OASIS Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) TC

Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:   1.     Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.     Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org.   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris Kristen James Eberlein  l DITA Architect and Technical Specialist l SDL Structured Content Technologies Division l (t) + 1 (919) 682-2290 l keberlein@sdl.com   Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail  

My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools.   So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process).   paul   From: Kristen Eberlein [mailto:keberlein@sdl.com] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 To: DITA TC Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:   1.     Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.     Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org.   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris

My opinion is that we should duplicate whatever support and distribution mechanisms DocBook provides. They've set the bar for providing OASIS publication support. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:35 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools.   So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process).   paul   From: Kristen Eberlein [ mailto:keberlein@sdl.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 To: DITA TC Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:   1.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org.   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris

I'm not sure I quite understand "the bar for providing OASIS publication support."  Perhaps there are things about which I am unfamiliar in this area.   The DocBook TC publishes the standard and schemas through OASIS.  See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=docbook#technical   The DocBook analogy to our dita.xml.org is docbook.org which is unaffiliated with OASIS.   The XSL stylesheets that can be used to compose DocBook documents and related "toolish" information are housed at http://docbook.sourceforge.net/.   paul   From: Michael Priestley [mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 9:44 To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   My opinion is that we should duplicate whatever support and distribution mechanisms DocBook provides. They've set the bar for providing OASIS publication support. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:35 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools.   So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process).   paul   From: Kristen Eberlein [ mailto:keberlein@sdl.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 To: DITA TC Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:   1.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org.   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris

Hi Paul, DocBook has specific support for OASIS publications, hosted by OASIS  here: http://www.oasis-open.org/spectools/ The support includes templates, usage documentation, and stylesheets for HTML and PDF. As a result, DocBook is a supported format for any TC who wishes to use it to document their standard. I want to see equivalent support for DITA. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:59 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users I'm not sure I quite understand "the bar for providing OASIS publication support."  Perhaps there are things about which I am unfamiliar in this area.   The DocBook TC publishes the standard and schemas through OASIS.  See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=docbook#technical   The DocBook analogy to our dita.xml.org is docbook.org which is unaffiliated with OASIS.   The XSL stylesheets that can be used to compose DocBook documents and related "toolish" information are housed at http://docbook.sourceforge.net/ .   paul   From: Michael Priestley [ mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 9:44 To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   My opinion is that we should duplicate whatever support and distribution mechanisms DocBook provides. They've set the bar for providing OASIS publication support. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:35 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools.   So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process).   paul   From: Kristen Eberlein [ mailto:keberlein@sdl.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 To: DITA TC Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:   1.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org.   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris

Thanks for the pointers (both from Michael and Robin)--I really didn't know about that.   (I've got my own ways to process DocBook and DITA content.)   And I may still be mistaken, but as a long standing member of the DocBook TC, I don't remember the TC ever discussing this as a TC matter or taking any TC time to do this.   While I think it would be fine to have equivalent support for DITA for OASIS TC's, I'm still not convinced it should be a DITA TC activity.  I don't see why providing support for TC's to compose their standards should be a DITA TC work product.   paul     From: Michael Priestley [mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 10:33 To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Hi Paul, DocBook has specific support for OASIS publications, hosted by OASIS  here: http://www.oasis-open.org/spectools/ The support includes templates, usage documentation, and stylesheets for HTML and PDF. As a result, DocBook is a supported format for any TC who wishes to use it to document their standard. I want to see equivalent support for DITA. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:59 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   I'm not sure I quite understand "the bar for providing OASIS publication support."  Perhaps there are things about which I am unfamiliar in this area.   The DocBook TC publishes the standard and schemas through OASIS.  See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=docbook#technical   The DocBook analogy to our dita.xml.org is docbook.org which is unaffiliated with OASIS.   The XSL stylesheets that can be used to compose DocBook documents and related "toolish" information are housed at http://docbook.sourceforge.net/ .   paul   From: Michael Priestley [ mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 9:44 To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   My opinion is that we should duplicate whatever support and distribution mechanisms DocBook provides. They've set the bar for providing OASIS publication support. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:35 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users     My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools.   So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process).   paul   From: Kristen Eberlein [ mailto:keberlein@sdl.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 To: DITA TC Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:   1.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org.   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris

