DITA XML content standard

eXact learning solutions’ white paper

An Introduction to the Darwin Information Typing Architecture
(DITA) and its benefits for technical training & documentation
A new XML content standard for blended online, mobile and instructor-led technical training and documentation

The importance of Structured organizations obtain the majority of their
Content Management in technical input materials from a wide variety of
sources. Typically, these include engineering,
training
design and marketing departments – all of
To compete in a demanding market, which use different file formats and different
manufacturing and engineering companies content packaging and exchange standards
must deliver information and training to their such as DocBook, ePub, IETM or S1000D.
workforce and their clients wherever and
whenever required. These formats are also different from those
commonly used within learning and training
This is driving smart instructional designers to tools where we typically find SCORM, IMS and
create compelling training materials that can AICC.
handle the increasing complexity and blending
of technical training formats, from instructor- This lack of a common interoperability
led sessions to web-based training, mobile standard restricts the type of documents that
learning and beyond. training departments can receive from their
technical counterparts to simple formats such
Instructional designers who create technical as Word, PDF and HTML.
training courses in large engineering,
manufacturing and process-based

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© eXact learning solutions 2012

An Introduction to the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)

Consequently, the 'cut and paste' approach is The DITA specification encourages greater
still the most commonly used strategy in flexibility in learning documentation
producing technical documentation for online publishing and reuse by organizing digital
training delivery. This results in high levels of materials and documents into small, tightly
content replication, low levels of content re- focused ‘topics’, specialized by subject area
use and the high costs of engaging subject or vertical market.
matter experts (SMEs) in never-ending proof-
reading cycles. Each topic can be organized and linked into a
variety of different publications. This is in
Recognizing these inefficiencies, contrast to formats such as ePub and DocBook
organizations need an improved where a piece of information is sealed into a
interoperability format to ease the flow of book or a chapter, where it cannot easily be
information between knowledge hubs and to reused.
foster content reuse across departments.
DITA working groups have released many
DITA XML: a solution for technical “specializations” relevant to a variety of
training industries including semiconductors,
machinery and language translation. DITA’s
The new Darwin Information Typing
contribution to learning reached a milestone
Architecture (DITA) (http://dita.xml.org)
in late 2011 with the release of the new
Learning & Training specialization addresses specialization for Learning & Training
the gap between technical documentation
Documentation.
and training. It brings new life and content
interoperability across and within eXact learning solutions has always been
organizations managing large volumes of active within the communities which develop
technical documentation and training learning standards, such as ADL, SCORM and
materials and rapid production cycles. IMS. As a result of a recent upgrade, the
award-winning eXact LCMS and eXact Mobile
The standard is issued by OASIS, the US- platforms now support XML DITA content
headquartered global consortium for open authoring and management, in addition to the
standards in the Information Society, which other learning standards (such as SCORM, AICC
aims to boost the convergence of technical
or IMS Common Cartridge).
and training documentation within
engineering and process oriented industries, DITA’s features offer a significant return on
including the semiconductor, automotive, investment for organizations because content
financial, pharmaceutical, translation and reuse and structured writing significantly
defense industries. reduce the time needed for authoring and
content production.
In common with other XML standards DITA
clearly separates information content from
presentation style, but its innovation is in the
clever use of object orientation and
specialization within XML typing.

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Why a new standard for education scenarios that the same organizations need to
and publishing? implement. A better interoperability strategy
and a solution to diverse and dispersed
Rich media and mobile learning are important
knowledge hubs within the organization are
to any manufacturing and engineering the right answers to those needs.
organization supporting its workforce with
just-in-time training and performance Benefits of a “multi-source/output”
support. strategy
An effective “multi-source/output” approach
The production, management and delivery of
is essential for organizations to:
effective and up-to-date training materials
can be extremely complex. Getting it out • Reduce the cost of the whole set of
‘right’ and getting it out on time are the most training-related processes in the
effective ways for training departments to organization
help their companies compete globally. • Create and maintain large and structured
product documentation in a cost-effective
In planning their contents for technical
way, reducing time and cost of knowledge
training, instructional designers receive up to
transfer between SMEs (Products and
90% of input materials from very different
Services, IT) and knowledge consumers
sources, typically tied to product engineering
(Sales and Marketing, Customer Care)
and design departments and often in formats
• Protect the IP of knowledge and
that are not directly compatible with learning
documentation, avoiding duplication of
and training tools.
content across the different channels
I don’t want to write, review, through which it circulates during the
translate, and repurpose the same production of documentation, training
content multiple times! ,, materials and marketing messages
• Explore new ways to deliver content other
than via printed materials but still drive
To date, content duplication and repeated
everything from the same source;
creation have often been the only ways to
• Enable a competency-based system for the
cope with the misalignment. This introduces
allocation of courses for each discipline
opportunities for errors and relies on
based on students’ gaps and learning
expensive and time consuming content review
goals.
and proof reading phases to correct them. It
also makes content re-use hard to achieve. In short, “multi-source/output” provides fully
This increases costs for content production blended knowledge and learning processes at
and repurposing across the different units of a reasonable cost.
an organization. This level of complexity is
mainly due to the ineffective answers that The publishing market has identified, in DITA
some publishing standards and technologies - the standard modality to structure
currently in place in most organizations - documentation in a way that makes “single
provide to “multiple source – multiple output” source - multiple output” a reality and

