dita 101
DESCRIPTION
In this webcast recording, Sarah O'Keefe gives an overview of DITA, one of the major structured authoring standards in tech comm.TRANSCRIPT
![Page 1: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/1.jpg)
DITA 101
Sarah O’Keefe (@sarahokeefe)Scriptorium Publishing (@Scriptorium)
![Page 2: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/2.jpg)
Sarah O’Keefe @sarahokeefe❖ Founder and president, Scriptorium
Publishing, www.scriptorium.com
❖ Based in North Carolina
❖ Content strategy for tech comm
❖ Interested in collision of content, publishing, and technology
![Page 3: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/3.jpg)
Before we begin…
❖ Everyone is muted except for the presenter
❖ Please ask your questions through the Questions area in the webcast interface
❖ The presentation is being recorded; attendees do not appear in the recording
❖ #dita101 hashtag for Twitter
![Page 4: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/4.jpg)
Agenda
❖ What is DITA?
❖ Key DITA concepts
❖ Typical scenarios for DITA
❖ Is DITA right for you?
![Page 5: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/5.jpg)
What is DITA?
❖ Darwin Information Typing Architecture
❖ Darwin – because you can evolve new elements from existing elements
❖ Information Typing – content is categorized as task, reference, concept
❖ Architecture – includes components for reuse, single sourcing, and generating output
❖ Developed by IBM, maintained by OASIS
![Page 6: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/6.jpg)
Why is DITA important? Is DITA important?❖ Structured authoring is creating content
with programmatic enforcement of the required structure
❖ DITA is a specific way to do structured authoring
❖ Many software vendors support DITA
![Page 7: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/7.jpg)
What is DITA, really?
❖ XML standard
❖ Built for topic-oriented authoring
❖ A way to work in XML without having to design your own structure?
❖ A major buzzword in tech comm
❖ Cost-effective way to create, publish, reuse, and exchange structured content
![Page 8: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/8.jpg)
DITA components
❖ Document type definitions (DTDs, which define structure)
❖ Open Toolkit for generating output
❖ HTML, Eclipse help, CHM, and others through XSL
❖ PDF through XSL-FO
❖ Documentation
![Page 9: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/9.jpg)
DITA publishing
![Page 10: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/10.jpg)
WhatDITA is not
flickr: JoelK75
![Page 11: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/11.jpg)
flickr: bandita
![Page 12: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/12.jpg)
Perhaps it’s this…
flickr: erix!
![Page 13: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/13.jpg)
Is DITA better than XML?
flickr: matthewreid
![Page 14: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/14.jpg)
flickr: eliduke, mdpettitt
Which is better?
![Page 15: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/15.jpg)
Context matters. flickr: NeilsPhotography
![Page 16: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/16.jpg)
flickr: liamq
![Page 17: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/17.jpg)
DITA’s ideal habitat
❖ Topic-oriented, modular content
❖ Content reuse
❖ Content exchange
❖ Translation/localization workflow
![Page 18: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/18.jpg)
Most common business case for DITA?❖ Localization cost savings
❖ Reuse
![Page 19: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/19.jpg)
DITA’s challenges
❖ Automated formatting versus hand-crafted pagination
❖ Narrative content
❖ High level of technical expertise required
❖ New skills for authors
![Page 20: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/20.jpg)
DITA topic (simplified)
<topic id=”seuss”>
<title>One tag, two tag</title> <body> <p>Red tag, blue tag</p> <p>Black tag, blue tag, old tag, new tag</p> <p>This one has a little car</p> <p>This one has a little star</p> <note>Say, what a lot of tags there are!</note> </body></topic>
![Page 21: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/21.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic id="aardvark" audience="internal">
<title>Aardvark</title>
<body>
<p>Aardvarks eat mostly termites. </p>
<p>Do not accept the aardvarks' offer to helpdeal with your termite problem. You will <b>not</b> like the results.</p>
<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food.</note>
</body>
</topic>
![Page 22: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/22.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic id="aardvark" audience="internal">
<title>Aardvark</title>
<body>
<p>Aardvarks eat mostly termites. </p>
<p>Do not accept the aardvarks' offer to helpdeal with your termite problem. You will <b>not</b> like the results.</p>
<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food.</note>
</body>
</topic>
I am XML.
