Arbortext Tips

This is the third posting on the new functionality coming in the M020 release of Arbortext Styler 6.0. This time I'm looking at EPUB which, over the past year or so has been an increasingly populer request to output from Styler. I guess some of this is generated by the smart phone and tablet explosion we’ve all been experiencing, but it is also generated by a desire to ship content electronically. There are a number of e-book formats but the most popular format we’ve had requests for has been EPUB.EPUB is a standard published by the International Digital Publishing Forum which describes both the content format, which is based on XHTML, and the packaging of the content in a zipped format with stylesheets and other supporting information. You can find more information on the Wikipedia or at the IDPF.As I've already mentioned, EPUB content is encoded using XHTML and styled using CSS - and Styler already outputs those formats. Packaging up the content for EPUB is a different matter so we'v

Read Simon Taylor's column (it's really the "Styler" tag, but he's the main contributor so far).He's just getting started, but he's got a lot of good information going in there about what's coming down the road for Arbortext Styler. So far it's just a peek, but the promise is there. I know I've been glued to the posts.We, here at Single-Sourcing Solutions, are thrilled to see the PMs starting to write up stuff -- and I know Simon's been itching to get started. I've known Simon for a long time. He's an amazing PM. Interested in solving real problems. Interested in talking to customers and finding out what they really need. He spends his days thinking about putting words on "pages" and he's damn good at it.Here's my advice:Read the posts.Give him your feedback and comments, if you've got 'em.It'll make the product better for all of us!

It seems as though I've earned the "Bill Shakespeare" badge for...as I was told...For starting your own blog and writing 10 blogs posts related to CAD, PLM or PTC products in general, here is your “Bill Shakespeare” badge. Feel free to display it proudly on your PlanetPTC Community badge.That's 10 posts here on communites.ptc.com.That doesn't include the nearly EIGHT years of blog posts about Arbortext and Dynamic Publishing on the Single-Sourcing Blog here:http://blog.single-sourcing.comThat's a lot of blog posts. The Single-Sourcing Blog is where you can find:The list of Top Arbortext ResourcesOur release notes feed (to help you keep up with current releases)Our series on Common Arbortext Questions There's a whole series of Arbortext audio podcasts available on the blog too! The PubWright Podcast is a series of audio podcasts — interviews with people all across the Arbortext community, and experts in the dynamic publishing field.Communities can't be contained and there are lots of fo

This is the second post giving updates on Styler 6.0 M020, this time looking at the indexing enhancements we’re making available in this release.Historically, Styler has only had the ability to create a single index. From M020 you will be able to have lots! So, if you want a general index, a part name index, a contributor index and a keyword index all in the same document then you can achieve this in M020.Index definitions have been moved out of Styler’s menu system and into a new Index definitions tab. All the properties and settings you are used to now appear as properties and settings of new named index definitions which you can create as part of your stylesheet. As with other definitions in Styler, you give your index definition a name by which you can refer to it when you want to use or target it.A new feature of these index definitions is that now an index can be scoped. This means you can create a separate index for each chapter in your book, each article in your multi-part publ

In the next two or three weeks I’ll be posting some more information about the forthcoming features provided in Styler in the M020 release of Arbortext 6.0.There were a lot of new features we wanted to provide in 6.0 and we managed to fit a lot it, but some features had to wait. So we’re taking the unusual step of adding some new functionality in the M020 release to bring our customers some extra, important capabilities.Each posting over the next few weeks will focus on a specific area of new functionality to give you a good idea of what’s to come.Firstly, we will look at the improvements we’re making to indexing. Traditionally, Styler documents have had a single index. We’ve now added functionality to allow users to create multiple indexes in the same document. You can also scope indexes to your XML hierarchy too, providing indexes scoped to chapters, sections and so on.Next we will look out our new EPUB output. EPUB is becoming the standard eBook format and we’re happy to be able to

For those of you who frequently attend conferences and seminars, I wanted to provide you with a list of upcoming events where Arbortext is either sponsoring or exhibiting. We are constantly adding to this list and I will try to update as needed. Keep in mind we have Arbortext representation at many other conferences via speaking slots and conference attendance so, for your sanity and mine I have limited the list below to official sponsorship and exhibition. Come visit us! We would love to chat with you about the exciting things with Arbortext!2011 Air Force Worldwide Technical Data WorkshopMarch 14-18, Destin, FLWebsiteParticipation: Sponsor, ExhibitorCMS/DITA North America ConferenceApril 4-6, Baltimore, MDWebsite Participation: Exhibitor, Session SpeakerPushpinder Toor, Product Manager with PTC, who is responsible for the DITA interface and CMS support within Arbortext Editor, will be presenting the session "Schematrons: When DTD validation isn't enough"Field Service 2011April 26-29,

