We get a lot of questions about whether you can use Arbortext with the Open Toolkit.  The answer is, "Yes, of course," but any further details are difficult unless you know what the questioner means by that: "Arbortext" is a portfolio of products that includes an editor, multiple publishing engines (for both typical and magazine-quality publishing), a content management system, a styling tool (so non-programmers can create stylesheets), a DTD/configuration tool, a dynamic link manager, and an illustration tool. Which part of Arbortext do you want to use with the DITA OT?

For example, if you want index processing, you've got to swap out FOP. There's one place you can use Arbortext. You can use Arbortext editor as your DITA editor, that's another place. Want to create multi-channel stylesheets without having to learn XSL and XSL-FO, well, that's a third place. Want to kick off the DITA OT from inside the CMS? That's four.

So, because there are so many ways to answer this question, we've scheduled two DITA- and OT-specific sessions to our new Arbortext Monster Garage webinar series: Editing and Publishing.

The first session is this Friday at 10 AM Pacific. Our shop coach is Mark Giffin, Mark Giffin Consulting, Inc. He's going to explain the basics of how Arbortext works with the DITA Open Toolkit. (Later on, he'll show the details behind how it's done.)

Sign up today! 

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/955276843

About the Arbortext Monster Garage:

There are a million “Uber Geeky” things you can do in Arbortext. Arbortext is a mature platform: The entire set of tools works together. Arbortext is open: The entire UI and publishing pipeline is 100% available through a well-tested API. The possibilities are enormous for anyone who wants to do new, interesting, over-the-top things with their product information.

In this web series, we feature the Open API and the “geeky” things you can do with Arbortext.  It's interactive, and you’ll find knowledgeable mechanics, here. All Monster Garage sessions are 30 minutes start-to-finish, but you can hang around and ask the coaches questions for nearly as long as you like.

Put on your shop coat, because here we go….