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Last modified: February 11, 2008
Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA XML)

Update 2007-08-13

On August 13, 2007, OASIS announced that its members had approved the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) version 1.1 as an OASIS Standard, a status that signifies the highest level of ratification. DITA supports single sourcing across books, help files, training, and multimedia. It enables modular, topic-based authoring through rich, semantic markup. It incorporates special features for localization, accessibility, and robust conditional processing. Version 1.1 of DITA provides enhanced print publishing capabilities with new DITA Bookmap specialization, including extended book metadata. The standard offers more indexing capabilities with new elements for see and see-also references. It features new elements for defining structured metadata as well as the ability to add new metadata attributes through specialization. See the DITA Version 1.1 OASIS Standard references.

Overview

DITA is an architecture for creating topic-oriented, information-typed content that can be reused and single-sourced in a variety of ways. It is also an architecture for creating new information types and describing new information domains based on existing types and domains. This allows groups to create very specific, targeted document type definitions using a process called specialization, while still sharing common output transforms and design rules developed for more general types and domains.

DITA supports a unique transclusion mechanism that is validated under DTD processing rules: an element "can replace itself with the content of a like element elsewhere, either in the current topic or in a separate topic that shares the same content models. DITA's conref 'transclusion' mechanism is similar to the SGML conref mechanism, which uses an empty element as a reference to a complete element elsewhere. However, DITA requires that at least a minimal content model for the referencing element be present, and performs checks during processing to ensure that the replacement element is valid in its new context. This mechanism goes beyond standard XInclude, in that content can be incorporated only when it is equivalent: If there is a mismatch between the reusing and reused element types, the conref is not resolved. It also goes beyond standard entity reuse, in that it allows the reused content to be in a valid XML file with a DTD. The net result is that reused content gets validated at authoring time, rather than at reuse time, catching problems at their source."

Note: Michael Priestley (IBM) has provided several key documents for this DITA reference collection; his assistance in creating this document is gratefully acknowledged.

Update 2005-02-17

The OASIS Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) TC approved DITA 1.0 as a Committee Draft and advanced it for public review. DITA is an architecture for creating topic-oriented, information-typed content that can be reused and single-sourced in a variety of ways. It also supports specialization to create new topic types for new information domains. The review draft includes an Architectural Specification, Language Reference, XML Schemas, and DTDs. See details in the news story "OASIS Darwin Information Typing Architecture TC Approves DITA Version 1.0 as a Committee Draft."

Principal URLs

OASIS DITA Technical Committee

DITA TC Subcommittees

DITA Specification

Other Online Resources for DITA

Key IBM Resources

  • IBM Resources abstracted below:

  • [March 30, 2004] DITA Language Reference. Learning Your Way Around DITA Markup. DITA Development Team. Copyright (c) International Business Machines 2001, 2004. 217 pages. Extracted from the DITA version 1.3 release package. "The design of the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is based on deriving multiple information types, or info-types , from a common, generic topic. This language reference describes the elements that comprise the topic DTD and its initial, info-typed descendents: concept, reference, and task. The elements that make up the DITA design represent a set of different authoring concerns: (1) The main components of a topic, concept, reference, or task document; (2) The common elements available for creating content within the body of a topic; (3) The elements that make up the two types of tables in DITA; (4) Elements that represent different subject domains; (5) Elements that appear in many contexts; (6) The elements contained in the prolog of a topic; (7) The elements contained in the related-links part of a topic; (8) Elements that are available for further specialization; (9) Commonly referenced descriptions; (10) Elements contained in a DITA map. In addition, this reference also describes elements that are used to manage DITA topics, either for convenience in editing or for production as sets of topics for particular kinds of deliverables." See also the news item related to the DITA version 1.3 release.

  • [June 24, 2003] DITA Language Reference. Release 1.2. First Edition, May 2003. IBM Authoring Tools. Copyright (c) International Business Machines Corporation 2003. 198 pages. From the DITA version 1.1.2 Toolkit archive. "The design of the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is based on deriving multiple information types, or info-types, from a common, generic topic. This language reference describes the elements that comprise the topic DTD and its initial, info-typed descendents: concept, reference, and task... In addition, this reference also describes elements that are used to manage DITA topics, either for convenience in editing or for production as sets of topics for particular kinds of deliverables..." See the news item for IBM Toolkit download URLs: "IBM Development Team Publishes Updated DITA Toolkit and Language Reference."

  • "Introduction to the Darwin Information Typing Architecture. Toward Portable Technical Information." By Don R. Day, Michael Priestley, and Dave A. Schell. From IBM developerWorks. October 7, 2003 or later. "The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based, end-to-end architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering technical information. This architecture consists of a set of design principles for creating 'information-typed' modules at a topic level and for using that content in delivery modes such as online help and product support portals on the Web. At the heart of DITA, representing the generic building block of a topic-oriented information architecture, is an XML document type definition (DTD) called 'the topic DTD.' The extensible architecture, however, is the defining part of this design for technical information; the topic DTD, or any schema based on it, is just an instantiation of the design principles of the architecture. This document is a roadmap for the Darwin Information Typing Architecture: what it is and how it applies to technical documentation..." Also in PDF format.

  • "Specializing Topic Types in DITA. Creating New Topic-Based Document Types." By Michael Priestley (IBM Toronto Software Development Laboratory). From IBM developerWorks. October 7, 2003 or later. Adjunct to a general article on DITA "Introduction to the Darwin Information Typing Architecture.' "The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) provides a way for documentation authors and architects to create collections of typed topics that can be easily assembled into various delivery contexts. Topic specialization is the process by which authors and architects can define topic types, while maintaining compatibility with existing style sheets, transforms, and processes. The new topic types are defined as an extension, or delta, relative to an existing topic type, thereby reducing the work necessary to define and maintain the new type. The point of the XML-based Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is to create modular technical documents that are easy to reuse with varied display and delivery mechanisms, such as helpsets, manuals, hierarchical summaries for small-screen devices, and so on. This article explains how to put the DITA principles into practice with regards to the creation of a DTD and transforms that will support your particular information types, rather than just using the base DITA set of concept, task, and reference. Topic specialization is the process by which authors and architects define new topic types, while maintaining compatibility with existing style sheets, transforms, and processes. The new topic types are defined as an extension, or delta, relative to an existing topic type, thereby reducing the work necessary to define and maintain the new type..." Also in PDF format.

