Re: [docbook] Re: [Fwd: DocBook Compliant help files]

[Sean Wheller <sean@enbaya.co.za>]

On Friday 30 January 2004 15:46, Krzysztof Fink-Finowicki wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I am quite new to DocBook but I am fascinating on planning to use it in our
> help & manual department.
>
> I am just after reviewing a lot of accessible products in this matter.
>
> Commenting Sean Wheller (BTW, author of Oxygen):
>
> But if you mind editing in source view, try XMLMind XMLEditor from
> http://www.xmlmind.com, or Morphon XML-editor from http://www.morphon.com.
> They both are Java-based, both are GREAT tools, both have ready-to-use
> DocBook framework built-in, both have WYSIWYG support with additional
> source-, tree- or tagged-view, simple to use, AND BOTH ARE FREE !
>

Hello Krzysztof,

Yes these are also perfectly acceptable alternatives. However, please be 
advised that the two editors which you mention are FREE, as in free beer, are 
only so to a point.

As it seams you are looking for WYSIOO interface for editing, you may also 
want to take a look at Syntext [http://www.syntext.com/products/serna/] and 
Epic [http://www.arbortext.com/html/epic_editor_overview.html], both come at 
a cost.

It's really up to you which editors and toolchain you choose. However, if your 
authors are from a WYSIWYG world, as you suggest by your mention of Word 
Documents, then I believe that you will be better off with a tool like XXE, 
Serna or Epic.

One tip of caution with the WYSIOO route. While the development of structured 
editors is a positive step, not all of them are able to cope correctly with 
advanced methods such as entities and xincludes in the proper manner. If you 
intend making extensive use of the concepts and techniques used in modular 
docbook, I suggest to take a careful look at the FREE beer tools, to deterime 
if they will be capable of supporting this requirement.

Also note that Java based tools using the Xerces Parser do not all support 
XInclude and if they do it is not complete. This is because Xerces currently 
only provides a partial implimentation of XInclude.

With xsltproc you can support XInclude, it is super-fast but it is not java. 
So if java is one of your requirements for processing modular docbook you may 
have to consider using a java editor and then doing processing externally. 
There are pros and cons to every route.

Hope this helps,

-- 
Sean Wheller