[TriLUG] docbook & help guides

[David R.Matusiak]

On Friday, August 15, 2003, at 11:06  AM, Douglas Kojetin wrote:

> hi all-
>
> i am in the process of setting up some help documents for my lab, and 
> think that formatting them similar to the linux help docs might be the 
> best way. i've briefly read up and see that i need to use 'docbook' (i 
> was going to choose XML).
>
> my question is, what do i need (on the webserver end) to produce the 
> single page HTML, multi page HTML and PDF documents?

hey Doug --

i am certainly no XML expert, but i'll try to help.  DocBook itself is 
really just a XML DTD (Document Type Definition), so in a sense, you 
will be using XML.

they have all different types of DTDs for different applications.  
sounds like DocBook is a good choice for your needs.

where you get all those fun End Documents (HTML, PDF, etc) is through 
"Transformation" of that original XML data.  i believe XSL and XSLT 
come into play and are capable of making several Doc types for you.

most likely, you will need the original DocBook file (which you're 
working on) and then some type of Document Parser (which will spit out 
the various End Docs).  i believe it is possible to do these "on the 
fly" so you only ever edit your original Doc and then all the new file 
derivatives are created anew.

1. i hope i didn't give you any terribly incorrect info
and
2. good luck with your Docs!

dave m.