  • [May 15, 2002] "Specializing Domains in DITA. Feature Provides for Great Flexibility in Extending and Reusing Information Types." By Erik Hennum (Advisory Software Engineer, IBM Corporation). From IBM developerWorks, XML zone. October 7, 2003 or later. ['In current approaches, DTDs are static. As a result, DTD designers try to cover every contingency and, when this effort fails, users have to force their information to fit existing types. The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) changes this situation by giving information architects and developers the power to extend a base DTD to cover their domains. This article shows you how to leverage the extensible DITA DTD to describe new domains of information.'] "The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML architecture for extensible technical information. A domain extends DITA with a set of elements whose names and content models are unique to an organization or field of knowledge. Architects and authors can combine elements from any number of domains, leading to great flexibility and precision in capturing the semantics and structure of their information. In this overview, you'll learn how to define your own domains... In DITA, the topic is the basic unit of processable content. The topic provides the title, metadata, and structure for the content. Some topic types provide very simple content structures. For example, the concept topic has a single concept body for all of the concept content. By contrast, a task topic articulates a structure that distinguishes pieces of the task content, such as the prerequisites, steps, and results. In most cases, these topic structures contain content elements that are not specific to the topic type. For example, both the concept body and the task prerequisites permit common block elements such as p paragraphs and ul unordered lists. Domain specialization lets you define new types of content elements independently of topic type. That is, you can derive new phrase or block elements from the existing phrase and block elements. You can use a specialized content element within any topic structure where its base element is allowed. For instance, because a p paragraph can appear within a concept body or task prerequisite, a specialized paragraph could appear there, too... [Summary:] Through topic specialization and domains, DITA provides the following benefits: (1) Simpler topic design: The document designer can focus on the structure of the topic without having to foresee every variety of content used within the structure. (2) Simpler topic hierarchies: The document designer can add new types of content without having to add new types of topics. (3) Extensible content for existing topics: The document designer can reuse existing types of topics with new types of content. (4) Semantic precision: Content elements with more specific semantics can be derived from existing elements and used freely within documents. (5) Simpler element lists for authors: The document designer can select domains to minimize the element set. Authors can learn the elements that are appropriate for the document instead of learning to disregard unneeded elements. In short, the DITA domain feature provides for great flexibility in extending and reusing information types. The highlight, programming, and UI domains provided with the base DITA release are only the beginning of what can be accomplished..." Also in PDF format.

  • "Design Patterns for Information Architecture with DITA Map Domains. Defining a Type for Collections of Topics." By Erik Hennum (Advisory Software Engineer, IBM), Don Day (Lead DITA Architect, IBM), John Hunt (User Assistance Architect, IBM), and Dave A. Schell (Chief Strategist and Tools Lead, IBM). "The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) provides maps for assembling topics into deliverables. By specializing the map elements, you can define a formal information architecture for your deliverables. This architecture provides guidance to authors on how to organize topics and lets processes recognize your organizing principles, resulting in a consistent, clear experience for your users. When a Web site or help system lacks definition and structure, readers can get lost in the content. Information architecture is the practice of organizing and interrelating content so the reader remains oriented and gets answers. By defining formal design patterns for information architecture, content providers can apply tested architectures to improve the user's experience. Using DITA map domains, you can express these design patterns in XML so authors can reuse them consistently for many collections of content. This article explains the design technique for creating a DITA map domain. [The reader will learn how to specialize the topicref element to mandate a specific collection of topics. For complete, single-purpose collections such as functional specifications, information plans, and quick reference guides, you might package these specialized topicref elements with a new map type. For design patterns such as how-tos or case studies that can appear within a larger content set — especially when different designers might create different collection types — you might want to package the specialized topicref elements as a map domain. By specializing a DITA map in this way, you can implement a formal information architecture that applies design patterns through the XML definition. In particular, information architects can block out the plan for a content set using these large-scale design patterns as collective objects. By taking this approach, information architects can provide guidance to authors and declare collective semantics for processors with the end result that users receive consistent, complete, and well-organized information..."

  • FAQs about DITA. Answers About the XML-based Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) for Documentation. Prepared by Don R. Day, Michael Priestley, and Gretchen Hargis (IBM Corporation). Also in PDF format.

  • DITA downloads. Download the latest DITA DTDs, style sheets, and sample documents. Also references earlier versions of DITA. "dita131.zip" package was announced on October 13, 2004.

  • DITA Forum. Discussion about the XML-based Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) for technical documentation.

DITA Briefing Materials ("DITA Deep Dive")

A small collection of tutorial materials prepared for OASIS TC DITA Overview Sessions, planned for May 25, 2004 through June 2004, via teleconference. These tutorial/briefing sessions are open to the public — not just to OASIS DITA TC members. Contact Don Day and consult the TC list archives for schedule updates. Tentative schedule: Mondays June 7, 14, 21, 28 at 11:00 AM EDT.

Related Technologies

To the extent that a "topic" is the basic DITA architectural unit, the system has some affinities to Topic Maps; to the extent that it features modular content design and optimizes content reuse, it is similar to information mapping. DITA is similar in many ways to DocBook, yet it has "broader scope, inasmuch as DITA applies to more areas than just technical manuals, and more specific scope, inasmuch as DITA applies to topic-oriented information rather than all technical manuals." References are provided below.

Related: DocBook

"DocBook is a document type definition (DTD) in SGML and XML. It is particularly well suited to books and papers about computer hardware and software (though it is by no means limited to these applications). DocBook is an OASIS Standard. It is a work product of the DocBook Technical Committee. OASIS is the official governing body for all matters related to the DocBook DTD. DocBook enables you to author and store document content in a presentation-neutral form that captures the logical structure of the content. Using free tools along with the DocBook XSL and DSSSL Stylesheets, you can transform, format, and publish your content as HTML pages and PDF files, and in many other formats..." [from the SourceForge DocBook Open Repository Project]

The proposed work for the OASIS DITA TC "is different from DocBook in that DITA is topic-oriented, which lends itself to different uses than DocBook. Topic orientation allows the separation of content (specific topics) from context (including links to other topics, context-specific metadata, navigation, and print hierarchies." [DITA TC Call for Participation]

How does DITA differ from DocBook? "DocBook and DITA take fundamentally different approaches. DocBook was originally designed for a single, continuous technical narrative (where the narrative might be of article, book, or multi-volume length). Through transforms, DocBook can chunk this technical narrative into topics to provide support for Web sites and other information sets. Because the goal of the DocBook DTD is to handle all standard requirements for technical documentation, the usage model encourages customization to exclude elements that aren't local requirements. The usage model supports but discourages local extensions because of the potential for unknown new elements to break tool support and interoperability.

By contrast, DITA was designed for discrete technical topics. DITA collects topics into information sets, potentially using filtering criteria. The core DITA information types are not intended to cover all requirements but, instead, provide a base for meeting new requirements through extension. Extension is encouraged, but new elements must be recognizable as specializations of existing elements. Through generalization, DITA provides for tool reuse and interoperability.

Each approach has its strengths. DocBook would be the likely choice for a technical narrative. DITA would be the likely choice for large, complex collections of topics or for applications that require both extensibility and interoperability. Technical communications groups might want to experiment with both packages to determine which approach is better suited for their processes and outputs..." [from the DITA FAQ document]

References:

Related: Elkera Business Narrative Markup Language (BNML)

Elkera BNML: "Elkera Business Narrative Markup Language (BNML) was developed by Elkera Pty Limited and released as an open source schema in July 2005. This schema is the result of over 10 years experience developing DTDs for specific purposes. [It is intended for the development of XML based content authoring and dynamic enterprise publishing application.] Elkera BNML is designed specifically for the creation of narrative business documents, particularly legal and general business documents. It aims to provide a simple structural markup of documents that will support high quality print and web publications, facilitate content re-use and allow authors to be trained and supported with minimal effort.

