Flatirons Solutions Publishes Article on Designing XML Information Objects

BOULDER, Colo. — Flatirons Solutions has published, "Designing Flexible XML Information Objects", as part of its continuing effort to inform about the benefits of XML-based publishing. The article stems from Flatirons Solutions' experience in delivering XML-based solutions to clients in a variety of industries and will be published in an upcoming edition of the Center for Information-Development Management newsletter.

Abstract: "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." It was true when Lord Acton said it in 1887, and we all know examples of how it applies today. But have you ever thought about this idea in the context of an XML publishing system? Like their political counterparts, dictatorial DTDs often start out with the best of intentions. While this maximizes XML's ability to control and describe structure, it creates a cumbersome and overly constrained environment for authors, making it difficult for them to adjust content as documents evolve. When this is done, authors often resist - and may even reject - the new system. This whitepaper provides a best-practices approach for developing flexible DTDs, based on the idea of treating core information object chunks differently from the supplementary material that surrounds them.