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DITA: Not just for Tech Docs
Ann RockleyThe Rockley Group
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
The Rockley Group Inc.
Summer 2007
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
The Rockley Group sample clients
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
DITA Darwin Information Typing Architecture Why Darwin? Because it evolves (you can
modify/specialize it)
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
DITA’s origin Developed primarily by IBM in a response to
the changing needs of the business: Shorter cycle times Reduced costs More outputs More flexibility Increased effectiveness of materials
IBM gave it to the “world”, now it is an OASIS standard
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Design Goals Move away from focus on books to multiple
content types Move towards the trend to minimalism Provide more flexibility in structures and
away from “monolithic” DTDs Support maximum REUSE
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Benefits of DITA Simplifies XML adoption Allows new ways of working Encourages standardization Greater product functionality
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Simplifies XML adoption Removes need to develop custom content
types Broader selection of standardized tools Adapts easily to changing information needs
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Allows new ways of working Facilitates intra-team collaboration, content
sharing, content integration Promotes reuse
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Encourages standardization Combine industry-specific vocabularies with
company-specific requirements Better consistency and quality
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The way DITA normally looks
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A friendlier DITA
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A more Word-like DITA
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Where we’re using DITA Marketing Web site materials Business analyst reports (print & Web) Financial Institution (web) eLearning materials Goverment
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Key Concepts XML Modular content objects Topics DITA (topic) maps Reuse
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
XML The current “go to” technology for complex
information development Features:
Extensible Hierarchical Structural Separates content from format Open
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Modular content objects Information stored as chunks (topics) Topics to be reused as building blocks of
content Topics to be “typed” with predefined
structures
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Topic development All built on a single model of a generic topic Topic defines the elements that are common
to topics of all types Base DITA also includes the following
specialized types: Concept Task Reference
Specialized types define additional elements that are specific to the type
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Sample Concept
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Sample Task
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Sample Reference
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
DITA (topic) maps Look like TOCs. Defines the organization, order, and
hierarchy of topics in an content type Provides pointers to topics (topics are not
embedded) Allows the same topic to appear in different
places in a single content type … topics can also appear in different maps
Can add information about topics in the map to provide additional context
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Sample Map
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Reuse Support for reuse is a key goal for DITA Topics are written as self-contained chunks Topics can be combined in different content
types to provide needed variations
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Summary: Topics and maps Topic Orientation
Topic: a unit of information that is meaningful when it stands alone
Maps Organization of a set of topics, typically
for different deliverables
Topics DITA maps Deliverables
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Differentiation (selection attributes) Used to produce similar yet different
deliverables Provides core content plus differentiations Works through attributes (e.g. “state = DC”)
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Content References Used when a piece of content, usually small,
needs to appear in many different places and must be consistent
Examples: Boilerplate text Definitions Policy statements
©2007, The Rockley Group Inc.
Conclusion DITA is a content standard that is gaining
widespread acceptance DITA can be extended, you can create your
own component types and naming that match your content
DITA doesn’t have to be scary, it can look like MS Word
DITA makes sense in a non Technical Publications world
