Workshop: "You Want to Go XML-First: Now What? Building an In-House XML-First Workflow" by Terri Rothman & Sylvia Hunter (P-Shift, University of Toronto Press) for ebookcraft 2016, presented by BookNet Canada and eBOUND Canada - March 30, 2016

1. #ebookcraft 2016

2. #ebookcraft

3. Building an
In-house
XML-FIRST
WORKFLOW
#ebookcraft

4.  Demystify XML
 Share our UTP story
 Navigate our workflow
 Decode XSLTs
 Open our toolbox
 Predict the future

5.  eXtensible Markup Language
– you can do whatever you want with it
 Platform-independent
– no special software needed
 Transformable
– you can make your XML into
anything you want

6.  DTD – Document Type Definition
 XSLT – eXtensible Stylesheet
Language Transformation

8.  A press since 1901
 In its 6th year of using an in-house
XML-First workflow
 Managed by the P-Shift team
 Full implementation was gradually done
over multiple years

9.  You want to future-proof your content
◦ So you archive it in XML for the potential
down the road
 You want to have more control over your
content
◦ So you apply XML tags to identify what
things are

10.  To keep things familiar
 Maintain control over content
 Allow in-house EPUB production
 Be the creators of an archive format

11. Screen or
Paper CE
Non-
Standardized
CE Mark-Up
Comp in
InDesign
from Word
files
Hard-copy
Proof
PDF to
Printer
Post-
publication
Batch
Conversion
PDF to EPUB

12. Standardized
Markup using
Styles
On-screen CE XML
Comp in
InDesign
from XML
files
PDF Proof PDF to Printer
Post-
publication
Batch
Conversion to
EPUB

13. Standardized
Markup using
Styles
On-screen
CE
XML
Comp in
InDesign
from
XML files
PDF Proof
Export PDF
to Printer
XML to
P-Shift
EPUB +
Archival XML
from
exported XML

14. Word +
eXtyles
oXygen +
XSLT
InDesign
Sigil + EPUB
QA tools

15. Initial
Processing
Final
Processing
EPUB
Production

16. • Format with consistent styles
• Link citations and references
• Run advanced processing checks
• Export valid XML files

17. Titles are MTitle1
Subtitles are MTitle3
AHeads are Heading 1
Body text is Body Text
Callouts are highlighted
Figure text is Caption

21.  CNX
 CN
 CT
 CST
 H1
 Txt
 NtComp
 Capt

22.  CNX
 CN
 CT
 CST
 H1
 Txt
 NtComp
 Capt

25.  Figure callout
 Endnote
superscripts
 In-text
references
 Box callout

26.  Figure
callout
 Endnote
superscripts
 In-text
references
 Box callout

28. = eXtensible
Stylesheet
Language
Transformation

29. XML File
XSLT
Stylesheets
Multiple
Formats

32. Data folder Lib folder
This folder
has got a
lot of stuff
in it.
Under the hood
7 Pipelines
61 XSLT Stylesheets
643 XSLT Templates
= a bajillion XSLT Commands

33. <!-- <p:identity name="hub-epub-basic"/>-->
<p:xslt name="hub-epub-basic">
<p:input port="stylesheet">
<p:document href="xslt/hub-epub-basic.xsl"/>
</p:input>
</p:xslt>

34. <!-- prep sects for file splitting in Sigil –->
<xsl:template name="mark-chapter-break">
<xsl:if test="exists(following::div
[@class=('frontmatter','chapter','backmatter')])">
<hr class="sigil_split_marker" />
</xsl:if>
</xsl:template>

38.  Makes applying styles quicker and easier
 Checks Harvard- or Vancouver-style
reference citations
 Citation algorithms create linking
relationships
 Exports nice, clean XML based on our DTD

39. CMYK RGB
TIF JPG
PDF JPG

41.  Can edit XML and EPUB files
 Run XSL transform processes to turn one
type of XML into another
 Can make global changes using RegEx
 Can validate against DTDs

45. PROS
 Free
 Easy to use
 WYSIWYG
 Validation built-in: FlightCrew
CONS
 Not so good at EPUB3 (yet)
 Adds extra code and cleans things

46. EPUBCheck and EPUB Validator
 Provide validation information, specifying the
file/chapter and line in the code

47.  Using more than one method of validation
ensures that errors missed in one venue are
caught in the other

48. PROS
 Free
 Provides itemized list of errors
 Finds errors that Sigil or FlightCrew may miss
CONS
 Online version limited to 10MB files
 Command-line version can be clunky

51.  Project tracking/management system
 How we keep track of things for
processing and billing

54. Where Automation Makes Sense
To free us up for the things
that are worth our manual time

57.  XML: Control and access your content by imposing
consistent semantic markup and structure
 DTD: Validate and describe the structure of your
document (your content)
 XSLT: Read, manipulate, and transform, your
content
SCHEMATRON: Evaluate, report on,
and QA your content!

58. To safeguard and correct content
[Source: http://shudson310.blogspot.ca/2015/05/schema-tron.html]

59.  A way to “test” your content
• Does the order of chapters in the TOC match the
order laid out in the main body?
 A way to receive a “report” on your content
• Find all page ranges where the first page is a higher
number than the last page in the range

60. Word +
eXtyles
oXygen +
XSLT
InDesign
Sigil + EPUB
QA tools

62.  Current tools
 Comfort level with new tools
 Budget
 Time commitment
 Number of people involved
 Having a champion for the cause

63.  Incorporates familiar tools
 Automates and standardizes repetitive tasks
 Produces consistent and well-formed files
 Allows for transformations
 Publishes multiple formats

65. Sylvia Hunter @sylwritesthings
Terri Rothman @trothman222
P-Shift @utpshift
www.utpshift.com
Illustration credits: Pixabay.com
The P-Shift Team