Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
Hi Sharan, Though reassured about DITA, I'm in the same mood for now... We have already stuff ready and Tom Burns's work with Webhelp was looking good, surely far better than what we render at the moment... Jacques Le 08/06/2015 09:06, Sharan Foga a écrit : Hi All I've been looking at the references and yes it does seem quite a powerful tool but I think it might be a bit too much for what we want to achieve for the online help. One of the references did highlight that if the objective is context sensitive help then DITA may not be the most efficient approach and our online help is all about that. At the moment I'm looking at what we have in place to see if it can be configured or setup to deliver what we want. Moving from Docbook to DITA is a big change so if Docbook and its webhelp can deliver what we want in less work and effort then I would suggest that we go for that first. I've opened a Jira here https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-6450 to track progress. Thanks Sharan On 07/06/15 20:39, Ron Wheeler wrote: I agree that a lot of the official DITA stuff is pretty intimidating since the early adopters where heavy duty tech writers from IBM who had pretty serious expert teams involved. It is actually a lot simpler. If you look at my demo and notes, you can see that it is pretty simple to use if you do not need to get into the really obscure stuff. I only use a few of the tags (20?). Ron On 06/06/2015 5:33 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote: OK DITA seems powerful but not an easy tool to work with (not only because of XML verbosity but also tags and concepts to learn) Sincerely the examples in http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture frightens me a bit (and remembers me how verbose is XML) We would need to convince the community it's the gith tool for OFBiz documentation... and more... Also I wonder if we simply don't know Docbook enough to be really able to compare them... What would be the cost of moving from DocBook to DITA in OFBiz? Is http://www.dita-ot.org/ of value? Found this by change https://doconv.readthedocs.org/en/latest/features.html With http://www.dita-ot.org/2.0/readme/dita2docbook.html this would allow to mix tools (I think we should go that way, but have a tool of reference in OFBiz, still to choose if we don't keep Docbook) Jacques Le 05/06/2015 16:13, Ron Wheeler a écrit : I have found another great reference for planning a DITA project in order to maximize the possibilities for reuse. http://www.stilo.com/article-dita-reuse-conversion-together/ It is useful reading if you want reverse engineer some ideas about where the big benefits will come from DITA. For example, it talks about creating a warehouse for conrefs where is recommends writing fragments conrefs that are included by name. It suggests that these should be used for * GUI objects, fields, buttons, icons * Frequently used steps, with step results and info * All your notes and warnings * Pre-requisites that are commonly mentioned, like having administrative privileges * Boilerplate - legal, copyright, notices, When you think about each of these as a multilingual fragment that can be called in by referencing a key, you can see that this a) reduces translation - translate the key once and every place it is referenced has the translation done b) improves consistency c) makes customization a lot simpler - if you have changed a field label or button label, you only have to change the conref once and it is changed in your documentation. There is also a discussion on using keys. If we define variables such as version numbers, it makes it easier to ensure that versions (Java, Tomcat, OFBiz, etc.) are consistent everywhere with a single variable to change. If URLs are keys, you only have to change one key when a web page or file moves. Keys can also be used to select or exclude content which will make it easier for System Integrators to prepare manuals related to different configurations - include or exclude e-commerce, control industry specific content, etc. It has specific ideas about how to plan and execute a conversion. Ron - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
Hi All I've been looking at the references and yes it does seem quite a powerful tool but I think it might be a bit too much for what we want to achieve for the online help. One of the references did highlight that if the objective is context sensitive help then DITA may not be the most efficient approach and our online help is all about that. At the moment I'm looking at what we have in place to see if it can be configured or setup to deliver what we want. Moving from Docbook to DITA is a big change so if Docbook and its webhelp can deliver what we want in less work and effort then I would suggest that we go for that first. I've opened a Jira here https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-6450 to track progress. Thanks Sharan On 07/06/15 20:39, Ron Wheeler wrote: I agree that a lot of the official DITA stuff is pretty