Creating XML Documents with the Tools You Already Have Alan Houser Society for Technical Communication Pittsburgh Chapter 16 November 2000
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	Contents Creating XML Documents with the Tools You Already Have Contents Why XML? The Changing World of Publishing The Changing World of Publishing The Changing World of Publishing How to Keep Up? The Cusp of a Publishing Revolution Today's Answer: XML Displaying XML Print publishing and XML Adding XML to your Current Workflow Advantages of this Approach Creating XML Documents from a Technical Publishing Tool Creating XML Documents from a Technical Publishing Tool Creating XML from Microsoft Word RTF-to-XML Conversion Utilities Creating XML from FrameMaker Limitations of this Approach Thinking about XML? Strategies for Success Conclusion Conclusion
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	Why XML? Overheard in an Adobe product demonstration: Technical publishing manager: "We will probably migrate to XML in a year or two." Adobe representative: "Why?" Technical publishing manager: "Err, ummm, because?"
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	The Changing World of Publishing The Early Days
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	The Changing World of Publishing Enter Online Help
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	The Changing World of Publishing
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	How to Keep Up?   Single-source solutions   Conditional text   Write for each publishing format
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	The Cusp of a Publishing Revolution   print-on-demand   customized content   database integration   document-based applications   new output devices (including text-to-speech)
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	Today's Answer: XML   Extensible Markup Language   information about your content embedded within your content   your documents become databases of content   select, sort, manipulate the right content, for the right audience, for the right display device   convert the content you have to the content you need
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	Displaying XML XML is about content, not about format. Your browser knows how to display a <p>, but probably doesn't know what to do with a <partNumber>. Something must tell the browser (or other output device) how to render the contents of your XML documents.
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	Print publishing and XML Few currently-available tools provide capability to print XML documents. XML specification for print formatting (XSL) still in progress.
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	Adding XML to your Current Workflow Continue to use your current authoring tool (e.g., Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker) for print publishing. Use a conversion utility (Word or FrameMaker) or "Save as XML" option (FrameMaker) to export XML for other applications.
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	Advantages of this Approach Continue to use your familiar tools and workflow. Retain ability to print. Designing a new publishing system from the ground up is complex and expensive.
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	Creating XML Documents from a Technical Publishing Tool Map character and paragraph formats to XML elements:
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	Creating XML Documents from a Technical Publishing Tool Resulting XML fragment: <procedureTitle>Installing the Acme Widget (<partNum>5005-2116</partNum>)</procedureTitle>
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	Creating XML from Microsoft Word   Create a Microsoft Word template with paragraph and character formats that map to the XML data that you wish to create.   Save your Word documents as RTF (Rich Text Format).   Use an RTF-to-XML conversion utility to create XML versions of your Word documents.
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	RTF-to-XML Conversion Utilities   Upcast (http://www.infinity-loop.de/)   Majix (http://www.tetrasix.com/)   Omnimark (http://www.omnimark.com/)
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	Creating XML from FrameMaker Create a FrameMaker template with paragraph and character formats that map to the XML data you wish to create. - or - Use your existing FrameMaker template and map you paragraph and character formats to XML elements in Webworks Publisher.
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	Limitations of this Approach Limited nesting capability (i.e. you can't nest or overlap paragraph formats): <procedure> <procedureTitle> Fixing the Acme Widget </procedureTitle> <procedureBody> To fix an Acme Widget, you should... <procedureBody> </procedure> No support for XML attributes: <warning importance="high"> Don't stand on the train tracks. </warning>
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	Thinking about XML?   Think about the information within your documents   Think about how you might benefit from the ability to more easily reuse, repurpose, or republish your content   Start changing your templates and processes and habits to prepare for the switch
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	Strategies for Success   Choose meaningful names in your document templates. For example, you might use a procedureTitle format instead of a Head1 format.   Use the template mechanism that your authoring tool supports. Use your templates consistently.   Avoid formatting overrides!
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	Conclusion Microsoft Word and Adobe FrameMaker can export useful XML for certain applications. If you want to move to XML and don't need to print, consider a native XML authoring tool like SoftQuad XMetaL.
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	Conclusion If you want to move to XML and retain the ability to publish in print, consider FrameMaker+SGML or ArborText Epic. These tools are capable of creating rich XML documents, suitable for nearly any XML application. Look for more and better tools support for XML publishing in the upcoming year.
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