Elkera BNML provides four standard document types, document for normal business documents and articles, contract, correspondence and item for discrete, reusable chunks. The BNML schema provides a number of specialized elements that are specifically suited to these document types. The adjunct element provides for appendices and attachments to documents, contracts and correspondence. This element can contain normal narrative content or a complete document, contract or correspondence instance... Elkera BNML also includes the party-signature element and its components to represent provisions in contracts and correspondence where written signatures and seals must be applied..." [from "Comparison of XML Schema For Narrative Documents"]

References:

Related: Topic Maps

Whereas DITA is related to content authoring and management based upon modularized units, the Topic Maps standard focuses upon the creation of navigational and indexing tools based upon a topical map that lives outside the data. The map/index is an overlay.

"Topic maps enable multiple, concurrent views of sets of information objects. The structural nature of these views is unconstrained; they may reflect an object oriented approach, or they may be relational, hierarchical, ordered, unordered, or any combination of the foregoing. Moreover, an unlimited number of topic maps may be overlaid on a given set of information resources. Topic Maps realize the collocation of information about subjects.

Topic maps can be used:

  • To qualify the content and/or data contained in information objects as topics to enable navigational tools such as indexes, cross-references, citation systems, or glossaries.
  • To link topics together in such a way as to enable navigation between them. This capability can be used for virtual document assembly, and for creating thesaurus-like interfaces to corpora, knowledge bases, etc.
  • To filter an information set to create views adapted to specific users or purposes. For example, such filtering can aid in the management of multilingual documents, management of access modes depending on security criteria, delivery of partial views depending on user profiles and/or knowledge domains, etc.
  • To structure unstructured information objects, or to facilitate the creation of topic-oriented user interfaces that provide the effect of merging unstructured information bases with structured ones. The overlay mechanism of topic maps can be considered as a kind of external markup mechanism, in the sense that an arbitrary structure is imposed on the information without altering its original form." [from "Topic Maps -- Overview and Basic Concepts"]

References:

Related: Information Mapping(tm)

The Information Mapping method is a research-based approach to the analysis, organization, and visual presentation of information. The method is both subject matter and media independent; that is, it can be applied to the subject matter of any industry, and it can be presented on paper, on a computer screen, verbally, or in a multimedia presentation... The method incorporates several unique tools that assist with the analysis, organization, and presentation of information. [It uses the following tools:] (1) Using Information Types helps the communicator analyze the subject matter and categorize it according to the purpose for the audience; (2) Research-Based Principles [helps one] organize information effectively so that it is easy to access, understand, and remember; (3) [Using] Units of Information [helps] create standardized information modules that contain one clear purpose; (4) Presentation Modes [are defined to] format information so that it is easy to use..."

"Information Mapping(tm)." A research note by Namahn (Namahn bvba Consultancy, Brussels). December 2001. ['Information Mapping(tm) is a method to analyse, write and present information. It provides users with ways of scanning, skipping and retrieving information they need quickly and easily. This method has been around for more than 25 years.'] The I-M "approach dates back to 1965 when Robert E Horn, a psychologist at Columbia University, conducted research on how readers deal with large amounts of complex information. His research, roughly based on Learning Theory and Cognitive Psychology, resulted in a standard approach for organizing and communicating information, referred to by the name Information Mapping... Information Mapping(tm) consists of an integrated set of principles and techniques that enable authors to break complex information into its most basic elements and then present those elements optimally for readers, so they can quickly and easily scan and retrieve the information they need. Central point in the methodology is the information block. Structured Writing as the non-trademarked alternative If you have skilled writers in your organisation and some notions of information design, then Structured Writing is highly recommended for two reasons: (1) it is an open, non-trademarked standard, so you don't have to pay for using it; (2) it is more flexible, and not so restricted as Information Mapping(tm). So the method can be tailored to the specific needs of an organisation. Structured Writing has the same origin and founding father as Information Mapping(tm). In fact, Robert Horn coined the term Structured Writing in the early 1980's more or less to by-pass the trademark... [But] the seven imposed information types are debatable, and the Information Mapping templates quickly lead to boredom (their layout is limited and unvarying)."

References:

Architectural Forms

"A document architecture, as that term is defined in ISO 8879, can be 'encompassing', governing every aspect of its documents' representation and processing. The document representation requirements for an encompassing architecture are expressed formally — at least insofar as SGML is capable of expressing them — in a document type definition (DTD). A document architecture can also be 'enabling', in which case it does not specify complete document types. Instead, an enabling architecture defines rules, known as 'architectural forms', that application designers can apply in their document type definitions. These rules, and the associated architectural semantics, are described in an 'architecture definition document'. The set of formal SGML specifications of the architectural forms, and related declarations for an enabling architecture, comprises a 'meta-DTD'...

Conceptually, there are two steps to architectural processing. In the first step, generic architectural processing, a generic architecture engine validates a client document against the meta-DTD of its base architectures and, optionally, creates an architectural instance for each base architecture. In the second step, an architecture-specific semantic engine processes both the relevant architectural instances and the client document in order to implement and/or validate architecture-specific semantics...

Architectural forms are rules for creating and processing components of documents, just as document architectures are rules for creating and processing documents. There are four kinds: (1) element form: This is defined by an element type declaration in conjunction with an attribute definition list declaration. The element type declaration can have a content model that constrains the elements conforming to the form. (2) attribute form: This is defined solely by an attribute definition list declaration. Its attribute definitions can be used only with designated element forms. (3) notation form: This is defined by a notation declaration in conjunction with an attribute definition list declaration. (4) data attribute form: This is defined solely by an attribute definition list declaration for a notation. Its attribute definitions can be used only with data entities conforming to the associated notations..." [excerpted from subclause A.3.1 "Enabling architectures" in the HyTime standard, referenced below]

From the section 'Architectural context' in Michael Priestley's "Specializing Information Types" article: "In SGML, architectural forms are a classic way to provide mappings from one document type to another. Specialization is an architectural-forms-like solution to a more constrained problem: providing mappings from a more specific topic type to a more general topic type. Because the specific topic type is developed with the general topic type in mind, specialization can ignore many of the thornier problems that architectural forms address. This constrained domain makes specialization processes relatively easy to implement and maintain. Specialization also provides support for multi-level or hierarchical specializations, which allow more general topic types to serve as the common denominator for different specialized types..."

References:

XML Inclusions (XInclude)

W3C released the XInclude specification as a Recommendation in December 2004. Produced by members of the W3C XML Core Working Group, XInclude provides a generic method for merging XML documents into a single composite document using existing XML constructs (elements, attributes, and URI references). Because it merges XML information sets, XInclude can be used with any version of XML, XML Schema, XSLT, and other applications such as SVG and VoiceXML 2.0. The W3C announcement describes XInclude 1.0 as useful "in environments without DTD (Document Type Definition) support, which are more common since the adoption of XML schemas. Unlike the mechanism used in DTDs, i.e., XML external entities, XInclude gives the content author a fallback mechanism in cases where the external document cannot be retrieved, for whatever reason. XInclude allows an application to leverage the syntax in existing XML constructs... and allows an author to choose how to include another XML document in new composite content, either as markup or text. In addition, no XML entity declarations, which were required in the older method when using DTDs, are required for XInclude."

