DITA

The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based end-to-end architecture for authoring, producing and delivering technical information.This architecture consists of a set of design principles for creating "information-typed" modules at a topic level and for using that content in delivery modes such as online help and product support portals on the Web. Our product GateOne [go:xDoc] can help you to adhere to international DITA Standards without knowing them in detail.

It was developed primarily by IBM in a response to the changing needs of their business:

• Figuring out how to get products to market faster
• Finding ways to reduce unnecessary expenses
• Delivering content in an increasing number of output formats
• Finding ways to react faster to changing demands (more flexibility)
• Increasing the effectiveness of content

The entire name of the architecture has this combined explanation:

• Darwin: it uses the principles of specialization and inheritance;
• Information Typing: it capitalizes on the semantics of topics (concept, task, reference) and of content (messages, typed phrases, semantic tables);
• Architecture: it provides vertical headroom (new applications) and edgewise extension (specialization into new types) for information.

Main features:

• Topic orientation. Unlike book-oriented approaches that are based on chapters and pages, DITA uses topics - small chunks of information that can be easily reused across various contexts and deliverables.
• Reuse. A principal goal for DITA has been to reduce the practice of copying content from one place to another as a way of reusing content. Reuse within DITA occurs on two levels:
• Topic reuse. Because of the non-nesting structure of topics, a topic can be reused in any topic-like context.
• Content reuse. DITA has a referencing mechanism that provides each element with a ‘conref’ (content reference) attribute that can point to any other equivalent element in the same or any other topic.
• Specialization. DITA allows creating new categories of topics, or information types, as well as new categories of elements, or domain types. These new types can be defined using the existing ones as a base.
• Topic specialization. Applied to topic structures, specialization is a natural way to extend the generic topic into new information types (or info types), which in turn can be extended into more specific instantiations of information structures.
• Domain specialization. Using the same specialization principle, the element vocabulary within a generic topic (or set of info typed topics) can be extended by introducing elements that reflect a particular information domain served by those topics. A specialized domain, such as programming phrases, can be introduced by substitution anywhere that the root elements are allowed. This makes the entire vocabulary available throughout all the info typed topics used within a discipline. Also, a domain can be replaced within existing info typed topics, in effect hiding the jargon of one discipline from writers dealing with the content of another. Yet both sets of topics can be appropriate for the same user roles of performing tasks or getting reference information.
• Property-based processing. The DITA model provides metadata and attributes that can be used to associate or filter the content of DITA topics with applications such as content management systems, search engines, processing filters, and so on.
• Extensive metadata to make topics easier to find. The DITA model for metadata supports the standard categories for the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative. In addition, the DITA metadata enables many different content management approaches to be applied to its content.
• Universal properties. Most elements in the topic document type definition (DTD) contain a set of universal attributes that enable the elements to be used as selectors, filters, content referencing infrastructure, and multi-language support. In addition, some elements, whose attributes can serve a range of specialized roles, have been analyzed to make sure that their enumerated values provide a rich basis for specialization (which usually constrains values and never adds to them).
• Taking advantage of existing tags and tools. Rather than being a radical departure from the familiar, DITA builds on well-accepted sets of tags and can be used with standard XML tools.
• Leveraging popular language subsets. The core elements in DITA's topic DTD borrow from HTML and XHTML. In fact, DITA topics can be written, like HTML for rendering directly in a browser. In more ambitious designs, DITA topics can be written, like SGML, to be normalized through processing into a deliverable -- say, XHTML or a well-formed XML format targeted for a particular browser's ability to handle XML. Also, DITA makes use of the popular OASIS (formerly CALS) table model.
• Leveraging popular and well-supported tools. The XML processing model is widely supported by a number of vendors. The class-based extension mechanism in DITA translates well to the design features of the XSLT and CSS style sheet languages defined by the World Wide Web Consortium and supported in many transformation tools, editors, and browsers. DITA topics can be processed by a spectrum of tools ranging from shareware to custom tailored products, on almost any operating platform.

DITA would be the likely choice for large, complex collections of topics or for applications that require both extensibility and interoperability.

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