DITA isn't a publishing standard, it's a content structure standard I thought.
Perhaps I need to state my question more clearly. Does anyone have an example of all the applications (names!) used in an end to end publishing system that is based on XML single source (DITA is a bit of a red herring I guess, it's a standard, not an application). I know FrameMaker 8 supports DITA, and I'll be evaluating that soon (I presume it handles the transformation from XML to 'FM editable' and back?). But what CMS are people using? And what publishing engines? Webworks? Or something from the DITA Open Toolkit? I'm wary of getting sucked into a proprietary path, and also of having an overly complex build system (ultimately we want to publish on a schedule as well as instantly to a website). I've visited and read up on a lot of vendor propositions, and I'm aware that consultancies will have favoured solutions, so I'm asking the Framers for THEIR recommendations if they have such a system in place. Gordon -----Original Message----- From: Shmuel Wolfson [mailto:s...@actcom.com] Sent: 12 March 2008 09:08 To: Gordon McLean Subject: Re: FrameMaker DITA and CMS You need an XML editor such as Xmetal or Structured Frame. The CMS helps for version control and knowing which chinks are used in which books. This is useful information when considering editing a chunk. DITA is a popular XML publishing standard, although there are others. There is a plug-in for structured Frame to have DITA support in Frame, and in Frame 8 it is built in. HTH Regards, Shmuel Wolfson Gordon McLean wrote: > I'm currently evaluating a variety of tools and solutions with an aim to > moving the team to some form of single source process. > > We have looked at, and like, DITA, and will be using that as the basis for > our content. > > However trying to find an end-to-end solution is proving hard, or perhaps > I'm looking in the wrong places? > > My belief is we need a database (CMS) to hold the content (as XML chunks), > an editing application (FrameMaker?) as well as a set of rules to transform > the XML into something editable (or we get an XML editor like... XMetal?). > We then need publishing engines to convert the XML to PDF, JavaHelp, HTML > etc. > > Ohh and we need to maintain three different versions (releases) of the > documentation set. > > The DITA side I've done a lot of research on, we have the beginnings of an > Information Model and have planned out how we will specialise the schema for > our own use. > > It's the tooling side that seems wide open. I've looked at the Open Toolkit > but (and this may be a strange admission for a TECHNICAL writer) it's a > little heavy on the tech side. > > So, in short, I'm looking for any/all recommendations in this area. If you > have a DITA based publishing system in place, with version control, I'd love > to hear about it! > > Gordon > > P.S. 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