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Writing documentation with DocBook-XML 4.2

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Table of Contents

1. Advantages of DocBook
2. Setting up your directory for DocBook
3. Creating and translating your document
3.1. What is DocBook and how does it relate to XML?
3.2. The DocBook workflow cycle
4. Overall section structure
5. Ordinary prose paragraphs
6. Inline markup
7. Links: connecting your document to itself and elsewhere
7.1. The <link> and <xref> tags: Linking within your document
7.2. The <ulink> tag: Linking outside your document
8. Special paragraph shapes
8.1. Bullet lists: <itemizedlist>
8.2. Numbered lists: <orderedlist>
8.3. Procedures
8.4. Definition lists: <variablelist>
8.5. Notes, warnings, cautions, etc.
8.6. Block quotations
9. Verbatim displays
9.1. Callouts in verbatim displays
9.2. Poetry
10. Including graphic images
10.1. Formal and informal figures
10.2. Tuning graphics for different roles
10.3. Scaling a figure
10.4. Inline graphics
10.5. How to get screen shots (Windows, MacOS, and Linux)
11. Tables
11.1. Ruled lines in tables
11.2. Controlling table dimensions
11.3. Controlling alignment in tables
11.4. Spanning in tables
12. User-defined entities
13. Breaking your document into multiple files
14. Special characters
15. FOP: An older, free toolchain
15.1. FOP limitations
15.2. Bad page breaks
15.3. Using tables inside <listitem>
15.4. Graphics file support
16. Converting DocBook-SGML 4.1 documents
17. Converting DocBook 3.0 documents

1. Advantages of DocBook

The DocBook system has these advantages over other methods of creating documentation:

  • The same document can be translated mechanically to both Web-based and printable formats.
  • You as an author can concentrate on the content of your document, without worrying about how it will appear.

This publication is available in Web form and also as a PDF document. Please forward any comments to tcc-doc@nmt.edu.

The Tech Computer Center supplies a locally-customized installation of the DocBook translation software for output to PDF or Web form. You can use our installation, or install and customize DocBook yourself (see the DocBook Modular Style Sheets web site).

However, this mechanical translation to various formats can be improved and tuned independently of the writing process. These improvements do not at all affect the DocBook files you write.

Note: This document assumes you are using DocBook-XML revision 4.2. If your document was done under the SGML versions, see Converting DocBook-SGML 3.0 documents and Converting DocBook-SGML 4.1 documents below.

Next: 2. Setting up your directory for DocBook
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John Shipman
Comments welcome: tcc-doc@nmt.edu
Last updated: 2006-01-14 15:11
URL: http://www.nmt.edu/tcc/help/pubs/docbook42/index.html