XInclude 1.0 takes advantage of the XML Information Set (Infoset), published as a Second Edition W3C Recommendation in February 2004. Because it merges XML information sets, XInclude "can be used with any version of XML, as well as other existing XML-related specifications, such as the XML-family components XML Schema and XSLT, as well as with XML applications such as the popular Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) and VoiceXML 2.0 specifications. XInclude 1.0 also takes advantage of the XPointer Framework and can be used to include sub-resources, such as fragments of XML documents, that are identified by a separate xpointer attribute."

XInclude "differs from the linking features described in the W3C's XML Linking Language (XLink), which "specifically links with the attribute value show='embed'. Such links provide a media-type independent syntax for indicating that a resource is to be embedded graphically within the display of the document. XLink does not specify a specific processing model, but simply facilitates the detection of links and recognition of associated metadata by a higher level application. XInclude, on the other hand, specifies a media-type specific (XML-to-XML) transformation; it defines a specific processing model for merging information sets. XInclude processing occurs at a low level, often by a generic XInclude processor which makes the resulting information set available to higher level applications."

References:

News, Articles, Papers, Presentations, Product Overviews

  • [February 04, 2008] "JustSystems Announces DITA Maturity Model Co-Authored with IBM. Industry's First Graduated Methodology for Implementing Darwin Information Typing Architecture to be Featured in Joint Webinar." — "JustSystems, Inc., the largest independent software vendor in Japan and a worldwide leader in XML and information management technologies, today announced the availability of the DITA Maturity Model, which was co-authored with IBM and defines the industry's first graduated, step-by-step methodology for implementing Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). One of DITA's most attractive features is its support for incremental adoption. Users can start quickly and easily with DITA using a subset of its capabilities, and then add investment over time as their content strategy evolves and expands to cover more requirements and content areas. However, this continuum of adoption has also resulted in confusion, as communities at different stages of adoption claim radically different numbers for cost of migration and return on investment. Authored by DITA experts Michael Priestley of IBM Corporate User Technologies and Amber Swope of JustSystems, the DITA Maturity Model addresses this confusion by dividing DITA adoption into six levels, each with its own required investment and associated return on investment. Users can assess their own capabilities and goals relative to the model and choose the initial adoption level appropriate for their needs and schedule. The six levels of DITA adoption include: (1) Level 1: Topics. The most minimum DITA adoption requires the migration of the current XML content sources. (2) Level 2: Scalable Reuse. The major activity at this level is to break down the content in topics that are stored as individual files and use DITA maps to collect and organize the content into reusable units for assembly into specific deliverables. (3) Level 3: Specialization and Customization. Now, users expand the information architecture to be a full content model, which explicitly defines the different types of content required to meet different author and audience needs and specify how to meet these needs using structured, typed content. (4) Level 4: Automation and Integration. Once content is specialized, users can leverage their investments in semantics with automation of key processes and begin tying content together even across different specializations or authoring disciplines. (5) Level 5: Semantic Bandwidth. As DITA diversifies to occupy more roles within an organization, a cross-application, cross-silo solution that shares DITA as a common semantic currency lets groups use the toolset most appropriate for their content authoring and management needs. (6) Level 6: Universal Semantic Ecosystem. As DITA provides for scalable semantic bandwidth across content silos and applications, a new kind of semantic ecosystem emerges: Semantics that can move with content across old boundaries, wrap unstructured content, and provide validated integration with semi-structured content and managed data sources...

  • [January 07, 2008] "DITA XML Introduction: Reconciling Usability and Reusability." By Michael Priestley. Online UCSC Course (20830, X400.079 BUSAD). University of California Extension, Santa Cruz. February 04, 2008 through March 21, 2008. "DITA is the 'Holy Grail of Reuse', but reuse without usability only multiplies problems. This course covers not only the basics of the DITA standard — i.e., topics, maps, and specialization — but also guidelines and best practices for the standard that help produce not simply reusable topics but usable, user-centered content that can be reconfigured quickly to meet new product, user, or media requirements. This online course consists of pre-recorded lectures and demonstrations with assignments, workshops, and discussion, covering: (1) Background to DITA: XML, topic-based authoring, and the DITA standard; (2) The DITA content types: concept, task, reference, and glossary; (3) DITA maps: how to use maps to plan your information, organize your topics, and manage links and metadata for your deliverables, as part of a task-oriented information architecture and process; (4) DITA conditional processing and content reuse; (5) DITA specialization: how to create new content types and maps using DITA's specialization architecture; (6) Futures of DITA: explore the potential of DITA in Web 2.0, enterprise content strategy, lifecycle and cross-discipline integration..." [online UCSC description]

  • [November 03, 2007] "DITA for Enterprise Business Documents Subcommittee Proposal Background." By Ann Rockley and Michael Boses. November 2, 2007, Version 1.4. 6 pages. Posted to the OASIS Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) TC Repository and List on 2007-11-03 by Michael Boses, as a "Position Paper." See also the accompanying message from Ann Rockley and Michael Boses. Document summary: "This document presents a brief discussion of the increasing usage of DITA for a broad range of narrative business documents that has led to a proposal for a DITA Enterprise Business Documents Sub-committee. The document includes preliminary goals of the committee, and a discussion of the rationale for each goal." From the message: "Esteemed DITA TC members: In the past year, a growing number of organizations have come to believe that DITA not only provides the best basis from which to start addressing their requirements for structured authoring of narrative business documents, but that characteristics of DITA simplify the usability issues as well. The DITA standard is so compelling, that the absence of a sub-committee focus on narrative business documents has not stopped several organizations from embarking on the use of DITA for this purpose. Many of us who are currently engaged in DITA-based business document projects feel that this is an ideal time for the DITA technical committee to support the efforts of these business users with standardized approaches and experienced-based guidance. For your consideration at the next open Technical Committee agenda, we propose that the Technical Committee officially establish an Enterprise Business Document subcommittee. Attached are the name, goals, deliverables, chair, and initial membership for this proposed subcommittee. A background document has been uploaded to the OASIS site and may be accessed by interested parties" from the TC Repository. [proposal source]

  • [August 13, 2007] DITA 1.1 Appproved as an OASIS Standard. Announcement 2007-08-13: "Members Approve Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) 1.1 as OASIS Standard. Avaya, Adobe, BMC Software, Boeing, Citrix Systems, Comet, Comtech Services, IBM, Intel, JustSystems, Nokia, Oracle, PTC, Sun Microsystems, US Department of Defense, and Others Collaborate on Open Standard for Content Reuse and Multi-Channel Delivery." — OASIS members have approved DITA Version 1.1 as an OASIS Standard, a status that signifies the highest level of ratification. DITA builds content reuse into the authoring process, defining an XML architecture for designing, writing, managing, and publishing many kinds of information in print and on the Web. DITA supports single sourcing across books, help files, training, and multimedia. It enables modular, topic-based authoring through rich, semantic markup. It incorporates special features for localization, accessibility, and robust conditional processing. Version 1.1 of DITA provides enhanced print publishing capabilities with new DITA Bookmap specialization, including extended book metadata. The standard offers more indexing capabilities with new elements for "see" and "see-also" references. It features new elements for defining structured metadata as well as the ability to add new metadata attributes through specialization. Comtech Services, IBM, JustSystems, and PTC verified successful usage of DITA 1.1, in accordance with eligibility requirements for all OASIS Standards. DITA was developed under the Royalty-Free on Limited Terms Mode of the OASIS Intellectual Property Rights Policy.