intimidating since the early adopters where heavy duty tech writers from IBM who had pretty serious expert teams involved. It is actually a lot simpler. If you look at my demo and notes, you can see that it is pretty simple to use if you do not need to get into the really obscure stuff. I only use a few of the tags (20?). Ron On 06/06/2015 5:33 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote: OK DITA seems powerful but not an easy tool to work with (not only because of XML verbosity but also tags and concepts to learn) Sincerely the examples in http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture frightens me a bit (and remembers me how verbose is XML) We would need to convince the community it's the gith tool for OFBiz documentation... and more... Also I wonder if we simply don't know Docbook enough to be really able to compare them... What would be the cost of moving from DocBook to DITA in OFBiz? Is http://www.dita-ot.org/ of value? Found this by change https://doconv.readthedocs.org/en/latest/features.html With http://www.dita-ot.org/2.0/readme/dita2docbook.html this would allow to mix tools (I think we should go that way, but have a tool of reference in OFBiz, still to choose if we don't keep Docbook) Jacques Le 05/06/2015 16:13, Ron Wheeler a écrit : I have found another great reference for planning a DITA project in order to maximize the possibilities for reuse. http://www.stilo.com/article-dita-reuse-conversion-together/ It is useful reading if you want reverse engineer some ideas about where the big benefits will come from DITA. For example, it talks about creating a warehouse for conrefs where is recommends writing fragments conrefs that are included by name. It suggests that these should be used for * GUI objects, fields, buttons, icons * Frequently used steps, with step results and info * All your notes and warnings * Pre-requisites that are commonly mentioned, like having administrative privileges * Boilerplate - legal, copyright, notices, When you think about each of these as a multilingual fragment that can be called in by referencing a key, you can see that this a) reduces translation - translate the key once and every place it is referenced has the translation done b) improves consistency c) makes customization a lot simpler - if you have changed a field label or button label, you only have to change the conref once and it is changed in your documentation. There is also a discussion on using keys. If we define variables such as version numbers, it makes it easier to ensure that versions (Java, Tomcat, OFBiz, etc.) are consistent everywhere with a single variable to change. If URLs are keys, you only have to change one key when a web page or file moves. Keys can also be used to select or exclude content which will make it easier for System Integrators to prepare manuals related to different configurations - include or exclude e-commerce, control industry specific content, etc. It has specific ideas about how to plan and execute a conversion. Ron - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
I agree that a lot of the official DITA stuff is pretty intimidating since the early adopters where heavy duty tech writers from IBM who had pretty serious expert teams involved. It is actually a lot simpler. If you look at my demo and notes, you can see that it is pretty simple to use if you do not need to get into the really obscure stuff. I only use a few of the tags (20?). Ron On 06/06/2015 5:33 PM, Jacques Le Roux wrote: OK DITA seems powerful but not an easy tool to work with (not only because of XML verbosity but also tags and concepts to learn) Sincerely the examples in http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture frightens me a bit (and remembers me how verbose is XML) We would need to convince the community it's the gith tool for OFBiz documentation... and more... Also I wonder if we simply don't know Docbook enough to be really able to compare them... What would be the cost of moving from DocBook to DITA in OFBiz? Is http://www.dita-ot.org/ of value? Found this by change https://doconv.readthedocs.org/en/latest/features.html With http://www.dita-ot.org/2.0/readme/dita2docbook.html this would allow to mix tools (I think we should go that way, but have a tool of reference in OFBiz, still to choose if we don't keep Docbook) Jacques Le 05/06/2015 16:13, Ron Wheeler a écrit : I have found another great reference for planning a DITA project in order to maximize the possibilities for reuse. http://www.stilo.com/article-dita-reuse-conversion-together/ It is useful reading if you want reverse engineer some ideas about where the big benefits will come from DITA. For example, it talks about creating a warehouse for conrefs where is recommends writing fragments conrefs that are included by name. It suggests that these should be used for * GUI objects, fields, buttons, icons * Frequently used steps, with step results and info * All your notes and warnings * Pre-requisites that are commonly mentioned, like having administrative privileges * Boilerplate - legal, copyright, notices, When you think about each of these as a multilingual fragment that can be called in by referencing a key, you can see that this a) reduces translation - translate the key once and every place it is referenced has the translation done b) improves consistency c) makes customization a lot simpler - if you have changed a field label or button label, you only have to change the conref once and it is changed in your documentation. There is also a discussion on using keys. If we define variables such as version numbers, it makes it easier to ensure that versions (Java, Tomcat, OFBiz, etc.) are consistent everywhere with a single variable to change. If URLs are keys, you only have to change one key when a web page or file moves. Keys can also be used to select or exclude content which will make it easier for System Integrators to prepare manuals related to different configurations - include or exclude e-commerce, control industry specific content, etc. It has specific ideas about how to plan and execute a conversion. Ron - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
OK DITA seems powerful but not an easy tool to work with (not only because of XML verbosity but also tags and concepts to learn) Sincerely the examples in http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture frightens me a bit (and remembers me how verbose is XML) We would need to convince the community it's the gith tool for OFBiz documentation... and more... Also I wonder if we simply don't know Docbook enough to be really able to compare them... What would be the cost of moving from DocBook to DITA in OFBiz? Is http://www.dita-ot.org/ of value? Found this by change https://doconv.readthedocs.org/en/latest/features.html With http://www.dita-ot.org/2.0/readme/dita2docbook.html this would allow to mix tools (I think we should go that way, but have a tool of reference in OFBiz, still to choose if we don't keep Docbook) Jacques Le 05/06/2015 16:13, Ron Wheeler a écrit : I have found another great reference for planning a DITA project in order to maximize the possibilities for reuse. http://www.stilo.com/article-dita-reuse-conversion-together/ It is useful reading if you want reverse engineer some ideas about where the big benefits will come from DITA. For example, it talks about creating a warehouse for conrefs where is recommends writing fragments conrefs that are included by name. It suggests that these should be used for * GUI objects, fields, buttons, icons * Frequently used steps, with step results and info * All your notes and warnings * Pre-requisites that are commonly mentioned, like having administrative privileges * Boilerplate - legal, copyright, notices, When you think about each of these as a multilingual fragment that can be called in by referencing a key, you can see that this a) reduces translation - translate the key once and every place it is referenced has the translation done b) improves consistency c) makes customization a lot simpler - if you have changed a field label or button label, you only have to change the conref once and it is changed in your documentation. There is also a discussion on using keys. If we define variables such as version numbers, it makes it easier to ensure that versions (Java, Tomcat, OFBiz, etc.) are consistent everywhere with a single variable to change. If URLs are keys, you only have to change one key when a web page or file moves. Keys can also be used to select or exclude content which will make it easier for System Integrators to prepare manuals related to different configurations - include or exclude e-commerce, control industry specific content, etc. It has specific ideas about how to plan and execute a conversion. Ron - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
Le 06/06/2015 23:33, Jacques Le Roux a écrit : OK DITA seems powerful but not an easy tool to work with (not only because of XML verbosity but also tags and concepts to learn) Sincerely the examples in http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture frightens me a bit (and remembers me how verbose is XML) We would need to convince the community it's the gith tool for OFBiz documentation... and more... Also I wonder if we simply don't know Docbook enough to be really able to compare them... What would be the cost of moving from DocBook to DITA in OFBiz? Is http://www.dita-ot.org/ of value? Found this by change https://doconv.readthedocs.org/en/latest/features.html With http://www.dita-ot.org/2.0/readme/dita2docbook.html this would allow to mix tools (I think we should go that way, but have a tool of reference in OFBiz, still to choose if we don't keep Docbook) Actually the question is how much these converters are reliable... Only a POC can demonstrate... Jacques Jacques Le 05/06/2015 16:13, Ron Wheeler a écrit : I have found another great reference for planning a DITA project in order to maximize the possibilities for reuse. http://www.stilo.com/article-dita-reuse-conversion-together/ It is useful reading if you want reverse engineer some ideas about where the big benefits