Structured document formats like DITA, DocBook, and Solbook are characterized by deeply nested tags and a multitude of schema constraints. Unstructured tagging languages like HTML, on the other hand, are wide open. In one meeting, every reason we came up with that made them seem necessary, was answered by a convincing counter argument. "Reuse" would seem to be the most important reason. And maybe there are some compelling cases. But maybe all-out reuse isn't needed. Maybe we really only need a very restricted form that solves those cases.
Archive - Feb 12, 2008
Bob Doyle
What does Wiki have to do with DITA?
Blog entry: Submitted by Bob Doyle on Tue, 2008-02-12 18:35. Last updated on Mon, 2008-02-18 06:54.
The Central Texas DUG presentations on Wikis and DITA, and Eric Arnstrong's excellent review of the benefits of structured formats and DITA compared to alternatives like a Wiki, raises the question of whether we are perhaps trying to force DITA into too many places.
Eric focused in on the reason structured formats are difficult to use - they force you to learn the tagging structure (DITA has about 120 tags, DocBook 800, and XHTML only about 80).
Do We Really Need Structured Document Formats?
News: Submitted by carolgeyer on Tue, 2008-02-12 14:14.