Does DITA need XML?

© 2010, 2014 IBM Corporation
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Does DITA need XML? Michael Priestley Enterprise Content Technology StrategistNovember 2014with some slides from Andrea Ames

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Who are you?
How many of you are using DITA today?
How many of you have seen a lightweight DITA presentation before?
How many of you care about HTML5? Markdown? PDF? EPUB?
How many of you will fall asleep during this session?
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What is DITA?
Darwin Information Typing Architecture is an XML standard for modular content, collections and classification that allows an enterprise to:
Keep many versions of content current across multiple audiences, multiple media, multiple deliverables, multiple translations across many geographies
Deliver improved information quality through structured and reused content
Experience faster response time when content for custom products is needed
Leverage traceability and accountability features when a problem is found (fix it once, fix it everywhere; inform other affected authors)
Who uses it (selected from http://www.ditawriter.com/companies- using-dita/)
Accounting
Automotive
Aerospace
Biotech
Computer hardware/software/networking
Consumer electronics
Consumer goods
E-learning/education
Manufacturing
Entertainment
Financial services
Health and wellness
Hospital and healthcare
Industrial automation
IT services
Insurance
Medical devices
Oil and energy
Pharmaceuticals
Publishing
Retail
Semiconductors
Telecom
How they use it
Marketing, market research
Product docs, support
Learning/training
Policies/procedures
Standards
Articles, studies, etc.
Content types
Collections
Product
•A
•B
•C
Job role
•X
•Y
Classification
Adaptive content
Omnichannel delivery
Coming soon: Lightweight DITA, simple structured authoring
for easier adoption and faster ROI with cross-format reuse

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The DITA tools ecosystem
Authoring
(http://www.ditawriter.com/list-of-dita-optimized- editors/)
inMedius DITA Storm
SDL Livecontent Create
Adobe FrameMaker
Quark XML Author (Word)
easyDITA
Codex
PTC Arbortext
JustSystems XMetal
Syntext Serna
Syncrosoft Oxygen
DITAWorks
Vex
XMLMind
Altova XML Spy
FontoXML
SimplyXML Content Mapper
DITA Exchange
exeDITA
Stilo AuthorBridge
Migrating
Stilo Migrate
XMLMind DITA Converter
Omni Systems DITA2Go
CambridgeDocs xDoc Converter
Managing
(http://www.ditawriter.com/list-of-dita-capable- cmses/)
PTC Arbortext CMS
Astoria On-Demand
Author-IT Cloud
BlueStream XDocs
Calenco
Cinnamon
Componize
ConteX
Ixiasoft DITA CMS
DITA Exchange
Inmedius DITA Storm Suite
DITAToo
DITAWorks Pro
EMC Documentum
DocZone
easyDITA
eXact Learning
IBM FileNet
RSI RSuite
SDL LiveContent Architect
Sibersafe DITA CMS
Sirius DITA
Siemens Teamcenter
Vasont DITA CMS
X:Point
Plus others (language-specific or industry- specific)
Translating
SDL Trados
Maxprograms Swordfish
Lionbridge
XTM Cloud
Publishing
AntennaHouse
Apache FOP
DITA for Publishers
DITA inPrint
DITA Open Toolkit
DITA-FMx
Elkera XML
RenderX XEP
Dynamic delivery
Suite Solutions SuiteHelp/Share
Webworks
Mekon DITAWeb
Antidot Fluid Topics
Titania HARP
AuthorIT
4D Help
Mindtouch
Adaptive web
EPUB
PDF

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Meet Sarah and Sam
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Sarah is an IT architect
for her company. She is
responsible for building
a new Web content
management system
for their intranet, using
information about IBM
products and services.
Sam is a new IBM Sales rep
with a client looking for
information about how IBM
Managed Cloud can solve
their hosting challenges.
While traveling he relies on
his mobile device to
research solutions, create,
and share collateral.
• Too much time searching for content
• Too much time evaluating search results
• Too much time determining whether information is accurate and complete
• No way to filter, customize, or share custom content
Sarah and Sam’s content experience has been:

