Introduction to DITA References
Paul Prescod
Group Program Manager
Blast Radius Inc.
XMetaL
1146 Homer StreetVancouver
British Columbia
V6B 2X6Canada
Paul Prescod is an implementor of XML-based systems, co-author of the XML
Handbook, author of numerous articles on XML and contributor to open source XML
tools.
DITA
TutorialContent Management
Topic-oriented authoring
DITA is quickly becoming the dominant XML schema for topic-oriented
authoring. DITA is a highly practical way of moving to XML authoring in general
and granular content reuse in particular. DITA distinguishes itself from
predecessor standards by explicitly rejecting the book paradigm in favour of a
topic-oriented model. A topic is a single continuous narrative that should be
written to be independently usable and understandable. Topics tend to be
medium-sized objects with independent titles and metadata: more analogous to
web pages or chapters than paragraphs or lists. Topic orientation has
advantages for the reader and also for content creators. Readers prefer
topic-oriented information because it can be read in bits. Furthermore, readers
can choose their own paths through the content. Content creators like
topic-oriented authoring because it can drastically reduce the amount of
information they need to write across a complex modern product line consisting
of compound products (like operating systems, product suites or automobiles)
and subset products (like "light versions"). Instead of rewriting or copying
and posting content, authors can mix and match topics to meet the needs of a
particular product or audience.
This bibliography will discuss various references that will help you
learn more about DITA.
DITA Overviews and FAQ Documents
DITA Frequently Asked Questions by the DITA
Technical Committee:
http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/dita/faq.php
Introduction to the Darwin Information Typing
Architecture by Day, Priestley, Schell:
http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-dita1/
Introduction to DITA from the DITA Specification
by the DITA Technical Committee:
http://docs.oasis-open.org/dita/v1.0/archspec/ditaintro.html
Blast Radius Frequently Asked DITA Questions:http://www.xmetal.com/en_us/products/xmetal_author_dita/general_faqs.x
- Blast Radius XMetaL
Detailed Specifications
DITA 1.0 is an OASIS standard, described in two
documents. The DITA Architectural Specification
describes how DITA works. The DITA Language Reference
describes the syntax and guidelines for use of each DITA element and attribute.
Official versions of both documents are available in PDF and HTML format at:
http://docs.oasis-open.org/dita/v1.0/.
Note that the OASIS web site also has older, draft versions of these
documents. The above link has the final approved versions.
Starter Software
The DITA Open Toolkit is an open source DITA
processor that can generate HTML and PDF from DITA content:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/dita-ot/
XMetaL Author DITA Edition includes the DITA Open
Toolkit to make a complete authoring and publishing platform. The free trial of
DITA Edition is a good way to experiment with the creation and publishing of
DITA software:
http://www.xmetal.com/en_us/support/trial_software/index.x
Case Studies
DITA - The mechanics of a single sourcing project
by France Baril at Ixiasoft:
http://www.mulberrytech.com/Extreme/Proceedings/html/2004/Baril01/EML2004Baril01.html
Migrating from HTML to DITA: A Case Study by Amber
Swope and Hadar Hawk at IBM:
http://www.stc.org/52ndConf/session.materials.asp
User Groups and Forums
Yahoo! DITA Users Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dita-users/
OASIS DITA community focus area: http://dita.xml.org/
Media Reports
I Column Like I CM: Lovely DITA, Meta Maid, Ready-made
Metadata by Bob Doyle, EContent Magazine:
http://www.econtentmag.com/Articles/ArticleReader.aspx?ArticleID=14278
Recorded Events
Recorded Blast Radius DITA Web Events:
https://blastradiusevents.webex.com/blastradiusevents/onstage/tool/record/archives.php?Rnd=296015985