Another XML standard for Technical Documentation: OASIS DITA

The OASIS Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is a XML based architecture developed by IBM for creating topic-oriented, information-typed content that can be reused and single-sourced in a variety of ways.

 

For more information on DITA, see http://xml.coverpages.org/dita.html 

 

Real Life: XML Implementation for Technical Documentation at Juniper Networks

Want to know the inside story of XML implementation for technical documentation at Juniper Networks.

See the presentations at http://single-sourcing.com/events/index.php?s=juniper.

Another interesting article on Content Reuse

See Content Reuse in Practice by James Robertson of Step Two Designs at http://www.steptwo.com.au/papers/kmc_contentreuse/index.html

 

 

Understanding Content Reuse

I have read several of articles on content reuse. But one article that stands out and explains content reuse in the best possible way is the Fundamental Concepts of Reuse chapter from Ann Rockley's book, Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy. See http://www.rockley.com/articles/MEC_Chapter_2.pdf

Visit http://www.rockley.com/ for more interesting white papers, articles and webinar archives on content management and related topics.

FrameMaker Tip: Testing Hypertext Marker Commands

Ever wondered if there is a way to test the hypertext marker commands in your Adobe FrameMaker book.

 

Use the Esc,v,h command in the active FrameMaker document or select the files you want to test (in the FrameMaker book window) and press Esc,v,h

 

FrameMaker reports errors for duplicate newlink markers, gotolink markers with no corresponding newlink marker, incorrect syntax used in hypertext markers, and so on.

 

Note: Do not run this command if you have opened a FrameMaker book over a mapped network drive as it will take a long time to complete. I found this command to execute faster if you run it on the machine on which FrameMaker files are stored, and really fast if you have all the files in the book opened.

 

Important: Do not run this command on the Table of Contents file as FrameMaker will try to validate every link in the Table of Contents.

 

 

 

Your search for a good XML editor ends here

Wanna learn XML.

You are not the first to spend hours browsing the web to find a good XML editor for learning purposes.

Altova now provides you XMLSpy® 2005 Home Edition, a FREE entry level XML development tool for getting started with XML technologies. Ideal for hobbyists, entry-level developers, and students.

Go to http://www.altova.com/

Productivity Tip: Learn FrameMaker Keyboard Shortcuts

As Technical Writers we use FrameMaker extensively. It will be a good investment to learn the keyboard shortcuts in FrameMaker.

 

Make yourself more productive...

 

See the Keyboard Command Guide for FrameMaker at http://www.microtype.com/resources/fmkbdcmd.pdf

Productivity Tip: Faster screen captures in FrameMaker using SnagIt FrameMaker Plugin

Techsmith SnagIt, an award winning screen capture utility provides a plugin for Adobe FrameMaker versions 6 and 7.

You can now start Snagit within FrameMaker to capture and edit images. Once you save the image in SnagIt, the image is automatically inserted into your FrameMaker document.

Productivity Tip: Go for the Firefox Browser

Why should I be recommending the Firefox browser on this blog?
I have been using Firefox for the last few months and find it much faster to work with than Internet Explorer. Go for it.

Not to be left behind, Microsoft announces Internet Explorer 7 beta release this summer. See http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2005/02/15/373104.aspx

Technical Writing Newsletters in India

Indus, STC India's  award-winning bimonthly publication at http://www.stc-india.org/indus.htm

 

TechCraft, a newsletter from the technical_writers_india Yahoo!! Group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/technical_writers_india/files/TechCraft/

 

 

Full day tutorial: Effective Prototyping

Human Factors International does another first in India by announcing a full day tutorial on Effective Prototyping: Cheap and Fast Tools for Creating Product Visualizations.

For more information, see https://www.humanfactors.com/training/registration3/pttutorial.asp

Usability Training from Human Factors International, Mumbai

Human Factors International announces four usability training programs starting February 22, 2005.

For more information, see http://www.humanfactors.com/training/scheduleindia.asp