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traditional publishing mechanisms can be kept and developed precepts for ‘programmed
- while also addressing new media and new learning’ that required learning materials to
distribution channels. be segregated into ‘chunks’. In the mid-
1960s, Robert Horn developed information
About DITA mapping techniques. Common ‘information
DITA builds content reuse into the authoring types’ were identified in standard documents
process. It defines an architecture for such as user manuals, annual reports, policy
designing, writing, managing and publishing and procedure manuals. Identifying standard
information in print and on the Web. information types is at the heart of DITA.

The standard is advanced through an open In March 2001, IBM introduced DITA as a series
process by the OASIS DITA Technical of developer Works articles about a new
Committee, a group that encourages version of XML for documentation. DITA was
participation from developers and users. an attempt to make a simplified XML starter
set for documentation mark-up - one designed
DITA’s features are based on decades of
from the outset to encourage the reuse of
research into methods for technical
small content components. DITA’s goal was to
documentation. These include modularity,
formalize information typing practices, both
structured writing, information typing,
print and online, and also enable an
minimalism, inheritance, specialization,
extensible typing architecture through
simplified XML, single-source, topic-based,
specialization of base topics. DITA maps were
ready-made metadata, conditional
a way to standardize collection publishing and
processing, component publishing, task-
information architecture/ outlining models.
orientation, content reuse, multi-channel and
translation-compatibility. In May 2002, IBM added domain specialization
to topic specialization and demonstrated
History
these in the Open Toolkit - a reference
DITA traces its conceptual ancestry to before implementation of DITA publishing – that
the 1960s. In that decade, B.F. Skinner used allows DITA documents to be output in a
mainframe computers as ‘teaching machines’ variety of common formats including PDF,

approved as an OASIS approved as an OASIS approved as an OASIS
DITA v1.0

DITA v1.1

DITA v1.2

Standard in May 2005. Standard in August Standard in December
DITA Language 2007. 2010.
Reference v1.0 DITA Language DITA Specification v1.2
DITA Architectural Reference v1.1
Specification v1.0 DITA Architectural
Specification v1.1

Current version of DITA 1.2 specification can be downloaded at:
http://docs.oasis-open.org/dita/v1.2/os/spec/DITA1.2-spec.html

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Word and HTML. IBM encouraged authoring The eXact DITA Editor was launched at the
tool vendors to integrate the Open Toolkit as end of January 2012 at Learning Technologies
a means of publishing DITA. 2012, in London, and then at Learntec 2012,
in Karlsruhe, Germany. It offers a fully-
In April 2004, the Organization for the fledged DITA authoring, management and
Advancement of Structured Information delivery environment. This environment is
Standards (OASIS), formed a Technical fully integrated with the SCORM-based online
Committee to explore a DITA Standard. The and mobile learning content management and
committee included tool vendors, information rendering capabilities which are at the core of
and content management consultants and, the eXact LCMS platform –currently installed
most importantly, end users. in over 100 organizations worldwide.
In February 2005, IBM donated the Open At the eXact DITA launch Fabrizio Cardinali,
Toolkit (OT), a limited version of its internal CEO of eXact learning solutions North America
Information Developers Workbench, to stated: “After DITA’s recent announcement of
SourceForge. IBM continues to develop the a new learning and training materials
OT, which is not a part of the OASIS DITA specification, many corporate CIOs and CLOs
Standard efforts. are now asking for DITA compliancy from
For further details about DITA, visit suppliers. They want to import DITA
http://dita.xml.org documentation from other departments - and
they want to convert and embed it into AICC
eXact learning solutions and DITA and/or SCORM packages to be used for online
training and within their instructor-led and
eXact learning solutions has enhanced its
technical training content production
eXact LCMS, to support DITA XML editing and
processes. For many years, sophisticated
rendering. This adds technical documentation
organisations have found it hard to share and
to its single source multiple channel learning
re-use content between technical and training
content management architecture.

