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Subject:Single-sourcing, take II From:"Geoff Hart (by way of \"Eric J. Ray\" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>)" <ght -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> Date:Wed, 14 Oct 1998 07:03:03 -0600
Mark Baker responded to my comments re. single-sourcing for print and
online media:
<<Resolution is one minor difference between the media. Improving
online resolution will be a good thing, but it will not make media
equivalent. It will not give paper any of the virtues of the online
media.>>
Agreed, and I didn't make that point strongly until later in my
posting. Using one source for two outputs will always represent a
compromise: sometimes an acceptable one, and sometimes not.
<<The question is, is this still a "decent compromise" from the users
point of view?>>
That's the key question always in technical communication: know thy
audience. That will tell you the minimum you can get away with and
(hopefully) the maximum you should strive to reach, beyond that
minimum
<<However, the linear structures supported by SGML/XML are not
sufficient to capture all the structure required for robust single
sourcing. You need non-linear structures, such as those provided by a
relational database.>>
Good point. I was still thinking in the paper model, where nonlinear
structure is pretty much restricted to "see page 10". But I think my
original statement is still valid: if you define something well
enough to identify its role in the structure, it makes things much
easier when it comes time to repurpose that information for a new
medium.
<<The basic ides is that you do not develop documents, but
media-neutral information components. Information components are
stored in a database with enough relationship information to allow
them to called up in any way that suits you. To create an information
product you synthesize an appropriate set of information components
and process the result to create the desired media format.>>
In short, you use the computer to automate organisation and
collection of the correct components, then you use the human brain to
structure/format/etc. those components to take best advantage of the
specific medium.
<<If my proposal is accepted, I will be demoing our system at the
next STC conference.>>
I'll look forward to seeing it, assuming _my_ proposal to attend is
accepted. <g>.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"Microsoft Word: It grows on you... but with a little fungicide,
you'll be feeling much better real soon now!"--GH
