Term of the Week: XML Document Editing Standards

Why does a technical communicator need to know this?

There are many ways to store and process structured information. Within the realm of prose communications, as distinct from data-interchange APIs, XML is one of the most common and successful ways to do so. Most publishing workflows rely on XML at some point by, for example, reading the underlying XML structures of Microsoft Word .docx files as part of a conversion process, generating XML markup for an automated publishing system, or publishing eBooks.

XML document editing standards identify common vocabularies and best practices for reducing costs and increasing reliability. Technical communicators are most likely to encounter one of these XML editing standards:

• DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture): originally developed by IBM, DITA is now maintained as an open standard by OASIS. DITA is based on a topic model, but it is useful for most types of technical documentation. DITA is notable for specialization, a capability that allows developers to extend the vocabulary while remaining compliant with the DITA standard.
• DocBook: the most mature standard on this list, DocBook was originally designed and implemented by HaL Computer Systems and O’Reilly & Associates around 1991. Today, it is maintained by OASIS. Although originally designed around a book model, it has evolved to be useful for help systems, ebooks, and other forms of technical documentation. DocBook is widely used in the open source world.
• oManual: started when O’Reilly Media and the iFixit online repair website wanted a data format for exchanging their procedural manuals. It is a standard for semantic, multimedia-rich procedural manuals and also an API designed to provide quick access from shared locations (e.g. cloud) on mobile and other devices. It is an open standard, maintained by oManual.org, and has been approved as an IEEE standard.
• S1000D: originally developed by the AeroSpace and Defense Industries Association of Europe (ASD) for use with military aircraft. It is now also used in many other parts-intensive contexts. It is maintained by the S1000D Steering Committee, which is made up of aerospace and defense representatives from around the world.

Understanding and applying XML document editing standards reduces the risk of misunderstanding, leverages existing tools and technologies, reduces costs, and increases productivity.