Authoring tool (DITA)

A "DITA-aware" authoring tool is the software used to create DITA source content.

To be DITA-aware, an authoring tool must:
  • Check for "well-formedness," that is, that the opening and closing tags match

    An example would be <note>Text</note>.

  • Check for validity, that is, that all DTD rules are obeyed

    An example would be a check to see whether the tags appearing in the document are nested according to rules in the document's DTDs.

DITA-aware authoring tools should insist on well-formedness and validity. That is, the tool should prevent you from saving or warn you before saving a file with errors.
Popular DITA-aware authoring tools include:
  • Altova XMLSpy
  • Arbortext Editor
  • JustSystems XMetaL
  • Adobe FrameMaker 7.2 with the Application Pack for DITA
  • SyncRO Soft <oXygen/>
  • Pixware XMLmind
  • Stylus Studio
  • Syntext Serna
  • XMLBuddy (built into Eclipse)
  • Xopus (front end for DocZone content management system)