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.
We give away a copy with a $100 membership on DITA Users, where we provide
online tools for members to play with DITA Topics and Maps.
(Guest access to play with a sandbox of DITA Topics and maps is Free.)
Topic-based writing is mostly different from tightly structured modularized
docs because that's the current jargon. I tried to cover the history of
structured writing here: http://dita.xml.org/book/history-of-dita
DITA is different in part because it is constrained to basic "information
types" for its topics.
One way to think about DITA Maps is that they are dynamic tables of
contents. Normally you write a document and then generate its TOC. If you
rearrange the sections, you must generate a new TOC.
With a DITA Map, you simply rearrange the Map, then rebuild the files, and
you have a new document - whether print (PDF), web (HTML), or Help.
Does that make sense?
Cheers.
Bob
On Wed, Jun 4, 2008 at 8:49 PM, Becky Edmondson <beckyed -at- rcn -dot- com> wrote:
> Many thanks for the helpful and encouraging replies to my query, and
> especially to Bob Doyle, who provided the excellent PDF on DITA tools.
>
> IMO, it's amazingly hard to find quality newbie help about DITA,
> particularly about how it affects the writing workflow. I'm always
> surprised
> every time I go prospecting for info about DITA at how the discussions all
> seem to center around its business aspects. I can never find any
> down-n-dirty details about implementing it. If anyone can point me to some
> good low-level info--like, fr'instance, who exactly creates the DITA map,
> or
> how does topic-based writing *really* differ from writing tightly
> structured, modularized doc--I would be grateful.
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Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
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