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Subject:Re: XML & Technical Writers...(struggling) From:Simon North <north -at- SYNOPSYS -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 16 Apr 1998 18:06:34 +0001
> 1. Create a DTD containing some rules defined by XML.
You can choose to have a DTD or not. If you don't want to validate
the document (i.e. check that the structure of the document agrees
with the model that you describe in the DTD) you do not need a DTD.
Most XML software will (the packages I have already can) create a DTD
on the fly, if needed, from your tagged document.
All you really need to do is create a tagged document following a few
specific rules concerning 'well formedness' (essentially this defines
a few hard-and-fast rules about properly nesting elements and so on).
> 2. Create a tagging language conforming to the DTD.
Tag however you like (obeying the rules of 'well formedness') or, if
you wish tag in accordance with the "content model" you describe in
the DTD using XML's syntax rules. This takes you to step 5.
> 5. Format it according to the tagging language.
Write a style sheet in XSL; XSL is very like CSS (the Cascading Style
Sheets used for HTML).
> 6. Send the document to someone else.
Yes.
7. Also send the DTD.
Possibly. Possibly not. Possibly the DTD can be *in* the document.
Most likely you won't want to give away your DTD, it could represent
a significant piece of intellectual property.
> 8. Also send the application program.
No. Not needed. They can use a web browser or whatever else they
want. There will be converters to a whole range of other formats.
> 9. The recipient passes the document
> through an XML parser to check compliance with your DTD.
Not necessary. Parsing is really only necessary on the authoring side
and even then it is optional.
> 10. The recipient passes your document through your application
> program.
Her application program.
> 11. The recipients views your document.
> Is that how it to works?
Yes, but it goes beyond that. The reader can view the document how
she wishes, and that means variable content too. I have, for example,
a simple style sheet that manipulates the XML code it sees and adds
things that I want. As an example, my style sheet can pick up NOTE
elements and paint them red, adding a hazard icon. By simply changing
the style I can change the appearance *and* the content to suit the
reader. I can even embed processing instructions in the style sheet
that will allow me to dynamically modify the document to suit the
environment in which it will be displayed. The possibilities are
almost limitless.
