XML files, DITA and the Open Toolkit

[todd_acl]

Hi,

I've seen a few threads here that offer only a dearth of information about managing XML files and setting up the Alfresco environment for using DITA.  All the online Alfresco demonstrations center around MS-Office files, which we do not use.

Am I missing something here?  I mean, XML & DITA appear to be on their way to becoming the de facto standard data type for serious documentation (heck even MS is trying to claw its way in to the XML file format market space).  I would've thought that the Alfresco team would be all over XML with gusto–number one priority, leave .doc in the dustbin of history, that sort of thing.

Can we use Alfresco for our preferred doc production environment, storing/managing DITA-based XML files & producing aggregate docs using the Ant-driven Open Toolkit?


Thanks for all insights.

[craig]

as another supremely interested in docbook publishing via alfresco

[ibamsey]

I'm surprised that document production from XML (DocBook/DITA etc.) is not widely used and supported in Alfresco.

This is a primary requirement for us. We create XML documents for contracts, proposals, manuals etc. The XML contains many parameters which are included at build time (e.g. client name, credit terms, telephone number …) the outputs is XSL-FO used to generate HTML for web presentation (intranet) and PDF as final records.

Our current scripts use Velocity and ANT and Docbook-xsl. The xsl transforms are installed on the server (100s of files). The final document is produced from a single XML source and a properties file. The ant script include references to the file system locations.

Based on the above, what approach to extending Alfresco is recommended? I feel that some Wiki documentation on a XML/XSLT/XSL-FO publishing pipeline setup would help a lot of people.

An earlier post referred to a user working on DITA/DocBook. Any further news?

[dmatejka]

that is exactlly what we want to achieve..  cross-media publishing of documents from XML (DocBook/DITA).

[elizabeth]

I just joined the forum, but a friend referred me to this topic. My colleague and I need to migrate our book-format documentation, currently written in unstructured FrameMaker, to a topic-based online format very soon. We're looking seriously at DITA as the data model.  We think we'll also need a content management system, and our marketing writer really likes Alfresco. I was surprised to read on this thread that Alfresco, at least as of Jan. 08, didn't offer full support for DITA. What's the current status on that?  If functionality for working with DITA/Open Toolkit files is still partial, what are the features that are missing?

Thanks!
Elizabeth

[jl_borie]

Hi Elizabeth, hi all,

As paulhh wrote, we have indeed developed Componize, a DITA solution that embeds Alfresco (see Alfresco Wiki).
Actually, it is much more than a simple DITA extension for Alfresco. Componize is a complete XML-based Component Content Management system. It offers full DITA & DocBook  support, and many authoring, management and publication specific features.

We have planned to release Componize V1 on July 15, 2008.
Until then, be patient… a Beta version and a website will be released on June 15, 2008.

Cheers,

Jean-Luc Borie
Componize

[jabberwocky]

Any update on when Componize will be available - I'd like to use it on a project.

[snunez]

Reviving this old thread…..

Does anyone know what the 'state of the art' is for DocBook publishing/management within Alfresco?

It's about a year since Componise was going to be released, but the Wiki page still shows it pending.

Has anyone got DocBook 5 working within Alfresco? In theory, it looks as easy as importing the XSD as a WebForm and using the provided XSLTs to publish, but there's a lot of semantic markup in DocBook.

Cheers,
    -  SteveN

[ghernando]

Yes.  I'm interested in this as well.
Is there any update?

Thanks