TCS 4 as DITA out-of-the-box solution

[Craig Ede]

I am currently working a contract for a company where we are writing DITA files using FM11 (not TCS 4). Producing DITA using FM 11 is fairly easy, but there as some caveats. The built in EDDs, etc. allow producing more-or-less adequate PDF using SaveAsPDF from ditamap files. To get TOCs, covers and other nicities, you have to save the ditamap as a composite FM file and then add the additional files into a FM book containing the composite file. Exactly how to massage paragraph formats to get the results you desire withing the composite FM file is not transparent. Structured documents are more difficult to change the formats in since the EDD is the source of that information.  (Any tips on how to get the notes that are warnings and cautions will be accepted with much happiness from anyone reading this.)  Another avenue to PDF (as well as HTMLHELP, javaHelp and other formats) comes through using the DITA Open Toolkit. This is now easy to install so you get what you need and the results are great for many of the formats. Most of the help systems offered come through without muss or fuss except for an occasional unrecognized character that can cause problems but is easily fixed). My boss was astounded at the ease of producing HTMLHelp in this way. The DITAOpenToolkit PDF is equally easy to produce from a ditamap, but, of course, has a different look than the SaveAsPDF from FM11. This is because it uses CSS templates to format the output. The result is a terrible cover sheet, a great TOC, nice formatting of Warnings and the like. The regular notes icon is terrible; a finger pointing to the note that seems totally out of place [it reminds me of the similar character used by Walt Kelly in the world ballons for the P.T. Bridgeport character from POGO]. Wading into the OpenToolkits templates to modify the CSS is daughting, but doable. There are tips on this that pop up if you search the web, but, again, it is not particularly straightforward. Be sure to save the original copy of each template before modifying. My experience with DITA is that it is great at reducing duplication in manuals, aids in breaking apart tasks that actually combined multiple tasks in one (thus making them both clearer and more reusable), and helps to identify material in manuals that just got in there because the designers of a machine were enamoured of explaining how the pieces of it work (even if that information is useless for any operator or maintainance task). I love it! However, I would take the statement that TCS 4 offers a  single out-of-the-box solution with a big grain of salt. I am going to send a separate posting with some DITA codeview interface complaints for Adobe to consider as areas where improvement is desired (at least from this user). Thanks. Craig EdeFrom: Gillian.Flato at nexenta.com
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: TCS 4 as DITA out-of-the-box solution
Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2012 19:08:51 +0000









I went to a presentation last week given by Maxwell Hoffman from Adobe on TCS v4.x. He stated that TCS v4.x is an out-of-the-box DITA solution that contains DTDs, EDDs, etc, so you don’t have to go to third-party solutions to obtain the
 necessary pieces.
 
Has anyone used TCS v4.x as a complete DITA solution? Are you liking it? Is it better or worse than using, for example, XMetal or Oxygen with 3rd-party scripts, etc.
 
Thank You,
 
Gillian Flato
Senior Content Developer
Skype: Gillian.B.Flato
Gillian.Flato at nexenta.com
 
 
 




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