  • [February 21, 2007] "OAXAL: Open Architecture for XML Authoring and Localization." By Andrzej Zydron. From XML.com (February 21, 2007). Related draft, as contributed to the OASIS DITA TC, in PDF format, from Word/DOC source. "XML is now acknowledged as the best format for authoring technical documentation. Its wide support, extensible nature, separation of form and content, and ability to publish in a wide variety of output formats such as PDF, HTML, and RTF make it a natural choice. In addition, the costs associated with implementing an XML publishing solution have decreased significantly. Nevertheless, there are some clear do's and don'ts when authoring in XML, some of which are detailed in Coping with Babel, a paper from the XML 2004 conference. XML, thanks to its extensible nature and rigorous syntax, has also spawned many standards that allow the exchange of information between different systems and organizations, as well as new ways of organizing, transforming, and reusing existing assets. For publishing and translation, this has created a new way of using and exploiting existing documentation assets, known as Open Architecture for XML Authoring and Localization (OAXAL). OAXAL takes advantage of the arrival of some core XML-related standards: (1) DITA — Darwin Information Typing Architecture from OASIS; (2) xml:tm — XML-based text memory from LISA OSCAR. DITA is a very well thought-out way of introducing object-oriented concepts into document construction. It introduces the concepts of reuse and granularity into publishing within an XML vocabulary. It is having a big impact on the document publishing industry. xml:tm is also a pivotal standard that provides a unified environment within which other localization standards can be meaningfully integrated, thus providing a complete environment for OAXAL. OAXAL allows system builders to create an elegant and integrated environment for document creation and localization. The OAXAL model provides full process automation, right up to delivering matched files to the translator. Automation eliminates the costs associated with project management and manual processes. Data gets processed faster and more efficiently and without the costs associated with a traditional localization workflow..." PDF source: See the posting by Andrzej Zydron with the document title "Making Effective Use of XML for Publishing" [ZIP file, Word/DOC] and copy/ZIP, cache.

  • [March 22, 2006] "OASIS Launches DITA XML.org Focus Area. New Web Site Enables Community to Share Information on DITA Publishing Standard." - "The OASIS international standards consortium today introduced the DITA XML.org Focus Area... Don Day of IBM, chair of the OASIS DITA Technical Committee: 'Interest in DITA is tremendous right now, and there is strong support in the community for a resource to share information; the DITA XML.org Focus Area combines the free expression of a wiki with stable background materials on the standard, as well as organized community postings on topical issues. Novices, experienced implementors, providers of DITA-compliant products and services, local user group members, those interested in advancing the standard-everyone will be able to make use of the site.' All DITA XML.org Focus Area pages are accessible by the public, and users are encouraged to contribute content. The site features three main sections: (1) DITA Knowledge Base, which provides a technical and educational background on the standard, as compiled by the site's Editorial Board; (2) DITA Today, which serves as a community bulletin board and directory where readers share news, events, product listings, services, case studies, testimonials, and recommendations on other useful resources; (3) DITA Wiki, which enables the public to dynamically collaborate on documents and add new pages to the site..."

  • [March 20, 2006] "Managing Semantics with Content Using DITA XML." By Eric Hennum (IBM STG User Technology). Presented at the 2006 Semantic Technology Conference, March 2006. 16 slides. Discusses: (1) The need for content semantics; (2) Background about SKOS and DITA; (3) The XML implementation; (4) Lessons learned, limitations, and future directions. Abstract: "Traditional approaches to knowledge management separate the identification of semantics from the creation of content. In particular, the document collection is often created by a different team at a different time from the classification of that content. Instead of trying to bolt on the semantics after the fact, content creators can improve both knowledge management and their document content by defining and classifying the semantics as a part of the document collection. DITA is an XML standard that encourages the creation of semantically precise documents. The subjects covered by the document collection can themselves be defined as documents, making it possible to classify the subject matter of documents as hypertext links to subject documents. Rather than force content creators to migrate to unfamiliar ontological strategies, this approach gives content creators a way to define semantics naturally as a refinement on their existing information architecture. The subject definitions and classifications can be transformed by XSLT into a standard SKOS or TopicMaps representations for processing by semantic tools..." [cache]

  • [February 23, 2006] Members of the DITA TC have formed an OASIS DITA Translation Subcommittee, supported by an SC mailing list. The SC proposes to draw members from the DITA and the XLIFF TCs and establish a liaison with the W3C ITS working group. Its initial goals were to: (1) Develop an effective liaison with the OASIS XLIFF technical committee and the W3C ITS working group so that the DITA TC can work together with those interested providing for the needs of the information-development community from authoring through localization to the production of final deliverables in multiple languages. (2) Establish guidelines that promote best practices for authoring, workflow, and tools that allows information to move seamlessly from original authors and editors through translators and production specialists handling the intricacies of multiple languages and cultures. (3) Add to the various specifications methods that will help vendors and service providers comply with DITA and translation-oriented standards. (4) Add a DITA to XLIFF to DITA tool set to the DITA Open Source Toolkit so that content can move seamlessly along the full information development life cycle."

  • [February 14, 2006] IBM Task Modeler. On February 09, 2006, IBM announced an alphaWorks IBM Task Modeler "Eclipse-based tool for rapidly creating and analyzing models of human activity for DITA and user experience design. Task Modeler is an Eclipse-based software tool for modeling human activity as a hierarchy of tasks and related elements. An information architect can use it to design DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) maps. A usability practitioner can produce either classic HTA (Hierarchical Task Analysis) diagrams or RAG (Roles and Goals) diagrams. The tool can be used in a workshop, during a field study, or at one's desk to rapidly create, explore, analyse, and share these models. Maps and models consist of nodes and properties. Nodes describe elements such as topics and concepts or roles and goals. For example, DITA maps define nodes such as topics, tasks, concepts, and references according to the DITA standard. The RAG diagram builds an integrated view of key UCD (User-Centred Design) data such as user profiles, context of use, motivation, and behavior. Properties define details for each node. For example, DITA topic properties define elements such as audience and platform metadata, and RAG properties define aspects such as the demographics of a stakeholder role or the measurements associated with a goal. These properties can be strings, numbers, keywords, or, references to files and Web URLs. Keywords can be either user-supplied or predefined as a controlled vocabulary." Michael Priestley, IBM DITA Architect and Classification Schema PDT Lead, notes that the tool "lets you quickly create DITA maps and generate stub content for a prototype build, including support for major map structures like hierarchies (e.g., tables of contents) and relationship tables (e.g., for related links) and the base DITA topic types (concept, task, reference)." See also the FAQ document.

