Who CaresAbout Change?
Tristan Mitchell
Identification
Representation
Management
of XML Change
UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH #1
Content Changes
“Everything changes and
nothing remains still”
“Change is the only constant”
“To improve is to change, so to be perfect is to have changed often.”
UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH #2
Stakeholders want to see the changes
Authors
Editors
SMEs
Reviewers
CustomersAuditors
UNAVOIDABLE TRUTH #3
Change must first be identified before you
can show it
Revision log
Version control
Change tracking
Comparison
Native Markup(e.g. DITA)
Processing instructions
Identification
@rev attribute
@status attribute
Release management domain
Representation
OPPORTUNITY #1
Even change canbe reused
(if you represent it using structure)
OPPORTUNITY #2
Identified change can be published
MAKING IT WORK
Provide stakeholders with changes relevant to
their needs
Authors
Editors
SMEs
Reviewers
CustomersAuditors
Tracked changesTracked changesPublished changes
Change summaryPublished changes
Change summaryTracked changesPublished changes
Change summaryPublished changes
MAKING IT WORK
CustomerCase Study
HEALTHCARE CASE STUDY• Word-based solution using change tracking
• Redline PDF ‘printed’ from Word
• Content moved to DITA-based system
• Conditional processing supports alternate requirements
• Change-tracking is no longer possible due to reuse
• Comparison used to create DITA source for redline publishing
CASE STUDY
Editor
CMSHTML
&CSS
PDFDITAOT
PublishingTool
DITA workflow
SUMMARY• Content changes, constantly
• Think about who your change stakeholders are
• Build a mechanism for identifying and representing change
• Remember why you chose XML
• Provide changes in a way that meets stakeholder needs
@TristanDeltaXMLtristan.mitchell@deltaxml.com