Author Max: Great DITA, Great Documentation » Technical Documentation http://methodm.com/blog for people who write and edit content everyday Sun, 09 May 2010 10:21:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 en hourly 1 The DITA Project #1 in a series http://methodm.com/blog/2010/05/09/the-dita-project-1-in-a-series/ http://methodm.com/blog/2010/05/09/the-dita-project-1-in-a-series/#comments Sun, 09 May 2010 10:16:24 +0000 katriel http://methodm.com/blog/?p=15 Let’s say that you have a series of menu choices (such as Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad).  Each menu choice item should be in its own <uicontrol> tag.  The whole series should be in a <menucascade> element.

A common error in preparing content is jamming multiple UI controls in one <uicontrol> tag, manually adding the connecting character (typically “>”).

Typical incorrect markup would be:

<menucascade><uicontrol>Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad</uicontrol></menucascade>

The correct markup would be:

<menucascade><uicontrol>Start</uicontrol>
<uicontrol>Programs</uicontrol>
<uicontrol>Accessories</uicontrol>
<uicontrol>Notepad</uicontrol></menucascade>

When the content is published, the DITA OT adds connecting characters between the menu items to represent the menu cascade.  So, the output would look similar to Start > Programs > Accessories > Notepad.

]]> http://methodm.com/blog/2010/05/09/the-dita-project-1-in-a-series/feed/ 0 One idea, one topic http://methodm.com/blog/2009/12/24/one-idea-one-topic/ http://methodm.com/blog/2009/12/24/one-idea-one-topic/#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:58:17 +0000 katriel http://methodm.com/blog/?p=11 DITA Thought for Today: one idea, one topic.

Just saw a procedure with mixed in in the prerequisites. An attempt to sneak in another procedure!

Tip for today: dividing your task topic into sections is usually a tip-off that your topic has more than one procedure.

Remember – one idea, one topic. (Kind of like, “one man, one vote”.)

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