![Page 23: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/23.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic id="aardvark" audience="internal">
<title>Aardvark</title>
<body>
<p>Aardvarks eat mostly termites. </p>
<p>Do not accept the aardvarks' offer to helpdeal with your termite problem. You will <b>not</b> like the results.</p>
<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food.</note>
</body>
</topic>
I am a DITA topic.
![Page 24: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/24.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic id="aardvark" audience="internal">
<title>Aardvark</title>
<body>
<p>Aardvarks eat mostly termites. </p>
<p>Do not accept the aardvarks' offer to helpdeal with your termite problem. You will <b>not</b> like the results.</p>
<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food.</note>
</body>
</topic>
![Page 25: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/25.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic id="aardvark" audience="internal">
<title>Aardvark</title>
<body>
<p>Aardvarks eat mostly termites. </p>
<p>Do not accept the aardvarks' offer to helpdeal with your termite problem. You will <b>not</b> like the results.</p>
<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food.</note>
</body>
</topic>
![Page 26: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/26.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic id="aardvark" audience="internal">
<title>Aardvark</title>
<body>
<p>Aardvarks eat mostly termites. </p>
<p>Do not accept the aardvarks' offer to helpdeal with your termite problem. You will <b>not</b> like the results.</p>
<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food.</note>
</body>
</topic>
![Page 27: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/27.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE topic PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Topic//EN" "topic.dtd">
<topic id="aardvark" audience="internal">
<title>Aardvark</title>
<body>
<p>Aardvarks eat mostly termites. </p>
<p>Do not accept the aardvarks' offer to helpdeal with your termite problem. You will <b>not</b> like the results.</p>
<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food.</note>
</body>
</topic>
![Page 28: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/28.jpg)
WYSIOOWhat You See Is…One Option
![Page 29: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/29.jpg)
WYSIOOWhat You See Is…One Option
![Page 30: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/30.jpg)
WYSIOOWhat You See Is…One Option
![Page 31: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/31.jpg)
WYSIOOWhat You See Is…One Option
![Page 32: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/32.jpg)
Key DITA concepts
❖ Topics
❖ Map files
❖ Content references (conrefs)
❖ Specialization
![Page 33: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/33.jpg)
Topics
flickr: scientificquilter
![Page 34: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/34.jpg)
Map files
flickr: acnatta
![Page 35: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/35.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd"><map rev="1" title="Zoo Policies" xml:lang="en-us"><topicmeta>
<author>Sarah</author><critdates> <created date="2006/10/31"/> <revised modified="2012/05/31"/>
</critdates></topicmeta><topicref href="Animal_nutrition.xml" navtitle="Animal nutrition" type="reference">
<topicref href="Aardvark.xml" navtitle="Aardvark" type="topic"/><topicref href="Baboon.xml" navtitle="Baboon" type="topic"/><topicref href="Crane.xml" navtitle="Crane" type="topic"/><topicref href="Dingo.xml" navtitle="Dingo" type="topic"/>
</topicref><topicref href="Visitor_behavior.xml" navtitle="Visitor behavior" type="topic">
<topicref href="Adults.xml" navtitle="Adults" type="topic"/><topicref href="Children.xml" navtitle="Children" type="topic"/>
</topicref></map>
![Page 36: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/36.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd"><map rev="1" title="Zoo Policies" xml:lang="en-us"><topicmeta>
<author>Sarah</author><critdates> <created date="2006/10/31"/> <revised modified="2012/05/31"/>
</critdates></topicmeta><topicref href="Animal_nutrition.xml" navtitle="Animal nutrition" type="reference">
<topicref href="Aardvark.xml" navtitle="Aardvark" type="topic"/><topicref href="Baboon.xml" navtitle="Baboon" type="topic"/><topicref href="Crane.xml" navtitle="Crane" type="topic"/><topicref href="Dingo.xml" navtitle="Dingo" type="topic"/>
</topicref><topicref href="Visitor_behavior.xml" navtitle="Visitor behavior" type="topic">
<topicref href="Adults.xml" navtitle="Adults" type="topic"/><topicref href="Children.xml" navtitle="Children" type="topic"/>
</topicref></map>
I am a DITA map.
