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devdra darke wrote:
If you use xml tools to create your documentation, can you please tell me:
1. Which tool do you use?
2. What do you like best about the tool you are using?
3. What do you hate most about said tool?
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1. You'll need an editor to create your XML files. Try here for a list. http://www.xml.com/pub/pt/3
You'll need a dtd/schema that define the tags you can use in your xml files. DocBook (http://www.docbook.org/) or DITA (http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=dita).
You'll need stylesheets to that provide instructions on how to transform your XML content and an XSLT processor (go here for a list http://www.xml.com/pub/rg/XML_Parsers) to do the transformation. DocBook comes with plenty of stylesheets for a variety of outputs (http://docbook.sourceforge.net/projects/xsl/). And there's a great book that will get you up and running with DocBook here (http://www.sagehill.net/book-description.html). I've never used DITA, so I don't know what's available for that.
So, for me, I've used DocBook as my DTD (which tells me what tags I can use), Altova XMLSpy Home Edition to edit my XML files, the DocBook XSL to format/layout my XML, and Xerces and FOP to transforms my XML (using the XSL) into a final output. This setup is described in that book I mentioned earlier.
Another end-to-end option to look at if you're doing Web delivery is Apache Forrest (http://forrest.apache.org/). One install and it's ready to go. You'll just want some kind of editor to create your xml files.
2. The nicest thing about XMLSpy is that it reads your XML file's DTD/schema and provides a popup with a list of valid tags based on where you are in your document. It will also automatically insert required tags. I'm sure other editors do this too. Also, the Home Edition is free.
Apache forrest is great because it met all of the requires I had for my personal Web site, provides a comprehensive solution with a fairly easy install, is free, and has an active and helpful community.
3. I don't hate tools in general. Find them annoying, sure. Wonder what the heck the designers were thinking, most definitely. Wonder why I paid so much money for something useless, of course. But I don't hate tools. :-) The tools I'm using meet my needs and were free. No real complaints except that getting up and running with docbook can be a bit tricky and time consuming.
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