RE: [dita-help] Context-Sensitivity

["JoAnn Hackos" <joann.hackos@comtech-serv.com>]

Hi Tony and all,
In many software development organizations, the hooks are developed by
the programmers rather than by the writers. An external file of links
facilitates the software developers addition of the proper hooks.
However, it certainly can work the way you suggest through a
"management" file that is accessed by the DITA processing.
JoAnn 


JoAnn T. Hackos, PhD
President
Comtech Services, Inc.
710 Kipling Street, Suite 400
Denver CO 80215
303-232-7586
joann.hackos@comtech-serv.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Tony Self [mailto:tself@hyperwrite.com] 
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 10:15 PM
To: dita-help@lists.oasis-open.org
Subject: [dita-help] Context-Sensitivity

Dear All

I wonder if we can get some discussion going on how context-sensitivity
might be approached in DITA. 

If DITA embraces the objective of separation of content from form, do
context-hooks belong in the DITA content, or are they part of the
presentation layer?

Help Authoring Tools (HATs) such as RoboHelp, particularly when working
within the Microsoft HTML Help paradigm, store context hooks in a map
file separate from the content. The map file stores the relationship
between topics and context hooks. The map file is edited with a software
utility that is essentially separate from the HAT application. The hooks
are not "authored" into the content. 

Is this the best approach? Personally, I think they should be stored as
metdata within the DITA (maybe in the ditamap).

What does everybody think?


Tony Self





---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this mail list, you must leave the OASIS TC that
generates this mail.  You may a link to this group and all your TCs in
OASIS
at:
https://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/portal/my_workgroups.php