Click to print this articleSubsetting and customizing DITA

by Bernard Aschwanden, Vice-President, STC Toronto Chapter

The following is a snippet from Bernard's 4,000 word article on Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA), which can be readi in full (in PDF, HTML and XML formats) at www.publishingsmarter.com.

Subsetting, in the context of this document, means to remove or reorganize elements, attributes and attribute values to customize the way that options are presented, while ensuring all the DITA specifications are followed.

The three main reasons to subset include changing default tags, modifying the order or elements and adjusting the frequency of element use.

The default tags in the DITA specification include close to 200 elements. In many cases, tags provide features that are not required in your documentation or provide undesired redundancy.

Modifications to the default element order allow restrictions to the organization of information. If this still adheres to the principles of the DITA specification your content remains compliant and your authors have a guided workflow.

Many of the elements in the DITA specification allow child elements to appear with no restrictions. This means that, basically, authors can insert a wide variety of elements as often as desired.

Subsetting tags and attributes

There are close to 200 tags in the DITA specification. One of the easiest things you can do to make a DITA implementation simpler is to reduce the number of tags.

Remember that many of the attributes are reused throughout the DITA specification and it may be better to remove them on an element by element basis rather than removing them from the DITA specification completely.

Drawbacks to subsetting

There are two key drawbacks to consider before subsetting: tab limitation and stricter rule requirements. If a DITA implementation is well planned neither should be a major problem in managing the way DITA is used.

While subsetting helps to implement a stricter implementation of the DITA standard, it also deviates from it. By only supporting a key set of tags you restrict the ability to import other content that complies with the DITA specification.

By redefining the order of elements and their frequency, you effectively rule out some combinations of elements that others may use. In doing so, you may be limiting the usefulness of content that others provide that match the DITA specification.

In Conclusion

Subsetting the DITA specification and modifying the default rules can provide many benefits to an organization. A restricted set of elements reduces the need to develop formatting and transformation rules for all possible combinations of elements. It also allows organizations to further control the types of content used and the way that they are used. This results in far more consistent documentation.

Upcoming Events

Bernard will be attending the following events over the next few months:

 

About Bernard Aschwanden

A recognized publishing technologies expert, Bernard Aschwanden presents at conferences and events across Europe and North America. Bernard is an Adobe Certified Expert, a Certified Technical Trainer and the author of numerous publications on publishing and single sourcing including Advanced FrameMaker, published by TIPS Publishing.
The founder of Publishing Smarter, a senior member of the Society for Technical Communication, the Vice President of the Toronto STC and Past President of the Computer Trainers Network, Bernard has helped hundreds of companies implement successful publishing solutions. Bernard is focused on publishing better, publishing faster and publishing smarter.

 

In this issue:

Contents | President's Message | Director Sponsor | Digital Frog | Good Questions | Alphabet Soup | DITA | Education Day | Spring Conference | Nominations | Elections | Membership Update | Chapter Meetings