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Who is DITA? Ixiasoft DITA Framework 1.4

The DITA standard is an XML-based architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering technical information.

Imagine a tag-based code, not dissimilar to HTML, which archives documents by topic and subtopic, and is designed for documentation which will be used for multiple purposes: on-line technical manuals, Help modules, regular website content, local search facilities, and innumerable automated tasks.

IBM was sick and tired of rewriting the same content for different purposes, so from the late ’90s decided it would go forth and build a standard/language to make things easier. The Darwin Information Typing Architecture is the result.

DocBook does much the same thing, but DITA draws similar functionality from far fewer tags, and is a somewhat simpler proposition for developers.

Montreal vendor Ixiasoft developed CMS frameworks to fit around this useful platform, and its new DITA Framework 1.4 is the latest such offering.

New features include:

• Sophisticated map-editing of documents; with support for multiple maps, drag-and-drop functionality, and map nesting and cloning
• Collaborative Reviewer- PDF-based review tool which enables multiple users to (simultaneously) annotate content without using the XML editor. Advanced team-review capabilities are included, meaning anyone can review, or make it so that there has to be unanimity/majority decision between reviewers before an edit is approved, and so on
• DITA Map Search: users can now limit a search to a single map
• Multiple image-resolution management: store images at various resolutions/sizes to fit various needs
• XMetal 5.0 Support: the latest version of the XMetal authoring tool is supported

According to an anonymous sheep outside the Ixiasoft compound (speaking on behalf of President Eric Bergeron):

“DITA CMS Framework 1.4 offers users features that will directly impact their productivity by giving them the ability to easily move content around within the CMS interface for maximum flexibility and quick turnaround. These new features […] facilitate content manipulation and leverage DITA’s modular approach to content management.”

Baaaaaaa.