![Page 37: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/37.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd"><map rev="1" title="Zoo Policies" xml:lang="en-us"><topicmeta>
<author>Sarah</author><critdates> <created date="2006/10/31"/> <revised modified="2012/05/31"/>
</critdates></topicmeta><topicref href="Animal_nutrition.xml" navtitle="Animal nutrition" type="reference">
<topicref href="Aardvark.xml" navtitle="Aardvark" type="topic"/><topicref href="Baboon.xml" navtitle="Baboon" type="topic"/><topicref href="Crane.xml" navtitle="Crane" type="topic"/><topicref href="Dingo.xml" navtitle="Dingo" type="topic"/>
</topicref><topicref href="Visitor_behavior.xml" navtitle="Visitor behavior" type="topic">
<topicref href="Adults.xml" navtitle="Adults" type="topic"/><topicref href="Children.xml" navtitle="Children" type="topic"/>
</topicref></map>
![Page 38: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/38.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd"><map rev="1" title="Zoo Policies" xml:lang="en-us"><topicmeta>
<author>Sarah</author><critdates> <created date="2006/10/31"/> <revised modified="2012/05/31"/>
</critdates></topicmeta><topicref href="Animal_nutrition.xml" navtitle="Animal nutrition" type="reference">
<topicref href="Aardvark.xml" navtitle="Aardvark" type="topic"/><topicref href="Baboon.xml" navtitle="Baboon" type="topic"/><topicref href="Crane.xml" navtitle="Crane" type="topic"/><topicref href="Dingo.xml" navtitle="Dingo" type="topic"/>
</topicref><topicref href="Visitor_behavior.xml" navtitle="Visitor behavior" type="topic">
<topicref href="Adults.xml" navtitle="Adults" type="topic"/><topicref href="Children.xml" navtitle="Children" type="topic"/>
</topicref></map>
![Page 39: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/39.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd"><map rev="1" title="Zoo Policies" xml:lang="en-us"><topicmeta>
<author>Sarah</author><critdates> <created date="2006/10/31"/> <revised modified="2012/05/31"/>
</critdates></topicmeta><topicref href="Animal_nutrition.xml" navtitle="Animal nutrition" type="reference">
<topicref href="Aardvark.xml" navtitle="Aardvark" type="topic"/><topicref href="Baboon.xml" navtitle="Baboon" type="topic"/><topicref href="Crane.xml" navtitle="Crane" type="topic"/><topicref href="Dingo.xml" navtitle="Dingo" type="topic"/>
</topicref><topicref href="Visitor_behavior.xml" navtitle="Visitor behavior" type="topic">
<topicref href="Adults.xml" navtitle="Adults" type="topic"/><topicref href="Children.xml" navtitle="Children" type="topic"/>
</topicref></map>
![Page 40: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/40.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd"><map rev="1" title="Zoo Policies" xml:lang="en-us"><topicmeta>
<author>Sarah</author><critdates> <created date="2006/10/31"/> <revised modified="2012/05/31"/>
</critdates></topicmeta><topicref href="Animal_nutrition.xml" navtitle="Animal nutrition" type="reference">
<topicref href="Aardvark.xml" navtitle="Aardvark" type="topic"/><topicref href="Baboon.xml" navtitle="Baboon" type="topic"/><topicref href="Crane.xml" navtitle="Crane" type="topic"/><topicref href="Dingo.xml" navtitle="Dingo" type="topic"/>
</topicref><topicref href="Visitor_behavior.xml" navtitle="Visitor behavior" type="topic">
<topicref href="Adults.xml" navtitle="Adults" type="topic"/><topicref href="Children.xml" navtitle="Children" type="topic"/>
</topicref></map>
Level 1
![Page 41: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/41.jpg)
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE map PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Map//EN" "map.dtd"><map rev="1" title="Zoo Policies" xml:lang="en-us"><topicmeta>
<author>Sarah</author><critdates> <created date="2006/10/31"/> <revised modified="2012/05/31"/>
</critdates></topicmeta><topicref href="Animal_nutrition.xml" navtitle="Animal nutrition" type="reference">
<topicref href="Aardvark.xml" navtitle="Aardvark" type="topic"/><topicref href="Baboon.xml" navtitle="Baboon" type="topic"/><topicref href="Crane.xml" navtitle="Crane" type="topic"/><topicref href="Dingo.xml" navtitle="Dingo" type="topic"/>
</topicref><topicref href="Visitor_behavior.xml" navtitle="Visitor behavior" type="topic">