We get a lot of questions about whether you can use Arbortext with the Open Toolkit.  The answer is, "Yes, of course," but any further details are difficult unless you know what the questioner means by that: "Arbortext" is a portfolio of products that includes an editor, multiple publishing engines (for both typical and magazine-quality publishing), a content management system, a styling tool (so non-programmers can create stylesheets), a DTD/configuration tool, a dynamic link manager, and an illustration tool. Which part of Arbortext do you want to use with the DITA OT?For example, if you want index processing, you've got to swap out FOP. There's one place you can use Arbortext. You can use Arbortext editor as your DITA editor, that's another place. Want to create multi-channel stylesheets without having to learn XSL and XSL-FO, well, that's a third place. Want to kick off the DITA OT from inside the CMS? That's four.Our shop coach  Mark Giffin, Mark Giffin Consulting, is go

Here at Single-Sourcing Solutions, we always talk about the ease of use and the out-of-the box advantages to Arbortext suite of products. We don’t always talk about the sizable API that opens the entire application to developers. Yet, for many of us, this was one of the primary advantages that drew us to the Arbortext platform.  This last year, we discovered that this ability to tweak every aspect of the product and the content that comes out as a result is no longer so obvious to people who are new to the eco-system.Want to see "Why Arbortext'?Come to the  Arbortext Monster GarageInspired by the popular “Monster Garage” television show on the Discovery Channel, today we’re launching a new webinar series: “Arbortext Monster Garage.” On the TV show, a team of people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise gathers together to modify a vehicle into a “monster machine.”  In our new webinar series, we’re gathering people from the Arbortext community who have modi

Recently, Dave Lorenzoni wrote a post about the cost of Arbortext. In it he says, "There’s a lot of confusion, bad information, old information about Arbortext floating around out there."Over the last year, we've come to that same realization from a completely different perspective. We see a lot of confusion out there about what Arbortext is. When you say Arbortext to some people, they think you're talking about "Arbortext Editor"; to others, "Arbortext IsoDraw"; to still others, "Arbortext Content Manager." It's easy to see how this happens. Everyone has their own niche and there are simply too many other things to think about. (I confess to thinking of Creo the same way.) But, like Creo, Arbortext is a big-picture solution that includes all the pieces required for creation, management, and  publishing of enterprise content.As a result we decided to set up a new series on the Single-Sourcing blog: Frequently Asked Questions about Arbortext. Questions have been grouped into categ

Arbortext IsoDraw FoundationFilenameFilename extensionOpenPlaceExportIsoDrawiso-IsoDraw (packaged)isoz-EPSepsCGMcgm, cgzcgmAdobe IlustratoraiIGESigsDWG (AutoCAD)dwgDXFdxfHPGLhplSVGsvg, svgzTIFFtifJPEGjpgPNGpngBitmapbmpPCXpcxCALS Rastercc4WMFemfTexttxt-XCFxml-Object listtxt--PDFpdf--Interleafdoc--FrameMakermif--Arbortext IsoDraw CADprocessFilenameFilename extensionOpenPlaceExportIsoDrawiso-IsoDraw (packaged)isoz-EPSepsCGMcgm, cgzcgmAdobe IlustratoraiIGESigsCreo Elements/Pro (formerly Pro/ENGINEER)prt, asm, xpr, xas-Creo Elements/View (formerly ProductView)ol, ed, pvs, edz, pvz-VDAvda-STEPstp, step-ACISsat-Parasolidxmt, x-t, x_b-DWG (AutoCAD)dwgDXFdxfVRMLwrl-Wavefrontobj-HPGLhplSVGsvg, svgzTIFFtifJPEGjpgPNGpngBitmapbmpPCXpcxCALS Rastercc4WMFemfTexttxt-XCFxml-Object listtxt--PDFpdf--Interleafdoc--FrameMakermif--

The last two weeks have been really busy, but I wanted to take this opportunity to stress that it's time for all the Arbortext users out there to submit a proposal for presentation at the annual user conference, PlanetPTC Live, in 2010.Like others who have made this solicitation, it's not only altruism that we ask you to submit a proposal and tell us about what you're doing: it makes the conference better for us as well.Submissions open on 10/15 and are due by 11/22.Hope to see you in Las Vegas.Related posts:New to Arbortext Editor? Try the tutorials...PlanetPTC Call for Presentations is out! Ever wonder about what your tag cloud really is?  Wordle does..Releases: Arbortext 5.4 M070 and APP V10 M070  As always, you can keep up with announcments about the latest releases here.Review from Lavacon 2010 and Tweet RoundupArticle: Join the conversation! Why use a product like Arbortext?

If you have  information about your company’s product or services  that needs to be  delivered to customers, whether it’s in print or  electronic form,  chances are you have heard of XML.  Are you finding yourself in the position of having to explain to others or have you wondered:What’s all the big deal about XML?Why should I care?What’s in it for me?How is it going to save me time?How will I lower cost?Then come and listen to our expert panel of industry leaders as they  share with you a bit of their journey and what the true ROI is of XML.  Experts from Hewlett-Packard, Medtronic, Nortel, and Toro. No matter how large or small, how new or how old your company is or  what technology or service your company provides XML can have  significant returns for you in:Reuse content for faster delivery of informationSeparation of form and content (your writers can  write rather than try to tweak with documents to get them to look right)Abi

