{"id":273,"date":"2007-04-25T07:00:25","date_gmt":"2007-04-25T15:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.formtek.com\/blog\/?p=273"},"modified":"2007-04-25T07:00:25","modified_gmt":"2007-04-25T15:00:25","slug":"ecm-xml-content-management-systems-and-dita","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formtek.com\/blog\/ecm-xml-content-management-systems-and-dita\/","title":{"rendered":"ECM: XML Content Management Systems and DITA"},"content":{"rendered":"

XML Content Management systems store and manage information that has been structured and saved as XML.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Standard CM systems typically work with data packaged as files, but with XML, access to textual data\u00a0down to\u00a0the level of paragraphs or phrases is possible.<\/p>\n

Such fine grain access to document data is particularly useful to authors of complex technical documentation that need to create new documents composed\u00a0of many different data components.\u00a0 Industries where such capability could be well applied include manufacturing, aerospace and technology.\u00a0 Publishers and marketing departments have similar requirements and often need to repurpose and reformat data in many ways.\u00a0 Managing translated content is another example.\u00a0 Being able to refer to text in a very granular way\u00a0simplifies and speeds the\u00a0identification of\u00a0new or changed content, which can save a lot of money.<\/p>\n

XML Content Management Systems target a different kind of problem than normal Document or Web Content Mangement.\u00a0 XML systems allow for very complex reuse of granular packets of information.\u00a0 These systems also support much more sophisticated ways to tag blocks of text with metadata.\u00a0 For example, XML can be nested and metadata can be assigned to different levels within the data tree structure.<\/p>\n

But XML on its own is not a complete enough description to\u00a0allow\u00a0easy exchange of XML documents between systems.\u00a0 To do that, a common XML usage style is needed.\u00a0 Since originally developed in 2000, IBM’s DITA<\/a> (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) has gained traction as an XML-based architecture for authoring, producing and delivering information.<\/p>\n

DITA is now a public standard that was contributed by IBM to OASIS<\/a> in 2004.\u00a0 This contribution to OASIS is good example of how standards\u00a0quickly solidify and achieve acceptance\u00a0once proprietary\u00a0restrictions are removed.\u00a0 After moving to OASIS, DITA has received good acceptance and a community has built up around it.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Adoptors and supporters of DITA include both Adobe and Autodesk.\u00a0 DITA lets Adobe share textual content across documentation that may be common across their wide set of products.\u00a0 Similarly AutoDesk uses it for manging online help, printed books, and tutorials.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

XML CM and DITA are changing the way that documentation, marketing and training materials can be produced and translated.\u00a0 Standards are often criticized as too slow-moving, too bulky, or impediments to acceptance of anything new.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

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XML Content Management systems store and manage information that has been structured and saved as XML.\u00a0 Many base content management concepts and functions carry over to the XML CM system, but the real beauty of handling content as XML is…<\/span><\/p>\n

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