Michael,   Do the DocBook kits mandate the use of a specific tool?  From a brief look, they look relatively tool-agnostic, with templates and XSL-to-HTML and XSL-FO transformations (though there are XSLT extensions for both Saxon and Xalan, but it doesn’t mandate one over the other). In theory these could be use with any XSLT and/or XSL-FO processor.  I think Paul’s objection, which I share, is that mandating use of an Open Toolkit plug-in implies that the TC and/or OASIS endorses that tool over others, which we really shouldn’t be doing.   This isn’t to say that the plug-in isn’t useful or shouldn’t be made available, just that I’m squeamish about any official endorsement.   Chris   From: Michael Priestley [mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com] Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 11:33 AM To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Hi Paul, DocBook has specific support for OASIS publications, hosted by OASIS  here: http://www.oasis-open.org/spectools/ The support includes templates, usage documentation, and stylesheets for HTML and PDF. As a result, DocBook is a supported format for any TC who wishes to use it to document their standard. I want to see equivalent support for DITA. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:59 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   I'm not sure I quite understand "the bar for providing OASIS publication support."  Perhaps there are things about which I am unfamiliar in this area.   The DocBook TC publishes the standard and schemas through OASIS.  See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=docbook#technical   The DocBook analogy to our dita.xml.org is docbook.org which is unaffiliated with OASIS.   The XSL stylesheets that can be used to compose DocBook documents and related "toolish" information are housed at http://docbook.sourceforge.net/ .   paul   From: Michael Priestley [ mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 9:44 To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   My opinion is that we should duplicate whatever support and distribution mechanisms DocBook provides. They've set the bar for providing OASIS publication support. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:35 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users     My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools.   So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process).   paul   From: Kristen Eberlein [ mailto:keberlein@sdl.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 To: DITA TC Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:   1.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org.   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris

Hi Chris, Tthey copy most of the XSL from: http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/docbook/docbook-xsl-1.69.1.zip That means they do have a dependency on the DocBook sourceforge project, which is roughly equivalent to the DITA-OT. Even if the XSL was completely custom, though, with no dependency on any other project, it would still be incompatible with DITA publishing tools that don't use XSLT (such as PTC, and others). While I don't want to favour a particular tool, right now we only have one tool that supports publishing to the OASIS spec. I don't think it's favouritism when there isn't a choice. When other tools add the support, OASIS can add them to the site. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Nitchie, Chris" <cnitchie@ptc.com> To: Michael Priestley/Toronto/IBM@IBMCA, "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> Cc: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 02:05 PM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users Michael,   Do the DocBook kits mandate the use of a specific tool?  From a brief look, they look relatively tool-agnostic, with templates and XSL-to-HTML and XSL-FO transformations (though there are XSLT extensions for both Saxon and Xalan, but it doesn’t mandate one over the other). In theory these could be use with any XSLT and/or XSL-FO processor.  I think Paul’s objection, which I share, is that mandating use of an Open Toolkit plug-in implies that the TC and/or OASIS endorses that tool over others, which we really shouldn’t be doing.   This isn’t to say that the plug-in isn’t useful or shouldn’t be made available, just that I’m squeamish about any official endorsement.   Chris   From: Michael Priestley [ mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com ] Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 11:33 AM To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Hi Paul, DocBook has specific support for OASIS publications, hosted by OASIS  here: http://www.oasis-open.org/spectools/ The support includes templates, usage documentation, and stylesheets for HTML and PDF. As a result, DocBook is a supported format for any TC who wishes to use it to document their standard. I want to see equivalent support for DITA. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:59 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   I'm not sure I quite understand "the bar for providing OASIS publication support."  Perhaps there are things about which I am unfamiliar in this area.   The DocBook TC publishes the standard and schemas through OASIS.  See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=docbook#technical   The DocBook analogy to our dita.xml.org is docbook.org which is unaffiliated with OASIS.   The XSL stylesheets that can be used to compose DocBook documents and related "toolish" information are housed at http://docbook.sourceforge.net/ .   paul   From: Michael Priestley [ mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 9:44 To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   My opinion is that we should duplicate whatever support and distribution mechanisms DocBook provides. They've set the bar for providing OASIS publication support. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> To: "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> Date: 01/14/2011 10:35 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users     My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools. So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process). paul From: Kristen Eberlein [ mailto:keberlein@sdl.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 To: DITA TC Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note. Here are what our options appear to be: 1.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org. I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item. I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris

Regarding the DocBook question, no particular tool is required. There are some capabilities in the stylesheets that take advantage of particular extensions, if they are detected, but no extension is required. Regarding endorsement, the DocBook TC does not have any official connection with the stylesheets or the OASIS customization, and does not officially endorse them (though many members, including me, use the stylesheets and would personally endorse them) . I don't see any reason why an effort to provide a DITA plug-in would need to have any official connection to the DITA TC, so I don't think there's any reason why the TC should be concerned about the possibility of seeming to endorse a particular implementation. Dick Hamilton On Jan 14, 2011, at 11:04 AM, Nitchie, Chris < cnitchie@ptc.com > wrote: Michael,   Do the DocBook kits mandate the use of a specific tool?  From a brief look, they look relatively tool-agnostic, with templates and XSL-to-HTML and XSL-FO transformations (though there are XSLT extensions for both Saxon and Xalan, but it doesn ??t mandate one over the other). In theory these could be use with any XSLT and/or XSL-FO processor.  I think Paul ??s objection, which I share, is that mandating use of an Open Toolkit plug-in implies that the TC and/or OASIS endorses that tool over others, which we really shouldn ??t be doing.   This isn ??t to say that the plug-in isn ??t useful or shouldn ??t be made available, just that I ??m squeamish about any official endorsement.   Chris   From: Michael Priestley [mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com] Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 11:33 AM To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Hi Paul, DocBook has specific support for OASIS publications, hosted by OASIS  here: http://www.oasis-open.org/spectools/ The support includes templates, usage documentation, and stylesheets for HTML and PDF. As a result, DocBook is a supported format for any TC who wishes to use it to document their standard. I want to see equivalent support for DITA. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: Grosso, Paul < pgrosso@ptc.com > To: DITA TC < dita@lists.oasis-open.org > Date: 01/14/2011 10:59 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   I'm not sure I quite understand the bar for providing OASIS publication support.  Perhaps there are things about which I am unfamiliar in this area.   The DocBook TC publishes the standard and schemas through OASIS.  See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=docbook#technical   The DocBook analogy to our dita.xml.org is docbook.org which is unaffiliated with OASIS.   The XSL stylesheets that can be used to compose DocBook documents and related toolish information are housed at http://docbook.sourceforge.net/ .   paul   From: Michael Priestley [ mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 9:44 To: Grosso, Paul Cc: DITA TC Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   My opinion is that we should duplicate whatever support and distribution mechanisms DocBook provides. They've set the bar for providing OASIS publication support. Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) Lead IBM DITA Architect mpriestl@ca.ibm.com http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 From: Grosso, Paul < pgrosso@ptc.com > To: DITA TC < dita@lists.oasis-open.org > Date: 01/14/2011 10:35 AM Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users     My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools.   So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process).   paul   From: Kristen Eberlein [ mailto:keberlein@sdl.com ] Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 To: DITA TC Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users   Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I ??ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item ?? a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:   1.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever ??template, ? label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ 2.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever ??template, ? go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org .   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I ??ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris

Based upon comments from Paul (below) and in list message (id) "msg00042.html" [1]: "I'm still not convinced it should be a DITA TC activity..." I would encourage the TC members to seek agreement on what's a desirable outcome for all parties. Meantime I should probably retreat to an initial opinion I characterized as "provisional" [2] and subject to additional investigation, with a note that I'll consult with OASIS Staff about preferable/advisable resolutions. In principle, creation of tools which help OASIS members produce high-quality specifications should be encouraged. I'll watch this list for the results of further TC deliberations. Best wishes, Robin On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 9:53 AM, Grosso, Paul <pgrosso@ptc.com> wrote: > > I'm not sure I quite understand "the bar for providing OASIS publication support."  Perhaps there are things about which I am unfamiliar in this area. > The DocBook TC publishes the standard and schemas through OASIS.  See http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=docbook#technical > > > > The DocBook analogy to our dita.xml.org is docbook.org which is unaffiliated with OASIS. > > > > The XSL stylesheets that can be used to compose DocBook documents and related "toolish" information are housed at http://docbook.sourceforge.net/ . > > > > paul [1] http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/dita/201101/msg00042.html [2] http://lists.oasis-open.org/archives/dita/201101/msg00040.html Message-ID: < AANLkTimCnQUnBZEukLYfsLDgpX02y7OFfrUrT2E8+9tJ@mail.gmail.com > > > > > From: Michael Priestley [ mailto:mpriestl@ca.ibm.com ] > Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 9:44 > To: Grosso, Paul > Cc: DITA TC > > Subject: RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users > > > > My opinion is that we should duplicate whatever support and distribution mechanisms DocBook provides. They've set the bar for providing OASIS publication support. > > Michael Priestley, Senior Technical Staff Member (STSM) > Lead IBM DITA Architect > mpriestl@ca.ibm.com > http://dita.xml.org/blog/25 > > From: > > "Grosso, Paul" <pgrosso@ptc.com> > > To: > > "DITA TC" <dita@lists.oasis-open.org> > > Date: > > 01/14/2011 10:35 AM > > Subject: > > RE: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users > > > > ________________________________ > > > My opinion is that the DITA TC (1) should develop the standard and avoid aligning itself with any particular implementation and (2) has plenty of work to do on the standard and already has a track record for taking much longer than thought at first to get out the next version and so shouldn't spend time on tools. > > So for several reasons I prefer choice #3 (which might also be the easiest given the OASIS process). > > paul > > From: Kristen Eberlein [ mailto:keberlein@sdl.com ] > Sent: Friday, 2011 January 14 6:25 > To: DITA TC > Subject: [dita] Providing a DITA OT plug-in for specs available to other OASIS users > > Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I’ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item – a committee note. > > Here are what our options appear to be: > > 1.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” label the document as a working draft, and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ > 2.    Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever “template,” go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product. > 3.    Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue, for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org. > > I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item. > > I’ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. > Best regards, > Kris -- Robin Cover OASIS, Director of Information Services Editor, Cover Pages and XML Daily Newslink Email: robin@oasis-open.org Staff bio: http://www.oasis-open.org/who/staff.php#cover Cover Pages: http://xml.coverpages.org/ Newsletter: http://xml.coverpages.org/newsletterArchive.html Tel: +1 972-296-1783