We answer a lot of questions about Arbortext, in a lot of different places.  This is only one of them. Why? Because we're one of the few qualified PTC-Arbortext partners. Because we've been working with the Arbortext solution for more than a decade.Arbortext is not simply an XML Editor or Illustration tool. It’s a big-picture solution that includes all the pieces required for creation, management, and  publishing of enterprise content. In fact, Arbortext is the only out-of-the-box, end-to-end solution. Since the acquisition by PTC in 2005, Arbortext has been focused on making sure the products are  integrated and play nicely with each other. We have all heard horror stories from publication groups who have had to ducktape a solution together in order to get the full solution. Often times, despite years of work, they never really realize the full capabilities of a complete end-to-end solution.We get questions from customers and prospective customers who are at  all p

Check the Arbortext PTC/User Group page for a list of upcoming virtual meetings and webinars. Lots of good product information, tips, and feature-focus sessions headed our way.Here's a short list:August 28    User Meeting: Deploying and maintaining a large single-sourcing solution: Now what?This is going to be a great one. I've known the speaker for a while and even did a podcast with him. He's an long-time Arbortext customer who has done a lot of really interesting things over the years. However, one of the best things we can all learn from him is what it takes to deploy an Arbortext-style dynamic publishing system for a major company. At it's peak, his team of seven was managing the system for 700 writing staff. He was there in the beginning when they proposed the system to management and he's there today, 10 years later. It's going to be a great presentation!August 31    Webinar: DITA Style in Arbortext. It's Easy!I'm giving this one. We're going to sho

Over the years, we've had questions from customers asking about the latest release. What's in it? Should they upgrade? Was my bug fixed? Is the enhancement I requested in there?It can be hard to convince yourself to read the release notes. After all, it's locked in a PDF. You have to go download it, it doesn't just show up in your mail box. It's painful and we feel the same way.In answer to that need and thanks to inspiration by a great PTC PLM (Yes, Simon, we mean you!), we've taken steps to answer that pain and make it easy for our customers.Behold: the Arbortext Release Notes Feed:http://blog.single-sourcing.com/category/products/release-notes/Point your favorite RSS reader at that URL or bring it up occasionally, and you'll never miss another release. We list the SPRs and new features right there for you to read. I think there's only been one case where we didn't list them all-- but the release notes were 200 pages long. That's a lot of SPRs. (A major release like that, you'll want

This is the second-most asked question on the forums. It's one of the most common questions we get. It's so common, there's a post about it on the Adepters Code Archive.From the article: Those Pesky PIsProblemOn save, Arbortext Editor adds processing instructions, like <?Pub  Caret?>. How do I remove processing instructions (PIs) ?SolutionTurning off the PIs is easy. You change an advanced setting in the preferences:set writepi=offIt's documented in help topic #1587.

I notice there are a lot of unanswered questions here, especially Arbortext-related questions. I'm not really surprised: Seasoned Arbortexters don't look for questions here. Usually, Arbortext folks hang out on the Adepters Mailing List. (For more information about the mailing list, see the Top Arbortext Resources post.) I hate to see questions go unanswered.That's the problem with message boards and mailing lists.Hopefully someone's watching. Hopefully someone gets an answer back to you in time. What if you don't have the tool or skill you need to do the 10 minutes of work you need to do?That's where the Advisory Line ( http://www.single-sourcing.com/advisor ) comes in. Need help with Arbortext? or Arbortext Content Manger? Or Pro/E? Call an Advisor. Get your question answered quickly without starting a big consulting engagement. We've got experienced professionals for the most popular PTC products, including every product in the Arbortext family from Editor to Publisher to Content Ma

Looking through the forums, only one question appears more often than this one. It seems a good time to write this up.If you want to know whether any particular version of Arbortext is supported on any particular version of Windows, check the Software Compatibility Matrix.For example, here's the Arbortext Software Compatibility Matrix for 5.3.http://www.ptc.com/appserver/wcms/standards/fileothumbredirect.jsp?im_dbkey=46355&icg_dbkey=522  (You'll need to log in.)Here's how to find this document and others like it:Go to: http://www.ptc.com/support/arbortext(For now), in the right-hand navigation, there's a link for:  "Reference Documents"When you get to the search page:Set Product to "Arbortext Editor"Set Release to "5.3"   (or whatever version you're looking for)Set Document Type to "Matricies - Software"Set Roles: "All" (or just leave it at the default)Voila!

I'm a lot of places. It seems that every community wants you to play in their sandbox... it's so backwards. If you're looking for insight, your best bet is to follow me on our corporate blog. I'm one of many posters.Here's the official bio:Before founding Single-Sourcing Solutions, Liz worked in both high-tech and government sectors, developing and delivering technical  design and strategy of authoring and publishing solutions as a  Single-Source/XML Architect/Programmer. For over a decade, she has  architected and implemented the single-sourcing systems for government  and high tech companies. Specializing in practical development and deployment, she is a strong advocate of designing architectures that  directly improve organizational efficiency, productivity, and  interoperability.She presents regularly at industry and vendor conferences and is very  active in the software engineering user communities: SF Bay ACM council  member, SF Bay Arborte