Norm Walsh has already extended this invite, but just in case any DocBook interested parties haven't read his blog (yeah, right), here are the details:

• Date: Wednesday, 17 Nov 2004
• Time: 7:00pm EST
• Place: XML 2004
  meet in lobby of Marriott Wardman Park hotel

Hope to see you there!

See also: DocBook

I'm please to report two new Candidate Releases for DocBook today!

Norm Walsh has released Simplified DocBook 1.1 CR2 and DocBook 4.4 CR2 on docbook.org.

I've been doing a fair amount of testing and customization layers around Simplified DocBook 1.1. If you find any problems, please let Norm or I know.

For my customization layers, I've been using Tatu Saloranta's dtdflatten to create a flattened version, validating the DTD with Kohsuke Kawaguchi's msv (multischema validator), and then compiling it for use in Arbortext Epic (use the compile_doctype in the editor's command-line interface).

I'm also having fun trying to create my customization layer in Relax NG, based on the Simplified DocBookNG "Bourbon" release.

If schemas are making you work too hard, you need to be RelaxNG! :-)

See also: DocBook

Busy day today! Norm Walsh has announced the sixth release of DocBook NG, dubbed "Frangelico" (see http://norman.walsh.name/2004/10/18/frangelico), and Tim Bray has a post about the new NeoOffice/J patch 3 release (see http://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/200x/2004/10/17/NeoOfficePatch3)

It's interesting to see that Norm has included XLink and extendedLink in this version. I hope to get some testing in on this one. I think it's also time for another run at Simplified DocBook NG, which is still at the "Bourbon" release. Wish Norm could hire me to do that!

NeoOffice/J is amazingly cool. I tried using the X11 version of OpenOffice on the Mac, but it was slow and painful. NeoOffice/J has all of the functionality, and is fast. Check it out!

See also: DocBook

Steve Whitlatch posted to the docbook-apps list on OASIS about a new tool he has developed for DocBook XSL support!

Here's the announcement in it's entirety:

Several months back, I had some discussion on this list about creating a Java GUI that would allow users a mostly point-and-click interface to creating customization layers for use with the DocBook XSL stylesheets. Well, I wrote the application and here it is.

Announcing the first public release of DocBook XSL Configurator! Actualy two releases, one for version 1.65.1 of the DocBook XSL stylesheets and one for version 1.66.1.

They are available for download from Sourceforge: http://sourceforge.net/projects/db-xsl-cfg

DocBook XSL Configurator versions 0.5.2_1651 and version 0.5.3_1661 are alpha, since they have not been widely tested, but I know of no bugs and consider the software fully operational.

You can get a good idea of what DocBook XSL Configurator is and what it does from the following:

*******************************************
DocBook XSL Configurator
------------------------
 DocBook XSL Configurator is a Java application used to create 
 DocBook XSL FO customization layers. The application presents 
 users with a tabbed pane containing several tables. Each row 
 in each table contains several cells, one of which is editable 
 and contains the text of the default setting for a specific 
 DocBook XSL FO parameter. Users create projects containing paths 
 to DocBook XML, common-customization XSL, an external XSLT 
 processor, etc. Users then click through the tables, select 
 DocBook XSL FO parameters they want to include in a customization 
 layer, edit those parameters, include the customization layer in a 
 project, write out the customization layer as an XSL file, and 
 apply the XSL to the project's XML using the project's specified 
 XSLT processor.

   DocBook XSL Configurator version 0.5.3_1661 is an alpha release.
 It supports version 1.66.1 of the DocBook XSL FO parameter set. 
 It does not yet support the DocBook XSL HTML parameter set.

 Default FO parameter settings, help text, and guidelines for 
 attribute sets ("property sets") are taken from the DocBook 
 XSL package's FO documentation. Attribute set defaults are 
 just guidelines. 

 DocBook XSL Configurator also includes a "From the Wild" table 
 that provides users with nifty little snippets of XSL intended 
 to help with formatting not implemented in the DocBook XSL FO 
 parameter set. Currently, the number of these snippets is very 
 small; however, the "From the Wild" snippet collection has the 
 potential to grow very large and be very helpful.


Target Audience
---------------
 If you are a beginner with DocBook XSL, DocBook XSL Configurator 
 can help you a great deal by bringing all the DocBook XSL FO 
 parameters together, with help, in a GUI. You don't have to switch 
 windows seeking help, and you don't have to manually type out the 
 file containing the XSL FO customization layer. 

 If you are an expert with DocBook XSL, this application may still 
 be of use to you. You may benefit from the speed with which you 
 can create and edit customization layers; you may find that DocBook 
 XSL Configurator projects help you organize documentation sets; or, 
 you may find the application useful for saving customization layers 
 and associating them with specific DocBook XML instances.