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Who authors our content?
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Developer
Technical writer
Trainer
Book author
Tutorial for developer site
Tutorial for knowledge base
Tutorial for course
Tutorial chapter in book
Services engineer
Business partner
Tutorialfor client solution
Tutorial for partner course
Copy and paste
reuse
Parallel development

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Barriers to collaboration
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ProcessLack of governance
Lack of feedback
CultureLack of incentives for reuse
Incentives for reinvention
ContentInconsistent content types
Inconsistent classification
TechnologyLifecycle silos tie authoring to delivery
Formats tie content to authoring system

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Breaking down silos
Build a bigger silo?
There’s no silo big enough to cover cross-company
reuse scenarios
Integrate across silos?
Requires that every reuser have access to
every source system
What about portable content?
Requires content that can be exported from a
repository with its structure, metadata, and
relationships intact
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What about formats?
Formats are silos too
People get attached to the authoring tool that makes them productive
So we need common content attributes –structure, metadata, granularity –but author-appropriate tools
Every format has its strengths and weaknesses – need to preserve strengths, minimize weaknesses to enable enterprise collaboration
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Why XML sucks
Tags and attributes are a pain in the #$%#
Specialized editors cost money, take a long time to load, take a long time to learn
Long, complex processing chain can break in lots of different places, be really hard to debug
<topic id=“abc”>
<title>The point of it all</title>
<shortdesc>I can sum it up here</shortdesc>
<body>
<p>I can say some more stuff</p>
<section>
<title>Stuff</title>
<p>And so on</p>
<ul>
<li><p>This</p></li>
<li><p>Is</p></li>
<li><p>A List</p></li>
</ul>
</section>
<section>
<title>And more stuff</title>
<p>With its own explanation</p>
<dl>
<dlentry>
<dt><p>This</p></dt>
<dd><p>Is explained</p></dd>
</dlentry>
<dlentry>
<dd><p>Is also explained</p></dd>
</dlentry>
</dl>
</section>
</body>
</topic>

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Why XML is awesome
Tags and attributes separate content from presentation, allowing flexibility and control
Specialized editors support different authoring roles –not one size fits all
Specialized content types and structures enforce consistency and enable automation
Multistage processing chain maximizes reuse and provides ready-to-view output
Publish
HTML5
EPUB
Kindle
iBook
PDF
Embedded help
Word
OpenOffice
Slides
Various help formats
Etc.
Filter, Substitute, Link, Assemble, Layout for Device or Format, Etc.
Design
Author

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Why HTML5 sucks
Tags and attributes are a pain in the #$%#
Anything goes
Single processing step can bloat and affect performance
No standardized capabilities for conditional processing, reuse, etc.
<html> <article>
<h1>The point of it all</h1>
<p>I can sum it up here</p>
<section>
<h2>Stuff</h2>
<p>And so on</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Is</p></li>
</ul>
<section>
<h2>And more stuff</h2>
<dl>
</dl>
</section>
</article> </html>

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Why HTML5 is awesome
Tags and attributes separate content from presentation, allowing flexibility and control, including responsive design
Editor support widely available, even right in the browser
Author and present in same interface –the browser.
No complex processing chain, fewer breakage points
(Filter for user)
Author
View

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Why can’t we all just get along?
DITA
map
DITA
HTML5
HTML5 supports adaptive display
XML supports omnichannel
publishing
EPUB
Kindle
iBook
PDF
Embedded help
Word
OpenOffice
Slides
Various help formats
.
.
.
Aaaand HTML5
mark
down
markdown supports simple
contribution

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Who should author our content?
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Developer
Technical writer
Trainer
Reusable tutorial
Services engineer
Business partner
Book author
Tutorialfor client solution
Tutorial for partner course
Tutorial chapter in book
Reuse by
reference
Collaborative development
Content designer
Identifiesrequirements and assembles team
Requirements from reusing contexts

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If you love your content, set it free
Avoid vendor lockin, even if you’re the vendor
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Can you get there with DITA?
But it’s too complex!
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When enough is too much
Full DITA
Lightweight
DITA
“Here’s something simple!”
“We need more features!”
“It’s too complex!”