I look forward to the completion of the plug-in, which should help any TCs that want to use it in the production of their documents.  The similar set of scripts and transform sheets produced by Ken Holman for use of a DocBook-based methodology has been praised by users, and I expect the same for the referenced plugin. See: http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ sub Work Product Templates among which is found: DocBook XML Online/Offline Publishing Environments and Methodology (.html, .xml, .pdf, .zip) (includes copy of DocBook XML template) http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/DocBook/spec-0.5/oasis-specification-0.5-wd03.html http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/DocBook/spec-0.5/oasis-specification-0.5-wd03.zip http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/DocBook/spec-0.5/ On Fri, Jan 14, 2011 at 6:25 AM, Kristen Eberlein < keberlein@sdl.com > wrote: Robert has finished a first round of work on the plug-in (thanks, Robert!), and so I?ve started a conversation with Robin Cover about how best to make the plug-in available. Since it will need documentation providing information about how to set up the plug-in up and configure a bookmap to hold the requisite publication information, it does involve a TC work artifact, which would be the new non-standards work-track item ? a committee note.   Here are what our options appear to be:     1.     Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever ?template,? label the document as a working draft , and give it to the TC Admin who will make it available from http://docs.oasis-open.org/templates/ Provisionally: I think a variant option would be (based upon similar activities in the past) perhaps even simpler: if a handful of individuals in the TC want to collaborate as authors/contributors of the plug-in and documentation, without making a request for a template,  the work could just be attributed to those persons, and it could be uploaded (after review).  If you want to make it a contribution to the TC under the TC Process, or have it considered as produced "by" the TC, then other rules will apply.  The simplest solution think would just be to send it to me informally, and I can post to the /templates/ area, with attribtution given to the persons who created it. [PS  If I discover that some other formal process was used in producing and uploading other resources in /templates/, I'll let you know in an update]. 2.     Apply to the TC Admin for requisite metadata, produce the document per whatever ?template,? go through the formal review process to approve the document as a TC work product . 3.     Make the plug-in and documentation available from another venue , for example, Sourceforge or dita.xml.org .   I think that the TC will need to consider the pros and cons of each approach and decide how it wants to move forward with this item.   I?ll send another e-mail to the list explaining the OASIS processes that the TC would need to follow for options 1 or 2. Best regards, Kris Kristen James Eberlein  l DITA Architect and Technical Specialist l SDL Structured Content Technologies Division l (t) + 1 (919) 682-2290 l keberlein@sdl.com   Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail   -- Robin Cover OASIS, Director of Information Services Editor, Cover Pages and XML Daily Newslink Email: robin@oasis-open.org Staff bio: http://www.oasis-open.org/who/staff.php#cover Cover Pages: http://xml.coverpages.org/ Newsletter: http://xml.coverpages.org/newsletterArchive.html Tel: +1 972-296-1783