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[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message] RE: Open Source XML Editor
 <- True. But remember that when you make the DTD/Schema <- drive the editor, you may be mixing the data structures <- and the document structures (sure you can use XSLT to <- get around some of this). Some like this kind of <- editing, but the structures make a lot of difference. On the one hand I'm tempted to say "what's the difference, XML is XML", but being less pedantic I'd suggest that non-presentation stuff could easily be hidden by the editor. <- DTDs that had to cover a family of documents produce <- bizarre complex editing paths. So the analysis is <- very important both in the lifecycle path of the <- information and the workflow of the production staff. <- Problems like this lead to a lot of the early thinking <- about enterprise wide markup systems. Bizarre indeed. When XML is a little mature, and things like Schemas & RDF start showing their potential, hopefully some of the mess will coalesce. <- Michael's examples reflect programming <- documentation. Of the types of technical information <- I've worked with, it is the easiest. The <- harder bits tended to be the hardware systems with <- the extensively indexed and cross-referenced drawings <- combined with repair and assembly. Software and the <- the software authors are a piece of cake by comparison. That seems reasonable, but again I would think that the difference here is likely to be reduced in coming years - after all, it's not difficult to view a piece of hardware in OO terms. <- What Alshuler missed as I recall was that many tech <- writers were stuck like tractors in a muddy bog by <- the writing standards they had been using. It was <- part of the problem of the 38784/28001 roadblocks <- put up to doing interactive technical manuals. They <- did not want to code the tags to begin with, then <- when they began, they immediately replicated all <- of the problems for which they were the owners <- of the solutions. So even if the markup was easy, <- the mindset was wrong. 38784/28001? Sorry, I don't get the reference. I do follow and agree with your point about the mindset though. <- Today, the almost shocking thing is that <- so many of them won't give up WinHelp or WinHelp tools. What's your feeling on JavaHelp? A similar source (HTML docs) and end result, but indexed using XML so potentially possible to cross reference. <- A LOT of software companies are still grinding out <- hypertext that is mundane and production-intensive because <- the tech writer leads and their managers refuse to use <- database-driven systems. So customers request paper <- copies for various good reasons and these companies <- refuse to give them source that would enable this <- and claim that everyone knows that digital is the <- only way to go. They defend that ferociously <- as a cost savings for the customer all the while <- really defending their own arcane methods. Fact <- is, it's a con. A decent hypertext format with <- transforms lets any device get the information <- as needed in the format needed and that includes <- the old devices... like paper. I've no personal experience of this, but this sounds painfully plausible. <- Own the solution? Defend the problem. I must remember to quote that elsewhere ;-) Cheers, Danny. 
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