<topicref href="Adults.xml" navtitle="Adults" type="topic"/><topicref href="Children.xml" navtitle="Children" type="topic"/>
</topicref></map>
Level 1
Level 2
![Page 42: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/42.jpg)
conrefs <topic id="aardvark">...<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food. …</topic>
<topic id="baboon"><title>Baboon</title><body>
<p>Baboons eat mostly fruit.</p><p>
<note conref="Aardvark.xml#aardvark/nofeeding"/></p>
</body></topic>
Named destination in Aardvark.xml
Link in Baboon.xml
![Page 43: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/43.jpg)
conrefs <topic id="aardvark">...<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food. …</topic>
<topic id="baboon"><title>Baboon</title><body>
<p>Baboons eat mostly fruit.</p><p>
<note conref="Aardvark.xml#aardvark/nofeeding"/></p>
</body></topic>
Named destination in Aardvark.xml
Link in Baboon.xml
![Page 44: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/44.jpg)
conrefs <topic id="aardvark">...<note type="danger" id="nofeeding">Do not feed animals snacks, scraps, or people food. …</topic>
<topic id="baboon"><title>Baboon</title><body>
<p>Baboons eat mostly fruit.</p><p>
<note conref="Aardvark.xml#aardvark/nofeeding"/></p>
</body></topic>
Named destination in Aardvark.xml
Link in Baboon.xml
![Page 45: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/45.jpg)
Specialization
❖ Lets you create additional elements without breaking DITA Open Toolkit processing.
❖ New element is a specialization of the base element.
❖ This is what put the D in DITA.
![Page 46: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/46.jpg)
Customizationoptions
flickr: munksynz
![Page 47: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/47.jpg)
Customization
![Page 48: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/48.jpg)
Constraints
![Page 49: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/49.jpg)
Specialization
![Page 50: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/50.jpg)
Business case for XML
❖ Content exchange
❖ Database publishing
❖ Reuse content/reduce duplication
❖ Automated formatting/publishing
❖ Compliance
![Page 51: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/51.jpg)
Beyond XML’s business case, DITA may…❖ Reduce content modeling effort
❖ Make content truly portable
❖ Support content reuse
❖ Take advantage of software support
❖ Provide output options
❖ Reduce overall cost of implementation
![Page 52: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/52.jpg)
Reduce content modeling effort
![Page 53: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/53.jpg)
Make content truly portable
flickr: aloha75
![Page 54: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/54.jpg)
Support content reuse
❖ Map files
❖ conrefs (and variations)
❖ keyrefs (and variations)
![Page 55: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/55.jpg)
Software support
❖ DITA support found in many (most?) XML authoring tools
❖ Some tools support only DITA and not general XML
![Page 56: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/56.jpg)
Provide output options
❖ XHTML, HTML Help, PDF, Eclipse, DocBook, JavaHelp, troff, Word RTF through DITA Open Toolkit
❖ Starting point for output
❖ Not suitable for production workflow
❖ Customization is difficult and time-consuming
![Page 57: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/57.jpg)
Is DITA right for you?
flickr: nugunslinger
![Page 58: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/58.jpg)
Yes
❖ DITA meets all requirements.
❖ A business partner or customer requires DITA content.
❖ Single sourcing is a requirement.
❖ No existing content.
❖ Can be flexible with markup requirements to make implementation faster.
![Page 59: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/59.jpg)
No.
❖ Content must conform to a specific standard, such as S1000D.
❖ Content is and should remain narrative.
❖ Semantic requirements are industry-specific, complex, and/or strict.
❖ No possibility of internal or external support for technical challenges.
![Page 60: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/60.jpg)
Maybe.
❖ DITA is not an exact match.
❖ Customization/specialization would be required.
![Page 61: DITA 101](https://reader033.vdocuments.us/reader033/viewer/2022061218/54b717694a7959286f8b4655/html5/thumbnails/61.jpg)
Questions?