DocBook

DocBook is an SGML based format, with additional support for XML. DocBook is intended for writing technical documentation, providing tags for the sorts of structures you might have in a complex technical book.

The official "home page" is www.docbook.org

The usual tool stream involves:

• Building the document using a text editor; Emacs provides an excellent mode for editing SGML documents;

• Perhaps validating the document using nsgmls, commonly included in Jim Clark's popular SGML processing packages;

• OpenJade is often used as a processor that can markup the document using the Scheme-based DSSSL language, generating output in such notable forms as HTML, Rich Text Format, TeX?, PostScript, and PDF. (n.b. For DocBook XML documents, XSL would be the language of the processor. xsltproc or saxon or another XSL engine could be used as the processing engine. HTML and PDF can be generated upon a DocBook XML document, using the DocBook XSL stylesheets.)

DocBook in Various Form of Markup

DocBook, the DTD

DocBook, in the document-structuring part, has been distributed -- historically -- as a DTD. In some recent versions of DocBook, the DTD is made with some features, in a rather unique application of parameter entities, (such as sgml.features and ho) applied so that the same DocBook DTD does support both XML and SGML formats.

DocBook, in the XML Era

One might regard a DTD, as that a DTD is something like a markup grammar. There are other types of grammars, as such -- especially, within XML. Namely, such that it would be applicable within DocBook, there are XML Schemas and RELAX NG schemas (RELAX NG, in compact syntax and XML syntax).

In its current and prior versions, DocBook has support for all of the above -- DTDs, XML Schemas [XSD], and RELAX NG schemas.

See DocBook Schemas, at DocBook.org

Using DocBook

DocBook, the Definitive Guide

As a reference upon DocBook, such that includes references upon elements and attributes within DocBook, there is DocBook, the Definitive Guide.

The guide is also available in Debian, in the package docbook-defguide

HTML for DocBook DTDs, via LiveDTD

For a plain, DTD-level reference upon the DocBook DTDs, there is Sagehill's LiveDTD.

LiveDTD is constituted as a set of PERL scripts.

LiveDTD, as such, will generate HTML files, according to the contents of a DTD. The generated HTML files will include indexes upon elements, attributes, and parameter entities, such that would be defined in the DTD -- indexed,then, as to where they are defined and where they are used, within the DTD.

Ready for browsing upon, Sagehill has such LiveDTD-generated HTML, available for various forms and versions of DocBook XML. The HTML files may be browsed upon, as linked from the page LiveDTD demonstration

Christopher Browne, Sean Champ

This page is linked from: DSSSL  

CLiki pages can be edited by anyone at any time. Imagine a fearsomely comprehensive disclaimer of liability. Now fear, comprehensively