ECM: XML Content Management Systems and DITA

XML Content Management systems store and manage information that has been structured and saved as XML.  Many base content management concepts and functions carry over to the XML CM system, but the real beauty of handling content as XML is that it allows very granular access to information.  Standard CM systems typically work with data packaged as files, but with XML, access to textual data down to the level of paragraphs or phrases is possible.

Such fine grain access to document data is particularly useful to authors of complex technical documentation that need to create new documents composed of many different data components.  Industries where such capability could be well applied include manufacturing, aerospace and technology.  Publishers and marketing departments have similar requirements and often need to repurpose and reformat data in many ways.  Managing translated content is another example.  Being able to refer to text in a very granular way simplifies and speeds the identification of new or changed content, which can save a lot of money.

XML Content Management Systems target a different kind of problem than normal Document or Web Content Mangement.  XML systems allow for very complex reuse of granular packets of information.  These systems also support much more sophisticated ways to tag blocks of text with metadata.  For example, XML can be nested and metadata can be assigned to different levels within the data tree structure.

But XML on its own is not a complete enough description to allow easy exchange of XML documents between systems.  To do that, a common XML usage style is needed.  Since originally developed in 2000, IBM’s DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) has gained traction as an XML-based architecture for authoring, producing and delivering information.

DITA is now a public standard that was contributed by IBM to OASIS in 2004.  This contribution to OASIS is good example of how standards quickly solidify and achieve acceptance once proprietary restrictions are removed.  After moving to OASIS, DITA has received good acceptance and a community has built up around it.  The variety of tools and applications that have grown up around DITA are much more than would have been possible had IBM gone it alone.

Adoptors and supporters of DITA include both Adobe and Autodesk.  DITA lets Adobe share textual content across documentation that may be common across their wide set of products.  Similarly AutoDesk uses it for manging online help, printed books, and tutorials.

While out-of-the-box DITA probably isn’t sufficient for most organizations, it provides a great base to build on, and that’s what both Adobe and AutoDesk have done.  And for things that DITA can’t handle or doesn’t work well with, it has something called ‘specialization’ that allows for more targeted customization of the XML specification.

XML CM and DITA are changing the way that documentation, marketing and training materials can be produced and translated.  Standards are often criticized as too slow-moving, too bulky, or impediments to acceptance of anything new.  But standards like XML and DITA are positive examples where once a standard receives acceptance a whole new business around those standards can form and thrive.