will come from DITA. For example, it talks about creating a warehouse for conrefs where is recommends writing fragments conrefs that are included by name. It suggests that these should be used for * GUI objects, fields, buttons, icons * Frequently used steps, with step results and info * All your notes and warnings * Pre-requisites that are commonly mentioned, like having administrative privileges * Boilerplate - legal, copyright, notices, When you think about each of these as a multilingual fragment that can be called in by referencing a key, you can see that this a) reduces translation - translate the key once and every place it is referenced has the translation done b) improves consistency c) makes customization a lot simpler - if you have changed a field label or button label, you only have to change the conref once and it is changed in your documentation. There is also a discussion on using keys. If we define variables such as version numbers, it makes it easier to ensure that versions (Java, Tomcat, OFBiz, etc.) are consistent everywhere with a single variable to change. If URLs are keys, you only have to change one key when a web page or file moves. Keys can also be used to select or exclude content which will make it easier for System Integrators to prepare manuals related to different configurations - include or exclude e-commerce, control industry specific content, etc. It has specific ideas about how to plan and execute a conversion. Ron - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
Great resources Ron. Thank you for sharing. FYI I find DITA-OT to be nice and powerful. I'm beginning to do some of our own documentation on it. - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron -- Ron Wheeler President Artifact Software Inc email: rwhee...@artifact-software.com skype: ronaldmwheeler phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
I use - Eclipse/STS for authoring http://blog.artifact-software.com/tech/?p=206 - Maven with DITA-OT for publishing in Eclipse - Subversion for SCM - Bugzilla for issue tracking This is all integrated into Eclipse. Ron On 05/06/2015 9:15 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: Hi Ron, DITA-OT ! :) Taher Alkhateeb - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Friday, 5 June, 2015 4:13:39 PM Subject: Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help What tools are you using? Ron On 05/06/2015 4:38 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: Great resources Ron. Thank you for sharing. FYI I find DITA-OT to be nice and powerful. I'm beginning to do some of our own documentation on it. - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron -- Ron Wheeler President Artifact Software Inc email: rwhee...@artifact-software.com skype: ronaldmwheeler phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
Have you done a lot of branding and customizing the output from DITA-OT? I have not done anything yet but I will need to do this to make a nice looking manual. I want to do a bit of branding and I need to change the fonts in my code examples since most don't fit the width of the blocks and the font and colors are not very attractive in my opinion. Ron On 05/06/2015 9:15 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: Hi Ron, DITA-OT ! :) Taher Alkhateeb - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Friday, 5 June, 2015 4:13:39 PM Subject: Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help What tools are you using? Ron On 05/06/2015 4:38 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: Great resources Ron. Thank you for sharing. FYI I find DITA-OT to be nice and powerful. I'm beginning to do some of our own documentation on it. - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron -- Ron Wheeler President Artifact Software Inc email: rwhee...@artifact-software.com skype: ronaldmwheeler phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
What tools are you using? Ron On 05/06/2015 4:38 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: Great resources Ron. Thank you for sharing. FYI I find DITA-OT to be nice and powerful. I'm beginning to do some of our own documentation on it. - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron -- Ron Wheeler President Artifact Software Inc email: rwhee...@artifact-software.com skype: ronaldmwheeler phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
Hi Ron, DITA-OT ! :) Taher Alkhateeb - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Friday, 5 June, 2015 4:13:39 PM Subject: Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help What tools are you using? Ron On 05/06/2015 4:38 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: Great resources Ron. Thank you for sharing. FYI I find DITA-OT to be nice and powerful. I'm beginning to do some of our own documentation on it. - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron -- Ron Wheeler President Artifact Software Inc email: rwhee...@artifact-software.com skype: ronaldmwheeler phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
