTML. It does
not have to be CSS though. People are using XSLT and XSL-FO stylesheets, as
well as proprietary print engines. Some of the XML editors, like ArborText,
have their own technology for going to print and other output formats.
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT - EDIT AND REVIEW, REDEFINED
Accelerate the document lifecycle with full online discussions and unique feedback-management capabilities. Unlimited, efficient reviews for Word
and FrameMaker authors. Live, online demo: http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Technical Communication Certificate online - Malaspina-University College, Canada. Online training in technical writing, software (FrameMaker, RoboHelp, Dreamweaver, Acrobat), document & web design, writing manuals, job search. www.pr.mala.bc.ca/tech_comm.htm for details.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