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Lightweight DITA vs full DITA
Full DITA
Lightweight DITA
Topics
~100 elements
~30 elements
Maps
10 elements
(+30 shared with topic)
3 elements
(+3 shared with topic)
<p>What elements are
allowed in a paragraph?</p>
dl parmlfig syntaxdiagramimagemapimage lines lqnote hazardstatementobject olpre codeblockmsgblockscreen simpletablesltable ulbooleancite keyword apinameoption parmnamecmdnamemsgnumvarnamewintitlephb isup sub ttu codephsynphfilepathmsgphsystemoutputuserinputmenucascadeuicontrolq term abbreviated-form tm xrefstate data data- about foreign unknown draft-comment fnindextermrefindextermrequired-cleanup
image
ph(phrase)
b (bold) i(italic) u (underline) sup (superscript) sub (subscript) xref(link) data

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Simplified content
Eliminate advanced features
No related links
Limited prolog
Eliminate redundant markup
Only one table model
Simplify content models
Only place to author text is in a <p>, and <p> doesn't contain lists or other block-level content
Simplify attributes
Grouped by function for easy inclusion or exclusion: filtering, reuse, localization, etc.
Simplify constraints
Out of the box constraints to add/remove nesting of lists etc.

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Simplified collections
No metadata or reltable
Only one way to specify title: as <navtitle> in <topicmeta>
Simplify attributes
Grouped by function for easy inclusion or exclusion: filtering, reuse, localization, etc

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Simplified classification
Subject schemes only used for simple hierarchical values
Main use case is control of filtering attribute values
Investigating whether we need specializations at all, or if any map with keys could be enough

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Simplified content typing
Create new content types from reusable design components
Section specializations
Phrase specializations
Attribute specializations
Investigating block (list, object etc.) and metadata specializations
Should be as simple as authoring a topic
A content type for describing content types
Just fill in the fields and generate specialization artifacts like DTDs/RNGs, transforms, even authoring prototypes
<specdefid=”meeting”>
<title>Meeting specialization</title>
<specdefbody>
<sectiondef>
<dl>
<dlentry>
<dt>Goals</dt>
<dd>
<p><xrefhref=”goals.dita”/></p>
<p>Fill the goals of the meeting</p>
</dd>
</dlentry>
......

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Can you get there with DITA?
But it’s still XML!
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It comes in flavors!
XDITA (DITA in XML)
HDITA (DITA in HTML5)
markdita (DITA in markdown)
<topic>
<title>The point of it all</title>
<shortdesc>I can sum it up here</shortdesc>
<body>
<section>
<title>Stuff</title>
<p>And so on</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Is</p></li>
</ul>
<section>
<title>And more stuff</title>
<dl>
<dlentry>
</dlentry>
<dlentry>
</dlentry>
</dl>
</section>
</body>
</topic>
<article>
<h1>The point of it all</h1>
<p>I can sum it up here</p>
<section>
<h2>Stuff</h2>
<p>And so on</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Is</p></li>
</ul>
<section>
<h2>And more stuff</h2>
<dl>
</dl>
</section>
</article>
#The point of it all
I can sum it up here
I can say some more stuff
##Stuff
-And so on
-This
-Is
-A List
##And more stuff
With its own explanation
-**This** Is explained
-**This** Is also explained

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Some final thoughts
Common standards and strategies should focus on reducing and managing differences, not on eliminating them
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Strategy
Consolidate
Coordinate
Consolidate systems where appropriate and integrate where not
Content hubs
Standardize APIs(CMIS)
Agree on common formats where possible, and integrate where not
Standard formats
Map standards across formats (lightweight DITA)
Agree on common content types where possible, and specialize where not
Core content types
Specialize to create formal relationships among related types that allow reuse of processinglogic

