| When it comes to documentation projects, primarily | | | | with as is |
| technical, medical, and scientific, using XML is a | | | | DITA: bat, bin, dtd, etc. files, and transformation |
| no-brainer. The heavy thinking comes when deciding | | | | engine |
| which flavor of XML to use: DocBook or DITA | | | | 6. Document File |
| (Darwin Information Typing Architecture). I have | | | | Docbook: regular XML file called an include file with all |
| been a steadfast supporter of DocBook for over six | | | | files included in the document |
| years. I'd tried my hand at DITA and gave it up as a | | | | DITA: ditamap file with all files and each file's related |
| fad; lots of bells and whistles, but too complicated to | | | | links |
| integrate. And couldn't DocBook do everything DITA | | | | 7. Output |
| promised anyway? | | | | Docbook: PDF, HTML, HTMLHelp |
| So when Allette Systems contacted me to speak on | | | | DITA: unrestricted, but all need development |
| XML standards in SydneyAustralia, I jumped at the | | | | 8. Community |
| chance to prove to the documentation world just | | | | Docbook: well supported by the XML community |
| how wonderful DocBook is and how DITA falls short. | | | | DITA: small but strong, growing community |
| Fortunately, my in-depth research opened my eyes | | | | 9. Complexity |
| to the benefits and limitations of both. | | | | Docbook: with a little development, DocBook can do |
| In a nutshell, DocBook has the advantage of age; it's | | | | what DITA is attempting on a smaller scale |
| stable, easy to setup, and created for technical | | | | DITA is impressively engineered, but can be too |
| documentation publications. While DITA has the | | | | industrial-strength |
| advantage of youth; it's innovative, complete with its | | | | 10. Possible Needs |
| own architecture, and created for documentation | | | | Docbook: Content Management System |
| outside the book. DocBook was hatched in 1991 by | | | | DITA: Publishing plug-ins |
| HaL computer Systems and O'Reilly. In 1998, Oasis | | | | DocBook is well supported, easy to integrate, and |
| gave DocBook its own technical community. A year | | | | tailored to technical documentation needs. DITA has |
| later, DITA began evolving from cross-department | | | | a highly technical, innovative community, can (with |
| teams within IBM. Its Oasis technical community was | | | | development) publish to all online formats, and comes |
| established in 2004. | | | | with its own architecture (content management). |
| My research and experimentation with these two | | | | So how do you decide? Well, the good news is |
| standards is summarized in the following table. | | | | DocBook and DITA are quite similar in basic elemental |
| 1. Definitions | | | | parts and XML tags. For example, DocBook is built on |
| DocBook is a document type definition (DTD) for | | | | sections, which can be compared to DITA's topics, as |
| writing technical books and articles, with the structure | | | | shown in the figure below (see image at |
| that such forms imply. | | | | Why is this good news? Because smaller companies, |
| DITA is both a DTD and a set of rules for writing | | | | or those new to XML, you start with DocBook and |
| online contextual documentation such as software | | | | graduate to DITA when and if needed. |
| help files. | | | | Online communities (Oasis Open Document) and |
| 2. Concepts | | | | companies (Flatiron Solutions) are already attempting |
| DocBook is hierarchical by nature, and must be | | | | to facilitate compatibility between these two |
| developed to allow for single-sourced content | | | | standards. |
| DocBook has a fixed element and attribute set. | | | | The table below may help you decided which |
| DITA separates content from context, allowing | | | | standard is right for you and your company today. |
| multiple architectures of information DITA is | | | | 1. Documentation volume |
| extensible, allowing the definition of information types | | | | Docbook: small and medium |
| 3.Context | | | | DITA: large |
| Docbook: book (section) oriented | | | | 2. Documentation output |
| DITA: topic oriented | | | | Docbook: PDF, HTML, HTMLHelp, others with |
| 4. Key Features | | | | development |
| Docbook: large set of elements and attributes | | | | DITA: all with development |
| targeted for technical documentation | | | | 3. Basic integration time frame (no conversion) |
| DITA: topic based, separation of content and | | | | Docbook: one business day |
| context, specialization | | | | DITA: one month plus |
| 5. Download and Installation | | | | 4. |
| Docbook: bat, bin, dtd, etc. files and eDE able to run | | | | |