RE: DocBook topic element

Ha. Well, I wrote the original comment about using DITA and 
was trying to get a grasp on the intended nature of the proposed 
markup. I publish Help files from DocBook without any problems right now; a 
<section> *is* a topic as far as I'm concerned.

 

I think that how difficult it is to get "acceptable 
looking" output is beside the point. There is the XML syntax and then there are 
the applications that process it. I prefer to separate the two and decide what 
makes logical sense for the markup before then deciding how best to publish 
it.

 

 

  

  
  From: Bergfrid Skaara 
  [mailto:] 
Sent: Thursday, September 
  10, 2009 4:56 AM
To: Bob Stayton; 
  
Subject: Re: DocBook topic 
  element

  

  
Hi,

  
On Wed, Jul 29, 2009 at 8:28 PM, Bob Stayton <> wrote:

  
    

    
-snip-

    
 

    
You ask "why not just use DITA?".  I think 
    there are going to be lots of answers and discussions about that. Just 
    because someone wants to set their content up in a modular fashion does not 
    mean they have to use DITA, if there is a good alternative.  This 
    proposal is for those who want to do modular content but don't need the 
    special features of DITA, or who prefer to use DocBook markup and 
    stylesheets.

    

    
 

    
Bob Stayton
Sagehill Enterprises


  
 

  
I could not agree more. We want to do modular documentation, and are 
  required to publish PDFs. Customizing DITA to get decent and accepptable 
  looking PDFs is extremely hard, and we do not want to venture down that road. 
  DocBook's stylesheets, the new RelaxNG schemas, and the solid 
  documentation for customizing them are superior.

  
 

  
As Adobe said when I asked about DocBook 5 support in FrameMaker: "We 
  have chosen DITA [and abandoned DocBook] because our focus is light-weight 
  documentation and HTML-publishing."

  
 

  
Best regards,

  
Bergfrid Skaara