  • [December 30, 2005] DITA Open Toolkit: RFE for Plugin Architecture. Posted to the 'dita-ot-developer@lists.sourceforge.net' list by Stephen [Yuan Peng] Zhang (Shanghai Globalization Laboratory, IBM China Software Development Lab, Shanghai). "The purpose of plugin architecture is to make the contribution to DITA-OT more easier and usable... so that every one can contribute to the toolkit and working on their customization or specialization more easily..." According to the Use Case for the plugin architecture for DITA-OT: "This use case describes how an end user can get, install, and use a plugin developed for DITA open toolkit There are two options for the plugin architecture to load the plugins. One is just like Eclipse plugin architecture: we load the plugins every time a build is invoked. The other one is like Mozilla Firefox: every time when we installed new plugin, we should start a program to install those plugin and integrate them with toolkit. Currently we decided to use the first option..." See details in the Design document. Source: see the posting and comments from Paul Prescod: "... With respect to use cases, I would like it if we could enumerate the types of plugins we expect to create. These are the ones I can think of: (1) plugin that adds a new output engine (e.g., FrameMaker, MAML, LaTeX) to the toolkit; (2) pre-processing that might integrate external information into the content (probably after topic merging); (3) post-processing that might massage output based on outputclass and other attributes; (4) plugin that adds specialization-specific overrides to a particular formatting process; (5) plugin consisting of pure style: CSS, FrameMaker template, etc..."

  • [December 20, 2005] Implement a DITA Publishing Solution Without Abandoning Your Current Publishing System Investments. How IBM Started Working With DITA Without Overhauling the Entire System." By Robert Anderson (Developer, Information Development Workbench, IBM) and Erik Hennum (Information Architect, IBM). From IBM developerWorks (December 20, 2005). "DITA is a topic-oriented architecture now managed by the OASIS DITA Technical Committee. With DITA, you author content in small, independent units that you assemble into deliverables, such as online help, books, or courses. Until recently, the primary large-scale authoring format inside IBM was IBMIDDoc SGML. The IBMIDDoc DTD had been in use for over 10 years — enough time to develop large libraries and complicated processing tools. When we began the move to DITA, there were still many reasons to continue using these old tools: (1) The existing tools had been extensively tested for translation and accessibility support; (2) They were proven to work for very large books, at a time when no extremely large sets of information existed in DITA; (3) Authors were familiar with the existing processes, and would continue to use them for old books; (4) Many publishing options did not yet exist for DITA, such as transforms to README-style text or full book-like PDF. Of course, we could have written new tools for DITA that matched the function of the old system, to minimize the learning curve for authors. However, writing a full set of new tools had a number of disadvantages: it required a large up-front investment, it ignored our investment in working tools, it didn't allow us to combine old SGML and new DITA information, and most importantly, we could not start using DITA until the new tools were ready. This article highlights the pros and cons of alternative solutions we came up with during our evaluation. It also identifies the DITA solution we chose and the rationale for it, and describes the dirty technical details of that solution. The advantages of using DITA by reference are clear, but how useful is this information for companies that do not use IBMIDDoc, or even SGML? The answer is that the same approach can be applied to any SGML or XML system, with varying degrees of complexity. Any SGML or XML system should be able to add a new DITA object element to reference DITA content. In order to merge content or reuse existing tools, it is also necessary to have a conversion from DITA to the current format. Beyond that, the solution will vary based on that current format. If there is no prolog for central definitions, the transform can convert directly to nested content (no need for the root or <body> elements). Without supporting links between separately included content, there is no complex mechanism for recognizing IDs and references... The XMLObj element in IBMIDDoc shows that it is possible to move to DITA without abandoning an existing publishing system. We were able to start using DITA content with our existing books long before time permitted a full-scale migration. We created a path to old output formats that were not yet supported from DITA. All of this allowed us to use DITA content without investing in an entirely new system, years before a DITA-based system was ready..."

  • [December 20, 2005] Provisional entry: Andrzej Zydron (XML-INTL) [Vita]. Guest Presenter on localization at DITA TC Meeting 2005-12-20. (1) Compatability of DITA Design Priciples with Localization Requirements; (2) DITA Best Practices for Localization; (3) DITA and xml:tm. See the summary and source in the posting DITA and Localization Presentations and in the related message from Don Day, DITA translation background. Sources: source Compatability; source BestPractices; source XML:tm.

  • [November 15, 2005] "SiberLogic Announces SiberSafe DITA Edition. Semantic Knowledge Modeling And Robust, Feature-Rich XML CMS Offer Outstanding Functionality to DITA Documentation Teams." - "SiberLogic, an established provider of innovative XML content technology, and XML 2005 Gold Sponsor, today announces the DITA Edition of its flagship content management system, SiberSafe — the only DITA solution on the market today that combines semantic knowledge modeling with a robust, feature-rich CMS... Semantic knowledge modeling is ideal for DITA's topic-based approach to content development. Using SiberSafe Visual Modeler, knowledge is contributed directly into the semantic model by the subject matter expert, leaving no possibility of factual misinterpretation. The user interface is optimized for DITA-compliant topics and components, and can be pre-populated with concepts, tasks, and references that support individual specialization requirements. This shields the SME from the complexities of DITA whilst ensuring precise content development planning and production. Information can be incrementally added to the semantic model as it becomes available during the product development lifecycle, so there is no need to wait until all information is available before starting the modeling process... SiberSafe streamlines fundamental processes such as version and workflow control, collaborative authoring and review, translation management, and more. Content can be authored both online and offline using a variety of authoring tools, including ready-made integrations with Blast Radius XMetaL, Arbortext Epic, and Adobe FrameMaker 7.2, and output to a variety of different formats, including IETP/IETM, SCORM, PDF, HTML, and PowerPoint, for delivery on paper, CD-ROM, or online. SiberSafe supports predefined templates for the easy creation of topics and topic maps that conform to your DITA specialization, and enables fragment-level management of complex topic maps or complex hierarchical topics..."

  • [November 04, 2005] "Get Ready for DITA: Bypass Four Costly Roadblocks." An Innodata Isogen White Paper. October 2005. 10 pages. Also available in PDF format. "The emergence of Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) as a general-purpose XML schema for technical documentation represents a significant step forward and opportunity for organizations that create extensive amounts of technical documentation and other related content. DITA offers organizations a ready means for structuring product-support content and the rapid adoption of DITA by XML technology vendors provides a number of options for implementing DITA productively... While there are many compelling reasons to adopt DITA for developing and structuring product-support content, one of the most interesting aspects of DITA is specialization. Information developers can use specialization to customize the core DITA schema; this way, new information types can be introduced to a DITA application by extending the current application and maintaining core tools, processors and data structures. This paper discusses DITA in general — its background, current status, and applicability for product-support content and its ability to support this next step forward in the widespread adoption of XML. But the key thrust of the paper is the significance of specialization, and what the ability to develop DITA specializations means for organizations. The authors also highlight four 'roadblocks to success' with any DITA implementation. Failure to at least consider the implications of these roadblocks could lead to project delays and cost overruns, which in the long run would erode the cost and time savings of deploying DITA..." See also the Innodata Isogen DITA Resources.

