DITA Processing in the Open Toolkit

...or, What's all that scrolling through the command window when I run a build?

Short explanation

When you run a build in the DITA Open Toolkit, a lot of processing goes on before your topics are built to XHTML, PDF, or your favorite output format. A big chunk of that processing is collectively known as the "preprocess" step; most DITA builds consist of the common preprocess, followed by output specific processing. For example, a build to XHTML runs the preprocess, followed by a final rendering step to convert each topic to XHTML. A build to Eclipse XHTML runs the preprocess, followed by that rendering step and a step to create Eclipse indexing and navigation. During the preprocess steps, your files are copied to a temporary directory and modified several times.

Detailed explanation

The following steps take place during an XHTML build:

• (Begin preprocess)
•  information coming soon
• (End preprocess)
• DITA to XHTML - each topic is converted to XHTML using XSLT.