The document provides an introduction to XML for non-technical audiences. It defines XML as a markup language that structures and stores information in a human- and machine-readable format. The document explores basic XML code examples and discusses how XML can benefit documentation by enabling structured writing, tool independence, and separation of content and format. It also notes that XML forms the basis of file formats for Microsoft Office applications.

1. Getting to know a bit about XML without
having to dive into all the tech talk
Bernard Aschwanden
www.publishingsmarter.com
for a print version, please email
bernard@publishingsmarter.com
XML for Humans: Non-geek
Discussion of a Geek-chic Topic
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@publishsmarter

2. About this session
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 Intro to the basics
 Define what XML is
 How it is used
 Why it benefits people who write and edit
 Learn how clear and concise content can be created
(and managed) in an XML workflow
 Know the difference between an XML editor and an
editor (or writer, or whomever) who knows XML
 Speak about XML with confidence

3. Rule 1: Know your audience
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 Here because nothing else on the agenda looked
good?
 Here because the topic is something you
 Have a basic interest in?
 Have a lot of interest in?
 Love more than almost anything else on earth?
 Already generally familiar with this topic?
 Comfortable with HTML (even <img scr=“logo.gif” />)

4. Housekeeping and note taking
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 Not all slides or topics are
equally weighted
 Use some, discard others
 Slides speed varies
(reference)
 Questions? Ask along the
way!
 I’d love to claim errors/typos
is on purpose… they isn’t,
ain’t, and weren’t never;
however, I’ll fix ‘em as I
can…

5. About your speaker
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 Publishing Smarter:
President
 Content strategist,
publishing technologies
expert, author, and geek-
enough
 Certified Technical Trainer
 DITA
 Content management
 Topic-based writing
 Society for Technical
Communications
 Vice President
 STC Associate Fellow

6. Services
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 We help clients:
 Create great content
 Manage content as an asset
 Deliver content the right way
 Socialize the message
 Listen to the consumer
 Improve experiences by
helping
 Create great content
 Manage content as an asset
 Deliver content the right way
 …
 By helping clients:

7. Standard disclaimer
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 In the interest of brevity I
will make some blanket
statements to keep it
simple
 It’s not all 100% “the
truth”, but I’ll stay close
 Purists may complain
 And they are wrong!
 (except when they are
right)

8. I will attempt this in under 150 slides
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Problems with content creators

9. Slide 1/149... They like to create content
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 They create a lot, often without following style guides
 They like to create as they see fit
 They create in any order
 They create based on all that they know
 They may truly believe that template styles are for
show
 They format on the fly
 They don’t use the right formats
 They DO manually apply formats and ignore styles

10. Documentation issues (where XML may help)
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 Documentation costs money
 Researching and reviewing content
 Software tools and training
 Development of multiple outputs
 Customizing materials for clients/partners
 Translation of content
 XML can save money AND generate revenue
 There is upfront time/effort/cost/etc.
 ROI has been proven
 Let’s go explore XML

11. eXtensible Markup Language
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Basics of XML

12. Defining XML
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 Wikipedia: Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a
markup language that defines a set of rules for
encoding documents in a format that is both human-
readable and machine-readable
 Oracle: XML is a text-based markup language that is
fast becoming the standard for data interchange on
the web
 w3schools: XML does not do anything; it was
created to structure, store, and transport information

13. The purpose of XML for documentation
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 Allows for structured writing
 Provides software tool independence
 Separates format and content
 With a standard like DITA, it goes even further
(another full presentation, but I will touch on this...)