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Document (File)

Assume that content is enclosed in a document (file) that can
be of various formats (wrappers of content). Those may comply
A1
A1.1 with a number of formats including - but not limited to - PPT,
A1.2 Document (File) Word, PDF, XML, XML/DITA, SCO.
B1 Such content is organized into sections, indented paragraphs
B1.1
B1.2 and so on.
B1.3
Chunk (Topic) Let’s assume that A1.1, in the figure on the left, is a chunk -
C1
the fragment of content - we want to deal with in this
C1.1
presentation and let’s call it a TOPIC. The same applies to B1,
C11 and so on.
These are all considered chunks (topics).

Chunk (Topic)
departments. DITA is the solution to the designers and trainers, while requiring
problem.” consistency in learning content and technical
documents.
Implementing a structured content
management strategy in eXact LCMS Authoring DITA
Native DITA support in eXact LCMS eXact LCMS, the leading solution for Learning
complements the overall strategy of Content authoring, management and delivery
supporting blended learning and publishing through multiple platforms and delivery
through single-source content. channels, recently improved its ability to
support authors in the production of multiple
A fully blended approach to the production of output materials from one set of source
training materials and technical documentation and across a single content
documentation is an important success factor production process.
in every organization addressing change
management at any level. A blended eXact DITA Editor allows training contents and
approach guarantees that all stakeholders technical documents to be developed in a
have access to the right knowledge anytime, structured and organized way. All information
anywhere, regardless of their role in the can be structured into self-contained
organization, their duties, their working time information chunks. A chunk (or “Topic”, in
and location, and the technology they can DITA terms) encapsulates a single subject,
access. and is the smallest piece of information that
can stand on its own.
A fully blended approach has key advantages
for those organizations that aim to reduce the The eXact DITA Editor has been optimized for
costs and time taken for creating and DITA authoring, embedding features such as:
maintaining training materials and technical
documents. It is particularly important when  ‘Word processor-like’ user interface.
the process involves multiple delivery Authoring DITA documents is extremely
mechanisms and a mixed network of authors , easy, thanks to a user interface which
subject matter exports, instructional mimics word processing tools. Structuring

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and formatting content according to the  Document Structure view. A hierarchical
DITA schema is similar to using paragraph outline view of the document is always
styles and word formatting in MS Word. available. Authors can expand and
 Immediate preview. While What-you-see- contract elements like an outline tool,
is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) is only move content around and synchronize
approximate in the case of XML changes with the main document view.
authoring, due to the focus on semantic  Visual DITA Map editing. The topic
tagging and multiple output options, the references, arranged in a hierarchy, can
final appearance of a DITA document can be changed without looking at the XML
easily be accessed through instant export code.
to a variety of formats, including SCORM,  Drag and drop structures. Recursive
eBook, RTF and PDF formats. aggregation of topics in DITA Maps is as
 Elements in context. When adding easy as dragging and dropping them into
structural elements, such as a new section the tree-representation of the DITA Maps
in a DITA topic or a step in a DITA task, under editing.
the authoring tool displays a context-  Spell check. Spell check functionalities
dependent list of valid elements that can are available and configurable to match
be added at the current insertion point in the specific language of each author or
the document. document. Dictionaries can be configured
 Tags-on view. Although they often disrupt to enable customized word lists, ensuring
the WYSIWYG look, optional visual that writers use terminology consistently.
representations of the start and end tags  Multilingual support. eXact DITA Editor is
for structural elements can be helpful, integrated with the powerful content
especially to validate content tagging and localization engine of eXact LCMS.
ensure re-usability of document structures Exporting, translating and re-importing
at a granular level. translation memories (TMX) in standard X-

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Single source Multiple Output

A1 A
A
1.
MSWord
1.
1
B1 2 PDF (book, handouts, manuals)
B1.1
B1.2
B1.3
C1 C DITA MAP 1 B1
1. B1.1

Publication Engine
1 A1 A1 B1.2
A1
.1
B1.3

A1 A .2 D1
A
1. SCO B1
B1.1
D1.1
1.
1 D1.1
B1.2
D1 2
D B1.3
D
1. D1 C1
D1
1.
1 D1 C1.1
2 .1
C1
.2
C1
A
.1
A1
A
1. XML DITA MAP 2
1.
A1
1
B1 2
B A1.1
B
1. A1.2 SCO (WBT)
B
1.
1 B1 LMS, Mobile Delivery)
B
1.
2 On-demand
B1.1
1.
3 publication Online Help
3
C1 HTML, Portal
C1.1

LIFF (XML Language Interchange File available at any time to DITA Authors to
Format) is yet another feature made maximize reusability of content and
available by eXact LCMS. information across the organization.
 Open Toolkit (OT) support. eXact DITA
Editor uses the open-source DITA OT to Content authored in eXact DITA Editor can be
take advantage of plug-ins contributed by easily published to a variety of output formats
the DITA community. Additional publishing – choosing, for each delivery channel, the
appropriate topics and style for the intended
engines can be plugged in to generate
additional outputs. platform or device.

