RE: [docbook-apps] General question about creating docbookdocuments (maybe OT)

[Tim Arnold <Tim.Arnold@sas.com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Frank Arensmeier [mailto:frank@nikemedia.se]
> Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 4:02 AM
> To: docbook-apps@lists.oasis-open.org
> Subject: [docbook-apps] General question about creating docbook documents
> (maybe OT)
> 
> Hi there.
> 
> I would like to ask the list members: how do you create docbook-
> compilant XML documents? What does your workflow looks like so to say?
> Do you write XML files in a XML editor? A web interface? My apologies
> if this is slightly off topic.

Hi Frank,
It sounds like you're doing the right stuff to me with maybe the addition of using a version control system for your sources. You might also be interested in setting up Hudson to help you track your builds.

For my system, the writers work in LaTeX and keep that source in a version control repository like CVS. The workflow to produce pdf is of course pretty simple since that is where LaTeX excels (this documentation is highly mathematical). 

The workflow to produce html is to run the LaTeX source through the plasTeX converter to get DocBook XML, then to the stylesheets with some customization to get XHTML that is production-ready.

I set up a website (Django framework) to surface the configuration of the documents to the writers. The production engine reads the configuration, does the work and writes a report of the build process back to the web. All docs are built nightly.

For single chapters, writers use the command-line on linux to build/compile/test their documentation before pushing to the repository.

good luck and thanks for asking the question. It's been interesting to see the various setups we all have.

--Tim Arnold