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Subject:Comparison of XML tools for writing documents? From:Geoff Hart <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Mon, 10 Jan 2005 20:32:48 -0500
Andrea Leszek reports: <<Our team is considering moving to XML-based
documentation and we're trying to pick a tool for content creation.>>
Can't help you with the tools question, but I have a question of my
own: Have you actually done the necessary work to confirm that you need
an XML solution? If so, have you received the necessary training to
know how to create a useful document schema (i.e., a DTD) that will
meet your needs?
Sorry if that seems like an insulting question, but it's increasingly
clear to me that even the biggies (Microsoft, for instance, in adding
XML support to Word) are jumping on the software tools aspect of XML
and ignoring the more difficult aspect: the intellectual tools that let
you understand what you're doing and how to do it effectively.
XML is not just HTML with a new name: it's a whole other beast that
requires a whole new way of thinking about information. Do the thinking
_before_ you pick a tool. Once you understand what you need to
accomplish, and how XML lets you accomplish it, and it's relatively
easy to pick a tool that will let you accomplish it. Pick the tool
first and you'll end up in the proverbial "if all you own is a hammer,
everything looks like a nail" situation.
--Geoff Hart ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca
(try geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com if you don't get a reply)
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