Groups - DITA 1.2 feature article: conref push (conref_push_3.doc) uploaded

[keberlein@pobox.com]

Added the following content:

Use cases for conref push

Here are some scenarios in which companies use the conref push mechanism.

Adding content to auto-generated DITA topics

A software company generates hundreds of API reference topics every night,
using an automated process that builds the topics from the product source
code. The companys technical writer wants to add some additional content
to the files, to make them more useful for end readers, but he knows that
his edits would be overwritten every evening.

The conref push mechanism provides a solution. The writer drafts the
content to be pushed into the API reference topics by referencing
persistent @id attributes in the auto-generated topics. Every night the
topics are regenerated, and every night the human-authored text is pushed
into the topics.

Providing a temporary fix for a documentation issue

A printer manufacturer discovers that Microsoft has changed a configuration
setting in Windows; this change invalidates the manufacturers instructions
for installing a printer driver. They need to issue a patch to the
installation topic on their Web site. Since the company will have an
updated driver in a matter of days, they do not want to change the source
for the installation topic. Using the conref push mechanism, they can
create a temporary fix that will be simple to remove once the printer
driver is updated.

Reusing topics between documentation teams

A large company uses DITA for their technical documentation. One product,
an integrated development environment (IDE), is the basis for another
software product. The installation process for the two applications is
almost (but not quite) identical; there is one extra window for the second
product. The IDE is released before all the development work on the second
product is completed. However, since the information developers for the IDE
know that another documentation team will reuse their installation topic,
they added @id attributes in the necessary places. The technical writers
for the second product then use conref push to add the content for the
additional installation step.

Modifying third-party documentation

A hardware company provides their customers with a documentation package
that includes some third-party documentation. They need to add a warning to
the third-party documentation, but for contractual reasons, they do not
want to ask the third party to make the change. Since all the documentation
is sourced in DITA  and the third-party documentation contains @id
attributes in the necessary places, the hardware company can use conref
push to add the warning.


 -- Kristen Eberlein

The document revision named DITA 1.2 feature article: conref push
(conref_push_3.doc) has been submitted by Kristen Eberlein to the OASIS
DITA Adoption TC document repository.  This document is revision #2 of
conref_push.doc.

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http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/document.php?document_id=34710

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