Structure/Schema - Custom or off the shelf?

[Rick Quatro]

The main advantages to using one of the standard schemas:

1) It has been developed and used by others so it has the benefit of being 
tested and "proven" with actual documentation.

2) Even if it needs to be customized, you have a head-start in the 
development process.

3) If there is already an EDD, etc., for the standard, you can try it out 
before spending a lot of time or money.

4) There will be other users and developers that you can solicit for help 
and advice.

5) There may be existing tools (templates, XSLT stylesheets, etc.) that you 
can use in your environment.

Rick Quatro
Carmen Publishing
585-659-8267
www.frameexpert.com


> The "Real Life" Migration to Stuctured Doc thread got me thinking. What is
> better? A custom schema or one the "standards" such as Docbook or DITA.
>
> I've often thought that if one knows how to create a schema (and the
> resulting EDD, DTD, XSD, etc.) you're better off creating your own,
> especially since Docbook and, to a lesser extent, DITA would need to be
> customized to realize the true potential of XML.
>
> I'm curious as to what others think about this.
>
> ---
> Mike Feimster
>       IDD Technical Analyst
>
> ACS Technologies
> 180 N. Dunbarton Drive
> Florence, SC 29501
> p /  843.413.8122
> f  /  843.413.8122
> e /  mike.feimster at acstechnologies.com