This was a featured presentation at the Intelligent Content Conference in 2012.

1. XML
without
Tears
Intelligent
Content
2012
Joe Gollner, M.Phil.
Gnostyx Research Inc.
jag@gnostyx.com
www.gnostyx.com
www.gollner.ca
Copyright © Joe Gollner 2012
@joegollner

2. Case Study: Regulatory Structured Content
Background
Regulatory Agency for the Energy Sector managing:
• Regulations
• Process Documentation
• Submissions
• Public Consultation Outcomes
• Judgments
Pressures:
• Growing volume & complexity of regulations & submissions
• Growing complexity of the consultation process
• To bring costs under control or even reduce them
• Maintain or even shorten the process cycle times

3. Case Study: Regulatory Structured Content
Three Key Ingredients
 Top Tier Management Consulting Firm
• Conducted a comprehensive process review
• Collaborated with stakeholders to re-envision the future
 Content Management Consulting Firm
• Facilitated a wide-ranging analysis & modeling activity
• Developed target content models with rich semantics
 Content Management & Publishing Technology Vendors
• Engaged to tailor their tools to support
• The re-envisioned business process
• Fully customized authoring environments
• Sophisticated management & publishing services

4. Case Study: Outcome
How do you think
this turned out?

5. Case Study: Outcome
Disaster

6. What Went Wrong?
Over-indulgence in meaningful [semantic] markup
Insanely complex authoring experience
Insanely complex authoring tool customizations
Insanely complex authoring support tools
• Auto-complete
• Validation
• Packaging
Insanely complex processing scenarios [publishing]
Target vision disconnected from reality in key ways
Naively transgressed obvious legal boundaries
• Attempted to automate formatting submission after receipt
Generated unsustainable maintenance costs

7. Lessons Learned
<$ Element element-name >
Semantics come at a price and
must be associated with a concrete use
Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)
defined a Document Type Definition (DTD) as
[organizing] “rules defined by an application”

8. Markup Considered Harmful
Is there any value in using meaningful [semantic] markup?
Theodor (Ted) Holm Nelson
and Infrastructures for Information, Inc.

9. But You Said XML without Tears

10. XML
without
Tears
Intelligent
Content
2012
Take Two
Copyright © Joe Gollner 2012

11. Basic Markup: HTML
Formatting
Markup Content Models Processing & Results
Expedites
online delivery
Shouldn’t
+$
have cost
much but did Formatting -$
Minimum
investment
Didn’t get in XHTML Web Pages
the way…

12. Inline Semantic Markup
Different story
Content Models Processing & Results
Cost of
processing
semantic +$
markup is real -$
Semantics
Benefits
mainly seen in
+$
more filtered
formatting Formatting -$
The outcome XML / DITA Multiple Products
is debateable

13. Balanced Markup: Just Enough Semantics
Semantic Models Content Models Processing & Results
+$
Semantics -$
+$
Formatting -$
Semantic models provide semantic markup with the rigor needed to become really useful

14. Advanced Markup: Progression from Balanced
Semantic Models Content Models Processing & Results
+$
Semantics -$
+$
Formatting -$
More comprehensive semantic models co-evolve with inline semantic markup

15. Can we have Intelligent Content sans XML?

16. Intelligent Content in a Normal Office
Two Answers
Even when you are trying to
not use XML, you are
probably using XML
• MS Office / SharePoint
Any application larger than
an eggcup will need to
interoperate with other
applications
• Exchanging information
• Permitting extensibility to
support interoperability Frankenstein goes mobile

17. So Explain to Me Again Why We Need XML?

18. Real Content Resists Definitive Categorization
Real
Content
Demands
Special
attention

19. The Human Face of Intelligent Content
The Web & XML united
Browser-based collaborative authoring
Strong object metadata
supporting discovery & selection
Container elements providing
semantic guidance
Content input as XHTML
using common widgets
Minimal inline semantic markup
Attractive benefits profile
Easily extensible over time

20. Asking Questions & Raising Objections
or just making connections…
Joe Gollner
Gnostyx Research Inc.
www.gnostyx.com
jag@gnostyx.com
The Content Philosopher Blog
www.gollner.ca