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Thanks, Bee, for the clarification. I know MadCap talks about Flare being "XML-based," but I haven't been able to understand what that really means, and this leads me to think that it is just marketing doublespeak. In contrast, the XML H&M creates from WYSIWYG is well-formed, and you can also edit the XML directly. Do you know, is there any way to get to Flare's alleged XML? Is it well-formed (a somewhat redundant question since if it isn't well-formed, it isn't XML)?
From: beelia [mailto:beelia -at- gmail -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:18 PM
To: Porrello, Leonard
Cc: kafkascampi; Chris Gooch; TECHWR-L Writing
Subject: Re: DITA useful for translation?
Hi Leonard
Flare is XML-based, but produces XHTML files. You can work directly on them outside of the tool with an open-source editor, and XHTML is a standard, so I don't think you can say Flare is at all proprietary.
But I guess it's a minor point. Flare doesn't produce XML files, which is necessary for full DITA support, and H&M does. In fact, I now use XMetaL because I must produce and edit XML.
I used to think Flare would eventually upgrade to provide full DITA support, but it would not be practical for them to do so. They have a solid market niche and can now provide lots of different ways of working with DITA projects. Although it is import only, generating output can even be done from a command line to support large, complex projects. It's a flexible, ingenious tool, and I wish I could still use it.
But as my Dad used to say, you must use "the proper tool for the proper job". Oh well.
Cheers
Bee
On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 11:31 AM, Porrello, Leonard <lporrello -at- illumina -dot- com<mailto:lporrello -at- illumina -dot- com>> wrote:
As far as I know, Help & Manual's XML is standards based, not proprietary (unlike Flare, which is "proprietary"). In other words, you can work with H&M XML files in any XML browser or tool which supports genuine XML.
"Thanks, Bill, Bee. As far as I can tell the advantages of DITA for
translation that my project manager had heard about seem to be related to
the discipline of writing in a topic based way - which we intend to do
anyhow, regardless of underlying XML schema."
I'd also add that the portability of using an open standard such as DITA is
very appealing, versus a propietary XML format such as the Help & Manual
system you described. Of course, you could probably transform everything to
about any XML standard you want, once it's in XML. And I agree with Bill
upthread that DITA may be too much for your needs right now. We have adopted
it despite the relatively small size of our content, to take advantage of
reuse, and because semantic markup appealed to our nerdy natures in general
more than the syntactic Docbook approach. And, hopefully, it will serve us
well when I rule a vast empire of content that cringes before my every step.
Chris
On Tue, Apr 12, 2011 at 10:46 AM, Chris Gooch <chris -dot- gooch -at- rocketmail -dot- com<mailto:chris -dot- gooch -at- rocketmail -dot- com>>wrote:
>
> Thanks, Bill, Bee. As far as I can tell the advantages of DITA for
> translation that my project manager had heard about seem to be related to
> the discipline of writing in a topic based way - which we intend to do
> anyhow, regardless of underlying XML schema.
>
> cheers,
> Chris.
>
>
> Christopher Gooch,
> Sheffield, UK.
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