Re: [dita-adoption] dita.xml.org resource about DITA tools

[Kristen James Eberlein <keberlein@pobox.com>]

I like your list of questions, David. I'd add a few other ones:

    * Does the tool come with effective documentation that makes it easy
      for the end user to get up and running?
    * If the tool incorporates the DITA Open Toolkit, can a user run
      transformations without a gazillion configuration changes?

      (I recently used a trial-version of a major DITA authoring tool,
      but never managed to get the incorporated version of the Toolkit
      to work. My own stand-alone version of the Toolkit worked fine.)

Troy, thanks so much for starting this thread about tool standards.

Kris
> Hi
>
> My first thoughts were that Bob Doyle has done a pretty good job on a 
> comprehensive tool round up, and how/why should we try to duplicate 
> this effort? My main criticism, however, would be that Bob refrains 
> from being at all critical about any tool's suitability for use with 
> DITA. This can be contrasted with Eliot Kimber's 'Dr. Macro' blog 
> concerning tools: 'All Tools Suck!' 
> http://drmacros-xml-rants.blogspot.com
>
> If this could somehow be grafted into the dita.xml.org wiki, then 
> there is the opportunity for anyone to add their comments about a 
> tool's suitability, or otherwise, for use with DITA. To that end, the 
> TC becomes a channel for marshalling resources & appropriate comments.
>
> However, I do like Troy's idea of setting some form of standard which 
> a tool should achieve. This is surely what a Standards Body should be 
> about?
>
> Here's some initial suggestions:
>
> 1. Which version(s) of the DTD/Schema are supported?
>
> 2. Does the tool use the Open Toolkit at all, and how has it been 
> modified?
>
> 3. If the Open Toolkit is incorporated, which version is provided?
>
> 4. If the Open Toolkit is incorporated, is it available for use by an 
> external publishing workflow?
>
> 5. Does the tool support XML Catalogs?
>
> 6. Does the tool support Specialisations?
>
> 7. Does the tool support content, Map & Bookmap editing?
>
> 8. Does the tool support 'on-the-fly' processing to easily see how the 
> current Topic may be rendered?
>
> 9. Does the tool offer any CMS integration?
>
>
> Many of the above would need a 0-10 scale, or similar, rather than a 
> simplistic yes/no.
>
> OK, a Tool Standard and Review Process is not going to be achieved 
> overnight, but the wiki approach could suffice in the interim.
>
> Hmmm, 'Tool Standard' needs to be added to 'Opportunities'! ;-)
>
> David
>
>
>> Hi:
>>
>> <quote>
>> I wonder if the Adoption Committee has the resources to do a regular
>> analysis of tools and how well they support DITA.
>> </quote>
>>
>> I think this is a great idea. As there are an increasing number of 
>> tools, and to keep our resource commitments under control, I have a 
>> variation on the idea of a regular tool review.
>>
>> Maybe we could create a DITA Adoption "Gold Circle" for tools that 
>> meet a hard core, minimal set of objective requirements. The tools 
>> would need to meet the requirements in order to be considered the top 
>> tools in use for adoption, tools that we would recommend given our 
>> real-world criteria.
>>
>> We could perform a minimal set of reviews of the current top tools 
>> and assign an initial "badge of approval" for the tools that pass. 
>> After that, we can encourage tool vendors to apply. Otherwise, we'll 
>> be performing a large set of regular reviews for tools that probably 
>> don't meet the requirements.
>>
>> In other words, going forward, if a tool vendor wants our badge of 
>> approval, they need to apply, after reviewing our publicly posted 
>> requirements. If they don't meet the requirements, don't apply.
>>
>> I would think that vendors could get some marketing mileage out of 
>> our seal of approval. Plus, we would gain more visibility as a body 
>> dedicated to easing DITA adoption, a proverbial win-win.
>>
>> There's more to discuss, so maybe we can migrate this discussion to 
>> the wiki, but I have to run. :-)
>>
>> Troy Klukewich
>> Information Architect
>> Oracle
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kristen James Eberlein [mailto:keberlein@pobox.com]
>> Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 9:04 AM
>> To: dita-adoption@lists.oasis-open.org
>> Subject: [dita-adoption] dita.xml.org resource about DITA tools
>>
>>
>> http://dita.xml.org/resource/dita-tools-from-a-to-z
>>
>> I wonder if the Adoption Committee has the resources to do a regular
>> analysis of tools and how well they support DITA. As someone mentioned,
>> it might help push vendors to do more complete implementations.
>>
>> Kris
>>
>> Kristen James Eberlein
>
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