14. XML supports structured writing
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 Structure implies a set
of defined rules (law,
math, engineering,
grammar)
 Writing implies the
creation of content
 Structured content
consistently follows the
rules
 A good foundation
results in a happy home

15. Improve quality, reduce costs, increase profit
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 Long term benefits offset short term costs
 Docs can be created, modified, versioned, stored,
published, translated, customized, distributed, etc.
easily
 Content can be programmatically modified or
assembled
 Some tasks can be automated
 Heck, you may already by ‘structured’ but not in XML
 Or you may be using XML, and not even know it yet

16. Some (relatively) basic XML code
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Exploring the code

17. What does it look like?
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 Looks a lot like HTML (or it can)
 <p>This sample <i>ain’t</i> perfect; just basic ideas.</p>
It’s a <p>aragraph, and has some <i>talic content in it.
The </i>talic content ends, then the </p>aragraph ends.
 <img src=“logo.gif” height=“100” width=“50” />
 Let’s dissect an element
Part Function
img Name of the element
src Name of an attribute
logo.gif Value of the attribute

18. What does it look like?
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 Looks a lot like HTML (or it can)
 <p>This sample <i>ain’t</i> perfect; just basic ideas.</p>
It’s a <p>aragraph, and has some <i>talic content in it.
The </i>talic content ends, then the </p>aragraph ends.
 <img src=“logo.gif” height=“100” width=“50” />
 Let’s dissect an element
Part Function
img Name of the element
src Name of an attribute
logo.gif Value of the attribute

19. What does it look like?
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 Looks a lot like HTML (or it can)
 <p>This sample <i>ain’t</i> perfect; just basic ideas.</p>
It’s a <p>aragraph, and has some <i>talic content in it.
The </i>talic content ends, then the </p>aragraph ends.
 <img src=“logo.gif” height=“100” width=“50” />
 Let’s dissect an element
Part Function
img Name of the element
src Name of an attribute
logo.gif Value of the attribute

20. What does it look like?
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 Looks a lot like HTML (or it can)
 <p>This sample <i>ain’t</i> perfect; just basic ideas.</p>
It’s a <p>aragraph, and has some <i>talic content in it.
The </i>talic content ends, then the </p>aragraph ends.
 <img src=“logo.gif” height=“100” width=“50” />
 Let’s dissect an element
Part Function
img Name of the element
src Name of an attribute
logo.gif Value of the attribute

21. What does it look like?
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 Looks a lot like HTML (or it can)
 <p>This sample <i>ain’t</i> perfect; just basic ideas.</p>
It’s a <p>aragraph, and has some <i>talic content in it.
The </i>talic content ends, then the </p>aragraph ends.
 <img src=“logo.gif” height=“100” width=“50” />
 Let’s dissect an element
Part Function
img Name of the element
src Name of an attribute
logo.gif Value of the attribute

22. Some (slightly complex) basic XML
code
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Digging a bit deeper

23. It can look a lot more complex though
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<p:sld xmlns:a="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/drawingml/2006/main"
xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships"
xmlns:p="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/presentationml/2006/main"><p:c
Sld>
<p:spTree>
<p:nvGrpSpPr>
<p:cNvPr id="1" name=""/>
<p:cNvGrpSpPr/>
<p:nvPr/>
</p:nvGrpSpPr>
<p:sp>
<p:nvSpPr>
<p:cNvPr id="2" name="Title 1"/>
<p:cNvSpPr>
<a:spLocks noGrp="1"/>
</p:cNvSpPr>
<p:nvPr>
<p:ph type="title"/>
</p:nvPr>
</p:nvSpPr>
<p:spPr/>
<p:txBody>
<a:bodyPr/>
<a:lstStyle/>
<a:p>
<a:r>
<a:rPr lang="en-CA" smtClean="0"/>
<a:t>It can look a LOT more complex though</a:t>
</a:r>
<a:endParaRPr lang="en-CA“ />
</a:p>
</p:txBody>
 This is actually part of
the XML for the current
slide with JUST the title
in it
 This is from the XML file
that is behind the scenes
in PowerPoint (and most
MS Office products)
 Technically, if you use
Word, Excel, or
PowerPoint, you use
XML. Technically.

