XResources—a framework integrating different documentation build environments
In large corporations with a huge output of documentation automating documentation builds and reliably providing common resources are key for successful publishing. If multiple production lines with different source formats are involved, both aspects are hard to handle. Software AG has started to integrate build-related resources in a single framework (XResources) that can be used by different production lines in a multilingual setting, one processing non-DITA contents and the other one DITA contents. Effects on the engines of these production lines and on technical writers are discussed and lessons learned during implementation and migration are presented.
Who is presenting?
The presenter has 20+ years experience in SGML and XML processing, both in a research context in the area of natural language processing and, since 2000, in the field of technical documentation, being with Software AG, where he has designed and implemented an automated build system for documentation using an in-house XML dialect. In 2009, Software AG introduced DITA documentation processing with ePublisher, and in 2015, the presenter started efforts to integrate these two documentation environments.