  • [November 03, 2005] DITA Open Toolkit 1.1.2. Announcement from Don R. Day and Li Lian. "DITA Open Toolkit Minor Release 1.1.2 is a maintenance release of the DITA Open Toolkit that fixes defects and makes patches based on release 1.1.1. Thanks to all who contributed fixes and new material for this release; one special thing to look for: Jennifer Linton has created a new installation document that you should try out — see the built versions in DITA-OT1.1.2/doc/installguide of the 1.1.2 download... Recently we have seen more and more users download the toolkit, use it and report bugs. We are now asking for your help to be part of the development team and join the development activity by taking on bug fixes, providing patches, offering feature implementation, and more..."

  • [October 22, 2005] Eliot Kimber: How Did You Decide Between DocBook, DITA, or Custom DTDs? October 12, 2005. Linda L. Talboo asked on the Adepters list and on the Yahoo!Groups 'dita-users' list: "We are in the planning stages of switching to Arbortext Editor (formerly Epic Editor). Our current dilemma is whether to use DocBook, DITA, or custom DTDs. A major consideration is the ability to create books in Arbortext. We would need to create table of contents, indexes, and glossaries. We are leaning towards using DITA DTDs, because we eventually plan to feed information into a Content Management System, and DITA seems to be much better at 'chunking' than DocBook. Has any user had experience with DITA, books, and Arbortext? What factors influenced your decision to use DocBook, DITA or custom DTDs?" Eliot Kimber composed a response: "A custom document type should, of course, give you the best fit to your specific requirements (although its easy enough to go wrong there). But of course the startup cost is high. While I like nothing more than to do ground-up engineering of document types and the systems that support them, it's still a fact that both DocBook and DITA reflect years of collective wisdom and practice in using SGML and XML for technical documentation and therefore using them helps to minimize the risk that your system will go horribly wrong. While both have their warts, they're both clearly good enough for a wide range of applications and both are designed to be adapted to local requirements... [much text deleted]... The advantage of starting with a DocBook or DITA base instead of from scratch is that the initial cost of entry is much lower — you can start doing something even if it's not optimal with very little investment. However, to produce a complete production system that is optimized for your specific requirements and business processes, you will eventually spend about as much as you would have with a from-scratch system (remember the 80/20 rule always holds). As for whether to start with DocBook or DITA, my standard guidance is: (1) If you need to get started immediately, want to initially invest as close to zero as you can, and your primary task is to produce typical technical manuals, use DocBook. (2) If you have any requirement for re-use, specialization, or modular delivery AND you can afford a little up-front investment in analysis, specialization, and tool development, then use DITA..."

  • [October 22, 2005] "DITA for DocBook: Implementing the Darwin Information Typing Architecture for DocBook." By Norm Walsh. Blog. Volume 8, Issue 136 (21-October-2005). "...DocBook and DITA are competitors, at least to the extent that both are aimed at the technical documentation market. I think DITA can point to four technical differences that are arguably features in its favor: (1) A topic-oriented authoring paradigm. (2) A cross-referencing scheme that's more practical than XML's flat ID space. (3) SGML's conref, reinvented; (4) An extensibility model based on specialization... DocBook's legacy is certainly big, linear documents: it even has the word 'book' in it's name. But there's nothing that prevents you from writing modern, topic-oriented, highly modular documentation in DocBook. Nothing except, perhaps, the emotional weight of the tag names... With a couple of hours of hacking [using RELAX NG + XSLT], I've implemented on top of DocBook the four key features of DITA that I could identify... In doing so, I've attempted to remain true to the spirit of DocBook, so my content models aren't exactly the same as the DITA models, but I think the analogies are sound. That means the choice of which vocabulary to use, DocBook or DITA, comes down simply to the actual terms in the vocabulary, the elements and attributes provided, their semantics, and their relationships to each other... My experiment to implement DITA on top of DocBook includes: (1) A schema (RNG or RNC) — The schema is a DocBook 5.0 extension that defines a new top-level element, the <topic>. In the interest of modelling DITA, it also defines a <task> with the same general structure as a DITA task, a <concept>, and a <reference> as specializations of <topic>. (2) A stylesheet — The stylesheet is a customization of the DocBook XSLT2 Stylesheets. It handles the semantics of the simple map files I outlined above, supports conref, and implements the DITA fragment identifier syntax. I incorporated the schema support into the base stylesheets. (3) An example — My example is just a toy, but it has several parts: a map, a 'main' topic, a 'subordinate' topic, and a task..."

  • [October 18, 2005] "Subject Classification with DITA and SKOS. Managing Formal Subjects." By Robert Anderson (Developer, Information Development Workbench, IBM), Erik Hennum (Information Architect, IBM), and Colin Bird (Information Architect, IBM). From IBM developerWorks (October 18, 2005). "With the approach outlined in this article, you can take advantage of the technologies of the Semantic Web for improved search, integration, and other processing. Instead of starting from scratch, however, you can build on standard topic-oriented strategies for authoring and processing content... In a topic-oriented architecture such as DITA, content is authored in small, independent units that are assembled to provide help systems, books, courses, and other deliverables. Each unit of information answers a single question for a specific purpose. That is, each topic has specific, independent subject matter — the very reason that these units of information are called topics. For instance, one topic might describe the format of a user definition file on a Web site while another topic explains the principles of Web site security and a third topic lays out the procedure for setting up Web site logins. Because each topic has a specific meaning, DITA topics are tailor-made for semantic processing. However, current semantic processors can't read the text of a topic to find out what it means. What's missing is a formal declaration of the topic's subject matter that a semantic processor can understand — like the address on an envelope that allows mail sorters to route the contents to the appropriate destination. Simple Knowledge Organization System (SKOS) provides a standard for indicating the subject matter of content. SKOS lets you define the subjects for a particular subject matter area (organizing these subjects as a taxonomy if desired) and then classify each piece of content to indicate its subject. For instance, using SKOS, you could define configuration and security as subjects, and classify the three example topics that relate to those subjects so that users could browse the subjects to find the content regardless of whether the words 'configuration' or 'security' actually appear in the text. SKOS is expressed with Resource Description Framework (RDF), the fundamental language of the Semantic Web. However, SKOS provides a higher-level language that's designed for readable content. SKOS has benefited from broad perspectives, including those of experts in OWL/RDF, TopicMaps, ontology, and library science. In the spectrum of standards, SKOS contributes by bridging the gap between traditional indexing and formal ontologies for the Semantic Web. Thus, DITA has a natural fit with SKOS in solutions where DITA topics are classified with subjects that are expressed in SKOS for runtime processing..."