24. Looking at XML versions of MS Office
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1. Take any *.docx, *.pptx, or *.xlsx and make a copy

25. Looking at XML versions of MS Office
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1. Take any *.docx, *.pptx, or *.xlsx and make a copy
2. Rename it *.zip

26. Looking at XML versions of MS Office
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1. Take any *.docx, *.pptx, or *.xlsx and make a copy
2. Rename it *.zip
3. Open it up and explore
(in PowerPoint, start @ ppt)

27. Explore the slides folder
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28. XML View: The title of slide 1
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<p:txBody>
<a:bodyPr/>
<a:lstStyle/>
<a:p>
<a:r>
<a:rPr lang="en-CA" />
<a:t>XML for
Humans: Non-geek
Discussion of a
Geek-chic
Topic</a:t>
</a:r>
<a:endParaRPr lang="en-
CA"/>
</a:p>
</p:txBody>

29. XML View: The body of slide 1
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<p:txBody>
<a:bodyPr/>
<a:lstStyle/>
<a:p>
<a:r>
<a:rPr lang="en-CA"/>
<a:t>Bernard Aschwanden</a:t>
</a:r>
</a:p>
<a:p>
<a:endParaRPr lang="en-CA"/>
</a:p>
<a:p>
<a:r>
<a:rPr lang="en-CA"/>
<a:t>www.publishingsmarter.com</a:t>
</a:r>
</a:p>
<a:p>
<a:endParaRPr lang="en-CA"/>
</a:p>
<a:p>
<a:r>
<a:rPr lang="en-CA"/>
<a:t>bernard@publishingsmarter.com</a:t>
</a:r>
<a:endParaRPr lang="en-CA"/>
</a:p>
</p:txBody>

30. Human usable XML might look moe like this
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE task PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Task//EN" "technicalContent/dtd/task.dtd" []>
<task id="id_t_lighting_lvl">
<title>Adjust lighting levels</title>
<shortdesc>Room or seat brightness can be individually configured.</shortdesc>
<taskbody>
<context><indexterm audience="EndUser">lighting</indexterm><p audience="EndUser“>
For safety, admins can override preferences.</p><p audience="Administrator">You
can
override any personal preferences.</p></context>
<steps>
<step><cmd>Select <uicontrol>Lighting Configuration</uicontrol>.</cmd></step>
<step><cmd>Tap <uicontrol>Layout</uicontrol>.</cmd>
<info audience="Administrator">
<p>To set global levels, tap <uicontrol>Override all Layouts</uicontrol>.</p>
</info>
</step>
<step>
<cmd>Tap the appropriate light level or configuration.</cmd>
</step>
</steps>
</taskbody>
</task>

31. Reading it can be pretty simple (ignore code)
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE task PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Task//EN" "technicalContent/dtd/task.dtd" []>
<task id="id_t_lighting_lvl">
<title>Adjust lighting levels</title>
<shortdesc>Room or seat brightness can be individually configured.</shortdesc>
<taskbody>
<context><indexterm audience="EndUser">lighting</indexterm><p audience="EndUser">
For safety, admins can override preferences.</p><p audience="Administrator">You can
override any personal preferences.</p></context>
<steps>
<step><cmd>Select <uicontrol>Lighting Configuration</uicontrol>.</cmd></step>
<step><cmd>Tap <uicontrol>Layout</uicontrol>.</cmd>
<info audience="Administrator">
<p>To set global levels, tap <uicontrol>Override all Layouts</uicontrol>.</p>
</info>
</step>
<step>
<cmd>Tap the appropriate light level or configuration.</cmd>
</step>
</steps>
</taskbody>
</task>

