DITA Spaghetti - Recipes for Documentation Disasters

cooked up by Jang F.M. Graat

recipes for documentation disasters

who’s cooking today ?

Jang F.M. Graat

DITA philosopher, tech writer & trainer, psychologist

Self-employed

Likes spaghetti, but not in the office

guess who’s here for dinner tonight ?

we’re out of supplies !

everyone likes spaghetti, don’t they ?

reusability by jumps, goto’s and function calls

you never know what the user will need...

pull one and you’ll pull them all

famous program: Dr Watson

everything is hidden under the GUI

beg, steal, and copy before you write

works if your products never change

do you remember where all the copies are ?

no more copies - only one source

write in topics, build from maps

how far can you afford to go ?

any identifiable target is available

edit one and you’ll change them all

do you know where all the conrefs are ?

separate writing from using

all changes are made here

live building blocks, not dead documents

only conrefs - no writing allowed

not meant for publication

task

steps

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

step

warning

warning

caution

caution

notice

notice

supply

supply

supply

condition

condition

condition

closereqs

condition

condition

prelreqs

warning

caution

supply

condition

conrefs always point in the same direction

where is your stuff being used ?

save copies of dead documents, just in case...

Jang F.M. Graat - jang@jang.nl

make sure it does not get sticky...