Kenneth Johansson wrote: > > Our organization is migrating from Word to XML. I've suggested DocBook and > XXE. We have been testing DocBook and XXE for some time and our test persons > are beginning to get used to XXE. However, since Word 2003 has been released > I'm beginning to meet some resistance in using DocBook and XXE. I need some > help to shoot some of their arguments to pieces: > > * Images and vector graphics. We're using Word to produce Visio-like > graphics, flowcharts, software design, network overviews etc. > Is it difficult to create a "one mouse-click solution" in XXE, e.g. click on > the image and the appropriate editor opens?
This is planned for next release. > The XSL tools can't > automatically handle wmf-files which makes it necessary for a conversion to > svg or jpeg before processing the xml. A possible way is to create graphs in > PowerPoint (already have a license), save as .wmf, convert to svg/jpg/etc > with "libwmf" and insert image in XXE. Best way would be to be able to > insert and show a .wmf file in XXE. This should be possible with next release if you have an external program (or if you write custom code) which can convert wmf (Windows Meta File?) to png, jpeg or gif. > * Spell checking. Is it possible to add additional dictionaries for spell > checking? Yes. See http://www.xmlmind.com/spellchecker/faq.html#moredicts > * Grammar checking. Feature request. We are a too small company to afford having a grammar checker in our XML editor. > Do you have any ideas/arguments that might convince my co-workers to use XXE > instead of Word 2003? > > One of my strongest arguments is that writers no longer need to meddle with > layout since working with xml, css and a dtd provides structure and layout > for you. Another strong argument is that by using a dtd a writer is > constrained to use what ever elements available in the dtd. For the user, the benefit of using an XML editor to create content should be a gain in productivity. For the enterprise, the benefits of creating highly structured contents with strong semantics, rather than MSWord documents, which are just an electronic form of paper, are obvious. But: [1] Unless your enterprise needs to create technical books, I doubt that DocBook is the solution. The right solution requires you to create custom DTDs or Schemas with the associated CSS or XSLT style sheets. All this being a lot of work. [2] Most enterprises, at least in France, are not very advanced in terms of information system. That is, they simply don't have the ``database'', repository or content management system, you can feed with structured contents having strong semantics. We do consulting too and because, we are honest, we often have to say: keep using Word! :-) > That brings me > to another question. Is it possible in XXE to remove unwanted elements in > the DocBook dtd or do I have to do it by hand in the dtd? No, XXE cannot do that for you. May be you should give "Simplified DocBook" a try. ("Simplified DocBook" is included in XXE.) > Do you know anything bad about WordML? WordML is an XML equivalent of RTF. In other words, it is an interchange format for ".doc". It just describes the layout and style of an MSWord document, using a well documented format, which is easy to parse. See http://www.xmlmind.com/foconverter/faq.html#wordml WordML is a good thing, but comparing it to DocBook, XHTML, TEI or your average custom DTD, etc, is like comparing apples and oranges.
