DITA, XML Fuse in a Clear Bluestream

By Angela Natividad | Published Jun 13, 2007

XML content solutions builder Bluestream announced the release of XDocs 1.1, a DITA-enabled single-source content management system with foundations in XML.

By gad, do we hear the SaaS proponents cheering? Rightfully so.

Single-source content management enables users to disseminate content from a single source across multiple platforms - and, increasingly, in multiple languages too.

So XDocs is ideal for content reuse and repurposing. Better still, it was built with a nod to simplicity, taking into account the non-technical user without forgetting non-techies need to be compliant to a given set of standards, too.

That's where DITA comes in — really a thoughtful inclusion, because businesses broadening their horizons should ensure they're compliant from the get-go. Spilled milk is a lot easier to clean up than a detonated milk atom bomb, which is kind of what happens when businesses start disseminating a lot of material, in multiple languages, faster than they could before.

The solution also houses both XML and non-XML content.

A few other features include:

Versioning - New versions of documents are automatically created on check-in and old versions are maintained. Switching between versions is easy and intuitive.
Publish Variables. Variables can be embedded in content that's set to certain values at publish time.
XML Editor Interoperability. XDocs works with any XML editors on the market, and support for XMetaL was beefed-up, too. Extended support for FrameMaker 8.0 is also on the way.
PDF Publishing.
Knowledge Base, for ease of displaying content online (online help, essentially, but better).

In its previous life, XDocs 1.0 brought DITA to the Workday.

To wade the Bluestream, hit the website.