Help interface to the DITA Language Specification

As part of the Resources for the new DITA Users website (http://www.ditausers.org), we have imported the OASIS DITA Language Elements as topics into RoboHelp.

See http://www.ditausers.org/oasis.

It provides a very nice way to navigate smoothly around from element to element. It also has a fast full-text search. We organized all the Task elements into a Task elements folder, etc.

It has TOC synchronization. When you click on a link in a topic to concept, for example, the TOC shows that you have moved to the Concepts folder.

Compare the current language spec, which includes only a TOC page, with links to all elements.

http://docs.oasis-open.org/dita/v1.0/langspec/ditaref-type.toc.html

We could also integrate the Architectural Spec, plus DTDs, Schemas, and even the Open Toolkit User Guide.

The result would be a powerful reference tool to the key DITA Specifications. What do you think?

We are researching an Eclipse Help server for the DITA Users site. Once it is up, we might redo this work from the DITA source files for the specifications.

 

Hi all,

Today we successfully installed the Eclipse Help server on the DITA Users site.

See http://www.ditausers.org/eclipse for the default installation.

Now we are studying how members might build a set of Help files and have the Eclipse Help server display them in an Information Center view for each member.

This might be hard to do.

Perhaps we will instantiate an Eclipse Help server only for those who request one and who have built their DITA deliverables as Eclipse Help.

What do you think?

Bob Doyle
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