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Next steps
Lightweight DITA subcommittee now up and running:
–https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=dita-lightweight-dita
–Starting with scenarios, personas, content requirements analysis
–Then lightweight prototype doctypes, and mappings to HTML5 and Markdown
Lightweight DITA at LinkedIn for open discussion:
–https://www.linkedin.com/groups/Lightweight-DITA-4943862
Events!
tcworld:
–The Future of DITA (panel) http://tagungen.tekom.de/h14/tagungsprogramm/programm/program/sv_869_DITA7/
DITA Europe:
–Can Reuse Be Sexy? (DITA and marketing content) http://www.infomanagementcenter.com/DITAeurope/2014/abstracts.htm#Priestley
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If you like this idea…
Talk about it.
Tell people.
Especially, tell the tool developers, and the vendors.
The two main reasons vendors say they don’t support DITA:
“it’s too complicated”
“people aren’t asking for it”
We’re working on the first one –but we need your help for the second.

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Legal
IBM, the IBM logo, and ibm.com are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. A current list of IBM trademarks is available on the Web at “Copyright and trademark information” at www.ibm.com/legal/copytrade.shtml
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http://DITA4.honestly.de
or scan the QR code
The feedback tool will be available even after the conference!

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Why markdown sucks
You can’t do anything except the basics (headers, paragraphs, lists)
Authoring experience is typically bare-bones
Authoring anything complex (tables, definition lists, images, etc.) is either painful or impossible
There’s no standard –so whatever you do may not work with other markdown tools
#The point of it all
I can sum it up here
I can say some more stuff
##Stuff
And so on
-This
-Is
-A List
##And more stuff
With its own explanation
-**This** Is explained
-**This** Is also explained

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Why markdown is awesome
Tags and attributes are a pain in the #$%# -the source is simple, compact, and readable
You don’t need an editor at all, beyond notepad or a code editor
Simple predictable inputs allow fast and reliable processing chain
No complex processing chain, fewer breakage points
Author
View

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Meet in the middle: Specialize in XML, constrain in HTML5
XDITA
HDITA
<video>
<fallback><p>Here's a video of stuff you can't see.</p></fallback>
<controls value="y"/>
<poster value="screengrab.png"/>
<source value="mymovie.mp4" type="video/mp4"/>
<source value="backupformat.xyz" type="video/xyz"/>
<track value="captions.vtt" type="captions"/>
</video>
<video controls=“controls”
poster="screengrab.png">
<source src="mymovie.mp4" type="video/mp4"/>
<source src="backupformat.xyz" type="video/xyz"/>
<track value="captions.vtt" kind="captions"/>
<p>Here's a video of stuff you can't see.</p>
</video>

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Mapping maps
XDITA
HDITA
<map>
<topicmeta>
<navtitle>Navigation</navtitle>
</topicmeta>
<topicref href="abc.dita">
<topicmeta>
<navtitle>Topic A</navtitle>
</topicmeta>
</topicref>
<topicref href="bcd.dita">
<topicmeta>
<navtitle>Topic B</navtitle>
</topicmeta>
<topicref href="b123.dita">
<topicmeta>
<navtitle>Topic B1</navtitle>
</topicmeta>
</topicref>
</topicref>
</map
<nav>
<h1>Navigation</h1>
<ul>
<li><a href="abc.html">Topic A</a></li>
<li><a href="bcd.html">Topic B</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="b123.html">Topic B1</a>
</li>
</ul>
</ul>
<nav>

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Extend with attributes
XDITA
HDITA
@props
@data-hd-props
@abc123 (any attribute specialized from @props)
@data-hd-abc123
@conref (on section, table, paragraph, and list elements)
@data-hd-conref (on section, table, paragraph, and list elements)
@keys (on topicref)
@data-hd-keys (on <li> inside <nav>)
@keyref (on <image>, <a>, and <topicref> for link indirection, on all inline elements for variable text)
@data-hd-keyref (on <img> and <a> for link indirection, on all inline elements for variable text)

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