DataDirect Technologies has for some years sought out new opportunities on the bleeding edge of technology. We watch for new ideas from the Innovator group, and try to have products ready for the earliest of Early Adopters (Rogers). This approach gave the company its current market leader position as a supplier of ODBC drivers, and explains our entry into emerging technologies such as ADO data providers and JDBC drivers. We introduced an XML ODBC driver in November 1999, and an XML ADO provider in April 2000. An unofficial (but strong) message came down from high level in the company: If a thing can be done in XML, it should be done in XML. It seemed a matter of time until our documentation group is forced into making the change to XML.

We currently produce documents in hard-copy, PDF, and web-deliverable formats, as well as online help files. Our existing tools allow us to create XML files. However, our documents are not structured, in the SGML/XML sense, where a structured document is logically created, processed, and transformed, with each part of the document described in a defined and logical structure in a DTD. Lacking structure, the XML file is little more than a selection of paragraphs. Because our documents are not structured, we would have to spend a significant amount of time analyzing and retagging our documents.

To implement a fully-optimized conversion to XML would require a significant investment of time in analyzing the existing document base and tagging the files, as well as setting up a new template for Web Works Publisher. It is not clear that we would gain much from the change, or that the change would benefit our end-users significantly at this point. Beginning with IE 5.0, Internet Explorer supported XML data islands inside an HTML file.

WebWorks Publisher can convert FrameMaker files to well-formed XML files, and may be able to convert to valid XML. This would bring us into nominal compliance with the company position.

XHTML 1.0, a new specification released on January 26, 2000, seems to offer a reasonable alternative. XHTML is a reformulation of HTML 4.0 as an application of XML. The W3C estimates that by the year 2002, 75% of web document viewing will be through non-desktop devices like palm computers, televisions, and other non-"traditional" platforms. XHTML documents are generally intended for human consumption.

Sarah O’Keefe of Scriptorium, a WebWorks Publisher certified instructor, has heard of a product "coming soon" which will deduce a DTD from a FrameMaker document written in a traditional (non-SGML) format.

Stall as long as possible. If necessary, compose in FrameMaker, use Quadralay Web Works Publisher to convert to XHTML 1.0.

Ask the XML Pro, XML Magazine, Fall 2000. Available at http://www.xmlmag.com/upload/free/features/xml/2000/04fal00/kc1_0004/kc1_0004.asp

Transforming relational databases into XML documents by Ronald Bourret. Available at http://www.rpbourret.com/XMLAndDatabases.htm

XML for Dummies, Second Edition By Ed Tittel and Frank Boumphrey, IDG Worldwide Books, Inc. 2000