Requirements and Use
--------------------
 DocBook XSL Configurator should work with any Java runtime 
 environment compatible with Sun's Java Virtual Machine version 
 1.4.2 or later. However, each version of DocBook XSL Configurator 
 needs a specific version of the DocBook XSL stylesheets. For 
 example, DocBook XSL Configurator version 0.5.3_1661 needs DocBook 
 XSL stylesheet version 1.66.1. Running a version of DocBook XSL 
 Configurator with a version of the DocBook XSL stylesheets for 
 which it was not intended could produce errors. 

 Running DocBook XSL Configurator requires no adjustments to your 
 CLASSPATH, and the DocBookXSLConfigurator.jar file can be placed 
 anywhere in the file system. 

 To use DocBook XSL Configurator, you first build a project. The 
 project contains information DocBook XSL Configurator uses to 
 help create a PDF or PS file from a valid DocBook XML file. The 
 process would go something like this:

 1) Select New Project from the File menu.
  A New Project dialog appears.

 2) Navigate through the dialog, providing the following:
  - the name of an XSLT processor
  - the entire option string to be passed to the xslt processor
  - location of the DocBook XSL stylesheet to use
  - location of a common-customization XSL file
  - an FO processor command string 
  - a PDF viewer command string
  - a PS viewer command string

    DocBook XSL Configurator uses the information provided to 
    run the programs in your tool chain as external subprocesses.

 3) Click through the tables, selecting check boxes for the 
    parameters you want included in your XSL customization layer, 
    and edit the parameter settings as necessary.

 4) Save the project. 

 5) Select parameters and edit them as you like. Then, select Write XSL from
           the Execute menu. 
  DocBook XSL Configurator presents you with a dialog. Choose 
  a name and a location for the file to save. This is your 
  XSL customization layer. Make certain that the filename 
  and path match with those used when you created the project.
  Keep the same name and path of this file when you update it. 
  Whenever you wish to change this customization layer, adjust 
  your selections and edited parameters in the GUI, and then 
  overwrite this file by selecting Write XSL from the 
  Execute menu.

 6) Select Process XML from the Execute menu. 
  DocBook XSL Configurator runs the XSLT processor specified 
  in your project using the options supplied. You should 
  probably make certain that your XML is actually a valid DocBook 
  XML instance first. While the XSLT processor is running, you 
  can continue with your work. When it's finished, DocBook XSL 
  Configurator presents a dialog box containing any messages 
  produced by the XSLT processor. The dialog box is presented 
  regardless of errors detected.

 7) Select Process FO from the Execute menu. 
  DocBook XSL Configurator executes the entire FO processor 
  command string from your project settings. While the FO 
  processor is running, you can continue with your work. It 
  typically takes several minutes to complete. When it's 
  finished, DocBook XSL Configurator presents a dialog box 
  containing any messages produced by the FO processor.
  The dialog box is presented regardless of errors detected.

 8) Select 'Display PDF' or 'Display PS' from the View menu.
  As with 'Process XML' and 'Process FO', DocBook XSL 
  Configurator runs the project's command string as an 
  external subprocess. When running the PDF or PS viewer 
  command strings, DocBook XSL Configurator presents a 
  dialog box containing messages returned from the subprocess 
  only if it detects something went wrong.

 Alone, DocBook XSL Configurator will work only partially. To make 
 full use of it, you need the following:

 - a valid DocBook XML instance. If you are new to DocBook XML, 
   you should begin with Norman Walsh and Leonard Muellner's book, 
   DocBook: The Definitive Guide, available online at: 
http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/documentation/reference/html/docbook.html

 - the DocBook XML DTD package installed. You can download it from:
   http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/

 - the DocBook XSL package installed. You can download it from:
   http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=21935

 - some understanding of how the DocBook XSL package works with 
   DocBook XML. Bob Stayton's book, DocBook XSL: The Complete 
   Guide, available online at:
   http://www.sagehill.net/docbookxsl/index.html, 
   is probably the best resources available for learning 
   DocBook XSL. 

 - an XSLT engine installed. DocBook XSL Configurator will work 
   with any XSLT engine. I use xsltproc, which is part of the 
   libxml2 package. You can download the libxml2 package from
   http://xmlsoft.org/
   You can download precompiled libxml2 binaries for Windows at:
   http://www.zlatkovic.com/libxml.en.html

 - an FO processor installed

 - PDF and PostScript viewers installed
**********************************************

Nice work, Steve!

See also: DocBook