RE: XML as a document language

["Brierley, Sean" <Sean -at- Quodata -dot- Com>]

It seems natural to me that, as a subset of SGML, XML will become a
documentation standard. Currently, though, XML-based publishing, rendering
from databases, and the like, seems to start at $10,000 for the necessary
tools, plus implementation and training. Costs seem to rise exponentially
from there.

You can use FrameMaker+SGML to create valid XML output, but I don't know how
useful that really is. Also, consider that PostScript is one of, if not the
most important language of publications; XML does not even pretend to
replace PostScript.

As far as I can tell, XML is extremely useful for programming and web sites,
but it is not yet at a price point that is acceptable for small- to
medium-sized companies. I expect XML to start sliding into documentation
workflows as part of online help or single-sourcing efforts, and I have
tested it lightly in a non-production environment in these regards. However,
for now, I think most of us have to be content to watch larger companies
implement really nifty and expensive implementations of XML solutions, and
hope that their efforts lead to new tools and lower prices.

Cheers,

Sean

________________________________________________

Sean Brierley 
Lead Technical Writer

Jenzabar, Inc.
One Union Place 
Hartford, CT 06103 
www.jenzabar.com 
tel: 860-728-6777 x211 
fax: 860-247-0249  
sean -at- quodata -dot- com 

Adobe® Certified Expert 
Quadralay WebWorks® Wizard


> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Steve Shepard [SMTP:STEVES -at- YARDI -dot- com]
> Sorry about the empty email (if it got through). Duh! Hit the Send button
> instead of the To button.
> 
> 
> My question is, with all the hype surrounding it, is XML going to be a
> good
> tool for authoring and producing technical information? In theory it
> sounds
> great, but are we going to end up spending way too much time managing
> information, rather than writing it? Content management tools sound great,
> but at the moment they cost way too much for many of our companies.
> 
> Anybody out there using XML at the moment?

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