Meetings

Writing Technical Documentation with DocBook

Kevin Conder

Tuesday February 26th 2002 at 7:00pm
OCC 128(b,c)

Abstract

Although many proprietary formats exist for creating technical documentation, DocBook is an open standard and is widely used. Commercial companies who use DocBook include Sun and O'Reilly & Associates. Open Source adopters include such high-profile projects as Gnome, KDE, the Linux Documentation Project, and the FreeBSD Documentation Project.

DocBook is a DTD (Document Type Definition) that can be used with either SGML or XML. A DocBook document is a text file written using the tags defined by this DTD. Using freely available tools, a DocBook document can be rendered into multiple formats: HTML, PDF, RTF, HTMLHelp, etc.

In this presentation, we will take a look at DocBook using both SGML and XML. We will also talk about the various tools used to render DocBook files into other formats.

Speaker Bio

Kevin Conder has worked as a programmer over the past decade for companies such as Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, the Missouri Highway and Transportation Department, and ServiceMaster. In addition to writing code, he has also taught a Linux class and written technical documentation. Giving a presentation about DocBook to UniForum just seemed like a good idea.

Kevin Conder has used DocBook on the job to create administrator's guides, user's manuals (in English and Spanish), and design documents. He has also used DocBook to contribute to Open Source projects such as the Gnome Documentation Project and the Free Software Foundation.

Getting to the meeting

The next general meeting of UniForum Chicago will be from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Tuesday, February 26th, 2002, at the College of DuPage, building OCC - room 128(b,c).

        College of DuPage
        Building OCC, Rm 128(b,c)
        22nd and Lambert
        Glen Ellyn, IL 60137-6599

Take 355 to Butterfield Rd (Rt 56). Butterfield West to Lambert Rd. Lambert Rd North to 22nd St. West on 22nd St to Lot 9 or 10 entrance. South into lot 9 or 10. Park in lot 9 or 10 and walk to the OCC (Open Campus Center) building. The meeting room is 128(b,c) which is along the west side of the building.

All UniForum Chicago general meetings are open to the public free of charge.

Contact Scott Nemec at (630) 990-6265 or nemec@xnet.com for additional information.