DocBook

DocBook allows creating technical documentation to focus on the meaning of various elements, instead of the presentation of an element on the page. DocBook contains a comprehensive vocabulary and structure for representing concepts in technical publishing. It has elements for books, articles, and reference pages; structural mark-up like sections, chapters, appendices, and so on; and specific tags for source code samples and technical diagrams. Our product GateOne [go:xDoc] can help you to adhere to international DITA Standards without knowing them in detail.

The benefits of representing technical documentation with DocBook include:

• Content reuse in multiple formats. Since DocBook documentation represents the document's structure, rather than how that structure displays, it can be published in multiple formats. A DocBook document can be converted to HTML, PDF, man pages (Unix Manual pages) and HTML Help or any other presentation without requiring users to make any changes to the source. It makes an excellent choice for context-sensitive help.
• Automatic reference generation. A DocBook document directly indicates all of its chapters, sections, and graphics headings with mark-up. Style sheets can automatically generate a table of contents, an index, lists of graphics, glossaries, and other forms of the document's cross-reference. Since these references are generated, changing a DocBook's source document (changing a heading, for example) automatically updates the next time the reference page is generated.
• Standardized style sheets. Organization can develop can develop DocBook style sheets to unify the "look and feel" of their documentation. Groups of writers in seperate organizations can collaborate on a single document to publish a document with a consistent visual style. Many freely available style sheets also exist.
• Tools. A general agreement on what DocBook elements mean has resulted in a large set of available tools to manipulate DocBook documents.

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