Once content is ready for delivery, the LCMS
Links and Version Control
parses all relevant content through a
Content linking and version control of
template-based publishing engine (included in
structured content has been a feature of
the LCMS core system) to produce a variety of
eXact LCMS since its first appearance on the
different publications out of a single source of
market. The eXact DITA Editor leverages the
information chunks, as shown in the figure
dynamic linking and version control engine to
below:
maximize reusability of content and support
distributed content reviews and controlled Metadata, Workflow and Content
sign-off cycles. management
In a distributed organization, different
Every individual element inside DITA topics
authors work on the same content using a
can be automatically assigned separate IDs for
variety of authoring tools.
use in other DITA documents. Reusable
components can be managed, reviewed and
versioned in eXact LCMS repository and are

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Adopting a single-source-enabled LCMS LCMS.
solution, all of the content can be stored in a
single digital repository. At the same time, any DITA topic or topic
aggregation (which in DITA is referred to as a
In addition, they will be split by the LCMS “Map”) can be exported and distributed to
into logical chunks recognized by the system. external DITA-aware systems, leveraging the
Now we can really say that they *are* actual high level of interoperability provided by the
chunks. By that, we mean that each of them eXact LCMS Service-Oriented Architecture.
will have its own:
Publishing DITA content to SCORM
• Metadata Users of eXact DITA Editor have the unique
• Attributes, Tags ability to publish their DITA contents to
• Versions SCORM all within a single authoring and
• References content management environment. Indeed,
• Workflow Status eXact LCMS supports seamless authoring and
• Ownership and tasks sharing of content across different kinds of
publications, including the world leading
DITA Import/Export
template-based authoring features of eXact
In addition to DITA authoring features, eXact
Packager and the Online Editor, both of which
LCMS allows you to import any pre-existing
are part of the eXact LCMS Suite.
DITA publication and chunk it down into its
components to maximize the reusability of Publishing DITA content to SCORM is the
the information - starting from high level easiest way to use and reuse technical
topics (such as manual sections or book documentation in our learning content
chapters) down to the single paragraph or production flow. This reduces the time and
image file. cost of producing interactive learning
packages and maximizes the Return on
Imported DITA documents can be further
Investment.
authored, aggregated and reviewed using the
standard collaborative tools provided in the

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Output channels • Single-source - allows a diversity of styles
The eXact LCMS architecture shows how, from to be applied to the same data for
single source content and within a single consistency in content styles
content production process, DITA supports the • Content Reuse - don't write the same
production of a variety of outputs, including: sentence twice. This is one of the
principal ways to reduce total ownership
• Training Guides – for instructor led costs.
training • Structured Writing - reduces authoring
• Web-based training courses and course time and increases analysis time
components • Task orientation - reduces customer
• Roll-Out Guides service calls
• Support Guides • Minimalism - improves the end-user
• Instructor Guides (for trainers) experience
• Online help systems • Specialization - customize topics to fit
• Printed / PDF based documentation existing formats
• FAQs • Multiple Output Formats - web (HTML),
• Tech Support website print (PDF), and online Help
• Marketing material (both online, • Multi-channel Delivery - add Mobile with
printouts, SMS and eMail notifications) minimum extra development
• Simplified XML - greatly reduces the
Return on investment in DITA development cost of Schemas/DTDs
Because the single largest cost for training • Metadata - supports semantic-guided
content and technical documentation comes search and conditional processing
from lifecycle maintenance of the content • Conditional Processing - rapid creation of
and ensuring it is always up-to-date, DITA’s content variations for special needs
features offer a significant Return on • Modularity - assemble documents from
Investment for organizations. manageable chunks
• Component Content Management and
These features include: Publishing.
• Translation Savings - the top ROI factor for
global firms

eXact learning solutions
eXact learning solutions, formerly Giunti Labs, is a leading online and mobile learning content management
and digital repository
solutions provider, offering a wide range of tools and services for content development, management and eXact learning solutions - Headquarters
delivery, covering: Abbazia dell’Annunziata
• Multi-language bespoke learning content production Via Portobello - Baia del Silenzio
• Content management and digital repository platforms 16039 Sestri Levante (GE) Italy
• Mobile learning technologies
• Consulting and professional services Tel +39.0185.4761
The company has over fifteen years of experience and more than 100 clients worldwide. Our technological Fax +39.0185.43.347
innovations allow enterprises to improve their organizational performance, and achieve significant reductions www.exact-learning.com
in business costs info@exactls.com

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DITA XML content standard

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