  • [October 18, 2005] "In Focus: DITA Lets Tech Publishers 'Eat Their Cake'." By Bill Trippe. From Intelligent Enterprise (October 18, 2005). "The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is finally pushing aside roadblocks that have stood in the way of adopting XML-based publishing. DITA is an XML-based architecture for authoring and producing technical content that was approved as an OASIS standard in May [2005]. Although new standards usually gain support quite slowly, DITA is taking off. Software companies are leading the way by using the standard for their own internal needs. Adopting DITA does not eliminate the necessary first step of modeling content for XML, but it does anticipate the need for custom content models with a method called specialization. Consultants and experienced users admit that although 'out-of-the-box' DITA is a great start, many organizations will end up specializing DITA for their own uses. Both Adobe and Autodesk rely on specialized versions of DITA, and other adopters will likely need to do the same... 'DITA's specialization mechanism can be seen as the single most important part of DITA because it allows for the controlled, managed use of XML for technical documentation that enterprises have never had before,' says industry veteran Eliot Kimber, senior consulting engineer at Hackensack, N.J.-based Innodata Isogen. 'By definition, no generic solution can satisfy all the detailed requirements of any enterprise. At the same time, few but the largest enterprises want to bear the cost of implementing a custom solution entirely from scratch given the existence of generic solutions like DocBook'..."

  • [October 15, 2005] Serious DITA Gear. From cafépress and OASIS. Examples: DITA Tote Bag ($12.99), DITA Teddy Bear ($12.99), DITA BBQ Apron ($14.99), DITA Mousepad ($10.99), DITA Boxer Shorts ($12.99), DITA Baseball Jersey ($16.99), DITA Hooded Sweatshirt ($24.99), DITA Long Sleeve T-Shirt ($18.99), DITA Sweatshirt ($20.99), DITA Women's Raglan Hoodie ($26.99), DITA Women's Tracksuit ($39.99), DITA Ash Grey T-Shirt ($14.99), DITA Golf Shirt ($16.99), DITA Green T-Shirt ($14.99), DITA Ringer T-Shirt ($14.99), DITA Men's Sleeveless Tee $14.99), DITA Jr. Ringer T-Shirt ($16.99), DITA Value T-shirt ($8.99), DITA White T-Shirt ($13.99), DITA Women's Pink T-Shirt ($14.99), DITA Women's Tank Top ($14.99), DITA Yellow T-Shirt ($14.99).

  • [October 12, 2005] "Going DITA." By Constantine Hondros. From O'Reilly Weblogs (October 12, 2005). "DITA is an XML architecture for authoring and publishing topic-based content, typically technical documentation. The brainchild of IBM, where it is used internally for many documentation projects, DITA is now an open-source standard under the aegis of OASIS. A reference implementation containing a toolkit is available from Sourceforge. So what's all the fuss about? While single-source XML publishing has benefits that are well lauded — for example, content reuse and multi- channel publishing — implementing it can be an absolute battle for an organisation. A large project starting from scratch needs major upfront development: extensive information analysis; the development of company-specific DTDs, and significant programming to create publishing processes. Not to mention the effort of migrating legacy content to the new formats, installing new editing software, training users to think in XML, and possibly paying for a content management system. The real beauty of DITA — and what turns DITA into an XML architecture rather than application — is the ability to specialise core topic-types into new document classes that more closely encapsulate a given information domain. DITA prescribes a method for doing this that lets your new document classes retain compatibility with existing XSLT transforms. This is seriously useful stuff..."

  • [September 26, 2005] "Blast Radius Helps Organizations Leap Barriers to XML Adoption with Launch of XMetaL Author DITA Edition. Market Primed for the World's First DITA-based XML Authoring Solution." - "Blast Radius, the world leader in XML content creation and collaboration solutions, today unveiled XMetaL Author DITA Edition, the first XML application built exclusively for natively authoring and publishing content using the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). Featuring a rich topic-oriented authoring environment, XMetaL Author DITA Edition combines the power and productivity of XMetaL Author with new DITA-specific capabilities, enabling authors to deliver XML content with greater ease and speed than ever before. 'The DITA industry-standard model for creating topic-based XML content moves away from the book paradigm to encourage effective content reuse and dynamic online delivery capabilities,' said David Antila, Principal, Advisory Services, Collaborative Strategies. 'Products such as XMetaL that support the DITA standard will positively impact collaborative authoring capabilities and enhance the re-use of content, ultimately resulting in increased productivity within an organization.' DITA's flexible, topic-oriented approach maps well to modern information delivery models, particularly those in the high tech industry. For example, Sybase, a globally-focused high tech company, plans to use XMetaL Author DITA Edition to meet its DITA needs. XMetaL Author DITA Edition includes the following DITA-specific capabilities: (1) Visual Map Editing: A powerful visual map editor allows users to quickly organize topics into DITA maps. (2) Natural Structured Authoring: An interface and environment that reduces complex and time-consuming structured authoring chores to a series of simple steps that let users concentrate on writing high quality content. (3) Reusable Components: Built-in support for topic reuse in the DITA Map Editor and more granular content reuse through inline content references (conrefs), dramatically reduces redundancy and writing effort, while improving content consistency and quality. (4) Single-Source Publishing: The DITA Edition tightly integrates with the open source DITA Open Toolkit to let users write content once and output it to multiple publishing formats..."

  • [September 21, 2005] DITA Open Toolkit 1.1.1. DITA Open Toolkit minor release 1.1.1 became available for download as of September 20, 2005. Release 1.1.1 is a maintenance release that fixes defects and makes patches based on release 1.1. In previous releases, the jar file for the command line invoker was always referenced by the then-current version number, but this meant our having to change the documentation and several internal references for each new release. For patch 1284023, we are changing the name of the jar lib file from dost1.0.jar back to dost.jar because we believe we need to keep the jar file name consistent through various releases. If you have coded a versioned call to dost.jar in any build scripts (versus the preferable method of using Ant build targets for repeatble processing), you might need to change that reference one last time... The DITA Open Toolkit bugs and patches can be found in the SourceForge trackers for Bugs and Patches..." Posted by Don Day to the 'dita-users@yahoogroups.com' list, "DITA Open Toolkit minor release 1.1.1 (bugs and patches) available." See also the release note.

  • [September 14, 2005] "FrameMaker 7.2 and DITA." By Bill Trippe. From Gilbane Report Blog (September 14, 2005). FrameMaker 7.2 was announced this week... The product comes with a starter application for DITA. This is also welcome news, as there is a groundswell of support for DITA, and an independent group had been working on a separate FrameMaker application for DITA. This gives FrameMaker users a DITA application supported by Adobe. Moreover, the FrameMaker DITA application reflects a great deal of work Adobe had done in-house using FrameMaker to produce the documentation set for Adobe Creative Suite 2. [V7.2] has some important new structural features (schema, XSLT), and the DITA application is timely and useful to a growing number of potential users. The strength of this release should quiet some of the feelings among users that Adobe is not fully committed to FrameMaker."

  • [August 31, 2005] "DITA OT 1.1 Under Both CPL and ASL." "DITA Open toolkit