Paper 143

TITLE: DITA XML: A Reuse by Reference Architecture for Technical Documentation

AUTHORS(s) & AFFILIATION(s): Michael Priestley, IBM Toronto Lab

KEYWORD(s): XML, object-oriented documentation, documentation architecture, information typing

PRESENTER / CONTACT PERSON: Michael Priestley

CONTACT EMAIL: mpriestl@ca.ibm.com

ABSTRACT:

The Darwin Information Typing Architecture is an XML architecture for producing and reusing technical information. DITA promises the following:

•  scalable reuse, so you can reuse content in any number of delivery contexts simultaneously without complicating the source
•  descriptive markup, so you can use markup that describes your information in terms your customers need
•  interchangeability, so you can treat specialized markup as if it were general, getting reuse of tools and processes defined at more general levels of descriptiveness
•  process inheritance, so you can reuse existing process logic in your specialized processes.

It accomplishes these goals by applying the principle of reuse by reference to the dimensions of content, design, and process within a technical communications workflow.

Last modified October 28, 2001 by Scott Tilley.