RE: Open Source XML Editor

[Danny Ayers <danny@panlanka.net>]

<- > Hmm - "...they probably wouldn't be writing about the
<- topic..." seems to
<- > imply that everyone that wants to write XML documents wants to
<- write about
<- > XML! I'm sure this isn't what you meant.
<-
<- No, I meant the topic that they are being paid to write about.
<- That may be XML,
<- but it would more likely be one of the millions of other topics
<- that have been
<- documented...:-)

I presumed that's what you meant, but I can't see that there should be a
relationship between writing about a topic (one of millions) and not being
intimidated by markup.

<- > There is an important (chestnut)
<- > point here though - the people writing the documents don't
<- necessarily want
<- > to know about the mechanics. Anyone can build a passable web site using
<- > something like Dreamweaver without knowing any HTML. i.e.
<- someone has to
<- > specify the structure of the XML (write DTD/Schema), and some
<- poor sod has
<- > to do the inputting - but they don't necessarily have to be
<- the same person.
<-
<- Consider the creation of a set of manuals for a product. One of
<- the first things
<- that happens is that the documentation team gets together and
<- they decide on the
<- heading levels, the numbering schemes, the order of warnings in
<- relation to the
<- action that they warn about, use of lists and depth of nesting,
<- etc. In short,
<- they design the structure of the document set. All XML adds is a
<- mechanism for
<- checking some (but not all) of these things. XML doesn't create
<- structure, it
<- only formalises it. Authors already know about document
<- structures - in some
<- cases they know a damn sight more than the XML consultants who blithely
<- recommend they use DocBook.

This is fair enough, but I was responding to your point about authors not
being intimidated by markup. Knowing the structure and knowing the markup
aren't necessarily the same thing.

Cheers,
Danny.