32. Structure has some human-friendly feel to it
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE task PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Task//EN" "technicalContent/dtd/task.dtd" []>
<task id="id_t_lighting_lvl">
<title>Adjust lighting levels</title>
<shortdesc>Room or seat brightness can be individually configured.</shortdesc>
<taskbody>
<context><indexterm audience="EndUser">lighting</indexterm><p audience="EndUser">
For safety, admins can override preferences.</p><p audience="Administrator">You
can
override any personal preferences.</p></context>
<steps>
<step><cmd>Select <uicontrol>Lighting Configuration</uicontrol>.</cmd></step>
<step><cmd>Tap <uicontrol>Layout</uicontrol>.</cmd>
<info audience="Administrator">
<p>To set global levels, tap <uicontrol>Override all Layouts</uicontrol>.</p>
</info>
</step>
<step>
<cmd>Tap the appropriate light level or configuration.</cmd>
</step>
</steps>
</taskbody>
</task>

33. You can even understand the attributes
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE task PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Task//EN" "technicalContent/dtd/task.dtd" []>
<task id="id_t_lighting_lvl">
<title>Adjust lighting levels</title>
<shortdesc>Room or seat brightness can be individually configured.</shortdesc>
<taskbody>
<context><indexterm audience="EndUser">lighting</indexterm><p audience="EndUser">
For safety, admins can override preferences.</p><p audience="Administrator">You
can
override any personal preferences.</p></context>
<steps>
<step><cmd>Select <uicontrol>Lighting Configuration</uicontrol>.</cmd></step>
<step><cmd>Tap <uicontrol>Layout</uicontrol>.</cmd>
<info audience="Administrator">
<p>To set global levels, tap <uicontrol>Override all Layouts</uicontrol>.</p>
</info>
</step>
<step>
<cmd>Tap the appropriate light level or configuration.</cmd>
</step>
</steps>
</taskbody>
</task>

34. Remember that XML provides a division
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Format
Content

35. With XML you spend your time wisely
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36. Content is manageable (size)
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Format Function
*.fm FrameMaker
*.txt Plain text
*.docx Word
*.xml Structure, store, transport

37. Content is manageable (CCMS)
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38. Many editors (tools) support XML
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Real world work with XML

39. Notepad. You can edit with Notepad. Woo.
Hoo.
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40. Code view if you want/need it
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41. Code view is only one option
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42. Across multiple tools
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43. Mainstream tools offer a lot of support
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44. All the code is still there...
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45. XML makes it easier to focus on
details
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Working with specific content

46. You can choose to show JUST the EndUser
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47. Show and hide based on attributes and values
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48. Or choose just Administrator content
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49. Display audience specific content
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50. Net benefit of two topics, one source
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 Less editing
 Fewer edits
 Less review time
 Quicker approvals
 Fewer overall words to manage

51. Pull together what you need
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Quick and easy to assemble

52. Linear writing versus topic-based (DITA)
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53. This means that you can...
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 Open a single instance of a topic
 Edit only what is relevant, and based on specific
context
 In DITA, for example:Attribute General purpose
audience Supports conditional processing for filtering or flagging.
For example, EndUser or Administrator
importance obsolete | deprecated | optional | default | low | normal | high |
recommended | required | urgent
status new | changed | deleted | unchanged
translate yes | no

54. Many XML topics can come together
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TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK
TOPIC
REFERENCECONCEPT
TASK

55. It is not output restrictive

56. It is not device dependent

57. Summing up the discussion,
and options to continue it.
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Conclusion and contact

58. About this session
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 Intro to the basics
 Define what XML is
 How it is used
 Why it benefits people who write and edit
 Learn how clear and concise content can be created
(and managed) in an XML workflow
 Know the difference between an XML editor and an
editor who knows XML
 Speak about XML with confidence

59. Final request
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 Please suggest these slides to others
 If there are any problems with them, please let me
know
 Remember my disclaimer at the beginning
 Not all slides are equal: Use some, discard others
 In the interest of brevity I make some blanket statements
 It’s not all 100% “the truth”, but I’ll stay close
 Purists may complain
 And they are wrong!
 (except when they are right)

60. Follow up contact information
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905 833 8448 (Eastern Time)
bernard@publishingsmarter.com
www.linkedin.com/in/bernardaschwanden
@publishsmarter
www.publishingsmarter.com