Re: Publishing / typesetting print documentation in HTML + CSS (+JS)

[Richard L Hamilton <dick -at- rlhamilton -dot- net>]

Jimmy,

If you're starting from XML, then I would not go through HTML to get to print. The main XML schemas that tech writers use (I'm thinking of DocBook and DITA, but there are others) have tool chains that will generate fo (which can be easily converted to PDF with open source or reasonably priced commercial tools.).

Going through html seems to be the long way around this problem.

Richard Hamilton 



On Aug 14, 2011, at 5:05, Jimmy Breck-McKye <jb527 -at- hotmail -dot- co -dot- uk> wrote:

> 
> Does anyone here have any experience publishing paper documentation using HTML and CSS?
> Because my job involves testing and diagnosing problems in web applications, I've an awful lot of opportunities to learn about these technologies. It makes sense to learn one, versatile tool well rather than two poorly. It also makes sense to use technologies that are well-documented and easily understood by my peers. CSS helps me tick all these boxes.Practically speaking, I'm told that print CSS handling is quite mature on certain browsers, and from what I've seen, it looks as though CSS can do an awful lot. It also looks pretty straightforward to implement an XML - XSLT - HTML + CSS toolchain (as much as XSLT's syntax irritates me). Working in plain XML would free me to implement parts of my toolchain in other technologies, too (I've had especially good experiences transforming XML with Python scripts).But that's just the theory. Does anyone have any practical experience on this point? Any advice or common pitfalls?Thanks in advance,Jimmy/p>(Also, apologies if the carriage 
> returns are broken. The Techwr-l mail handler seems to have a particular issue with my emails)                         
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> 
> Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
> Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
> Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
> http://www.doctohelp.com
> 
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as dick -at- rlhamilton -dot- net -dot- 
> 
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/dick%40rlhamilton.net
> 
> 
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> 
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
> http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
> 
> Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
> http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat
> 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
http://www.doctohelp.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat