dita — archive

[Kristen Eberlein]

As a follow-up to last week's TC meeting, a
group of us had a telephone call today to discuss (1) the terminology
outlined in the latest draft of the DITA 1.2 spec, and (2) reviewers'
reactions to it.


We discussed the following items:



  
The fact that the DITA spec is a
hybrid entity, a mixture of normative information, commentary, and
textbook material. Given the time and resource constraints for DITA
1.2, as well as the fact that other DITA resources are few and not
widely available, this is not going to change quickly.

  
The reality that the DITA TC includes
people from varying backgrounds (standards development, technical
communication) and that affects people's approach to the spec.

  
Organization of the terminology
topic. Gershon is going to attempt to create a logical ordering of the
terms, if he can do so by November 6. (If anyone has a interest in
helping with this, contact Gershon.) Our default will be to list the
terms in alphabetical order.

We did not get to the following items and
suggest that they be discussed at a regular TC meeting:



  
Concrete document type
  

    
Do we need this term? Is it a
widely accepted term?
    
How is a "Concrete document type"
different from
a "DITA document type"
  
  
  
Local shell
  

    
Content of <note> elements
contentious
  
  
  
Does the terminology apply to entire
spec (including Lang Ref topics) or only specific topics in the spec?

For reference:



  
CHM version of the most recent DITA
1.2 spec:

http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/dita/download.php/34300/dita1.2-spec-complete_20September2009.chm

To navigate to the Terminology topic, click Architectural
specification > Base > Introduction to DITA > Definitions and
background concepts > Terminology


  
Reviewers comments about the
terminology topic:

http://wiki.oasis-open.org/dita/IntroductionToDITA2#Terminology

Best,


Kris