XML Concepts for Technical Communicators | Hyper/Word Services, Inc.

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XML Concepts

XML's strengths differ depending on your viewpoint. For documentation, it offers a "master format" that can be converted to other formats - e.g. single sourcing.

We're still in the early days of XML use for documentation. GUI authoring tools like xMetal and In.Vision are starting to appear and older tools, like RoboHelp, are starting to support XML, but XML is still new enough that it's useful and even important to understand it at the code level.

This one-day, hands-on seminar is aimed at technical communicators who need to be familiar with XML but do not plan to work at the code level. Instead, they may be planning to use tools like RoboHelp but still want to know what the tools are doing. This seminar provides that background. It describes the evolution of XML, issues of structure, validation, and formatting, and extensions of XML that affect documentation, with a focus on XHTML, a new version of the familiar HTML but one that rigorously follows the syntax rules of XML.

This is an intense, hands-on course. Attendees will work at the code level using tools like Notepad, XML Notepad, and various programming utilities. Familiarity with HTML and Cascading Style Sheets is helpful but not required.

Overview of XML

What is XML?

From SGML To HTML To XML

Benefits of XML

XML Problems and Issues

Applications of XML

XML Concepts

Content

Markup Concepts

Content Structure

XML Markup

Syntax