I have found another great reference for planning a DITA project in order to maximize the possibilities for reuse. http://www.stilo.com/article-dita-reuse-conversion-together/ It is useful reading if you want reverse engineer some ideas about where the big benefits will come from DITA. For example, it talks about creating a warehouse for conrefs where is recommends writing fragments conrefs that are included by name. It suggests that these should be used for * GUI objects, fields, buttons, icons * Frequently used steps, with step results and info * All your notes and warnings * Pre-requisites that are commonly mentioned, like having administrative privileges * Boilerplate - legal, copyright, notices, When you think about each of these as a multilingual fragment that can be called in by referencing a key, you can see that this a) reduces translation - translate the key once and every place it is referenced has the translation done b) improves consistency c) makes customization a lot simpler - if you have changed a field label or button label, you only have to change the conref once and it is changed in your documentation. There is also a discussion on using keys. If we define variables such as version numbers, it makes it easier to ensure that versions (Java, Tomcat, OFBiz, etc.) are consistent everywhere with a single variable to change. If URLs are keys, you only have to change one key when a web page or file moves. Keys can also be used to select or exclude content which will make it easier for System Integrators to prepare manuals related to different configurations - include or exclude e-commerce, control industry specific content, etc. It has specific ideas about how to plan and execute a conversion. Ron - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron -- Ron Wheeler President Artifact Software Inc email: rwhee...@artifact-software.com skype: ronaldmwheeler phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help
Hi Ron, You are way ahead of me. I'm still taking baby steps. It's a good solution though. On Jun 5, 2015 4:34 PM, Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com wrote: Have you done a lot of branding and customizing the output from DITA-OT? I have not done anything yet but I will need to do this to make a nice looking manual. I want to do a bit of branding and I need to change the fonts in my code examples since most don't fit the width of the blocks and the font and colors are not very attractive in my opinion. Ron On 05/06/2015 9:15 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: Hi Ron, DITA-OT ! :) Taher Alkhateeb - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Friday, 5 June, 2015 4:13:39 PM Subject: Re: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help What tools are you using? Ron On 05/06/2015 4:38 AM, Taher Alkhateeb wrote: Great resources Ron. Thank you for sharing. FYI I find DITA-OT to be nice and powerful. I'm beginning to do some of our own documentation on it. - Original Message - From: Ron Wheeler rwhee...@artifact-software.com To: dev dev@ofbiz.apache.org Sent: Thursday, 4 June, 2015 6:14:56 PM Subject: References for DITA as a tool for on-line help http://www.slideshare.net/abelsp/using-dita-for-online-help Slideshare has a lot of other presentations on DITA http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_Information_Typing_Architecture Short with Hello World example http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_help Alternatives for producing on-line help - DocBooks and DITA considered together since they are closely related http://www.ditawriter.com/sample-dita-produced-output/ Has links to actual documents produced from DITA sources. https://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/30122/DHSC_BestPractices_November20_rdr.pdf exhaustive article on ways to deliver help authored by DITA tools. It shows that an investment in DITA content will always be protected even if the OFBiz UI and help delivery technology changes. Table of Contents *Introduction to the DITA Help Best Practices Guide* *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Environments* -Arbortext Digital Media Publisher -Eclipse Help -CSHelp Plug-in -Eclipse_CSH Plug-in for Dynamic Context-Sensitive Help -Eclipse Help -Leximation AIR Help Plug-in -Microsoft HTMLHelp -Context-Sensitive Help using the Enhanced HTML (htmlhelp2) Plug-In -The DITA Open Toolkit HTMLHelp Transform *Developing Custom DITA-based Help Systems** *-DHTML Effects in HTML Generated from DITA -DITA-OT Plug-ins -HTMLSearch Plug-in -TOCJS and TOCJSBIS Plug-ins -Dynamic Rendering of DITA into XHTML -JavaScript-Based Context Sensitive Help -WinANT Options Supporting HTML-Based Output -WinANT Options Supporting Microsoft® HTML Help *Developing DITA-based Help for Existing Help Authoring Tools** *-Converting DITA Content to WebHelp using RoboHelp® There are a lot more articles on using DITA content in On-line help. The same content is available for other uses. Ron -- Ron Wheeler President Artifact Software Inc email: rwhee...@artifact-software.com skype: ronaldmwheeler phone: 866-970-2435, ext 102
