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Why should I care about XML?
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... Because XML data is well-fielded it can also be directly adapted into non-traditional publishing outlets such as in IETM's (Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals) or for use with field maintenance reference software. This is of particular importance in military applications.

Costs of XML

• Training - XML is conceptually different from the appearance-based text representations that most people are used to. Thus, document authors and maintainers must be educated about the differences between XML and Microsoft Word, for example. And they need to be made aware of the new requirements implied by XML's benefits.

These are:

• All text must be tagged. This is a requirement most authors aren't accustomed to.
  
• No formatting is applied at authoring time. This violates the habits of many authors. (Studies show that removing the formatting requirement from authors can dramatically increase their productivity; they focus on writing, not on making a small section of text look "just so".)
  
• The document structure, as defined by the DTD, must be adhered to. XML authoring tools don't allow the writer to put a <heading 2> in front of a <heading 1>, even if that seems, "OK, just this once."

Nonetheless, today's XML tools support WYSIWYG interfaces, drag-and-drop technology, and the other functions that non-technical computer users already understand. The cost of additional training is more than offset by the benefits of using XML. Not only that, but the cost of training is declining as the learning curve becomes less and less steep.

• Specialized software - This is more a perceived cost than a real one. Today, XML-compliant software is available at all price levels and many mainstream word processing tools support XML. Plus Internet Explorer and Netscape, and other browsers, support it natively. Naturally the high-end tools offer more features, support larger environments, and provide greater benefits than their low-end counterparts. A cost/benefits analysis needs to be done to determine the best tool set for each particular installation. If you do need a high-end solution, this will give you a clear picture of the additional benefits you are getting for your money.

• Legacy conversions - To get the most out of XML, it is important that an enterprise's entire active document set is moved over to an XML environment. It is not enough to adopt XML on a "from here on in" basis. XML conversions can be complex. But they needn't tie up internal human resources. In fact, because expertise and experience are essential for a successful conversion to XML, it is advisable to outsource the conversion to a specialized XML conversion vendor. This is less expensive in the long run than doing conversion in-house. Using a single, experienced XML conversion vendor guarantees you'll get a quality XML end product. Not only will your documents be technically valid, they will also be meaningfully and consistently tagged. Unless documents are professionally tagged, you won't get the benefits of XML.

PDF: An alternative to XML?
PDF is a proprietary page representation format developed by Adobe Systems. It puts documents in a "container" that preserves not only the text but also the image of the page. PDF can be generated directly by many traditional word processing packages. It can also be generated by scanning paper documents.

PDF does not have any of the content tagging capabilities of XML (except for limited linking). And, although widely accepted, PDF is not a recognized independent standard. PDF files are binary; besides text they may contain images of various types, postscript, and other binary information. All this is useful, but means PDF is not as portable as XML.

Furthermore, when PDF is generated from paper, text accuracy is very poor. Although readers may see what appears to be a perfectly usable page, what is actually being displayed is a bitmap image of the page. The text itself, extracted via an OCR process during the PDF conversion, is not directly visible. It is searchable -- but if the accuracy is poor, as is inevitable with uncorrected OCR, the searches will be inaccurate, missing many potentially important "hits" and producing irrelevant hits. Correction is possible, but difficult and expensive -- possibly exceeding the cost of an XML conversion.

PDF files are generally large and unwieldy, especially when the page image is preserved in bitmap form (usually the case when PDF was generated from paper). This means they are difficult to transport over networks or to make available over the web.

Data Conversion Laboratory can and does do PDF conversions where appropriate. We recommend, however, that they be limited to situations where paper is being eliminated for space reasons, and the documents are not frequently accessed, but must be available when required. We recommend XML for "live" data that needs to be frequently accessed, modified, or searched.

Conclusion: Use XML! It's just better ...
DCL has a wide variety of experience converting data from many formats into many formats. Our expertise extends well beyond the domains of XML/XML, so we don't have an XML axe to grind. But we believe that XML should be the format of choice for all industries who need to manage their "intellectual capital." And we recommend the use of XML in these circumstances. Not because it is legally mandated -- though in many cases it is -- but because it provides the most attractive package of benefits at justifiable cost. The truth is, we often find ourselves saying: "Use XML! It's just better."

DCLnews Editorial
12/3/2002

Read more XML articles at DCL Library

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