Several months ago I said I'd take on documenting wxPython. I decided that SGML/XML would be the best way to implement the content. I pursued a couple paths to do this, including a long fight with Zope and Zope databasing, and came to the conclusion that there are no affordable, cross-platform, easy-to-use tools for achieving what I want.
Starting early this month, I decided that the best solution was to write a custom database program to deliver the content through a help-file system. The additional benefit to this approach is that it gives me tutorial material: the newbie user will learn to create his own help!
The best method of delivering the help files is as HTML, so that cross-links and such are available. This also leverages wxPython's HTML engine, rather than requiring me to build a custom dbase interface. The program must also deliver DocBook-spec XML, for use in publication. And if it can present a nice PDF or RTF format, so much the better.
As I considered all this, I decided that my initial foray into using gadfly was misdirected: if I'm going to end up rendering to XML, I might as well store it in XML, and use existing tools to deliver HTML and RTF versions.
Unfortunately, Python's XML tools require Python 1.6. wxPython requires 1.5. The situation is currently at an impasse.
I expect progress to begin again when Python 2.0 is released, because I expect wxPython will soon follow with its new release supporting Python 2.0.
The program will have support for creating the XML files and editing them. I expect I'll be able to release the program and act as a central gathering point for user-contributed documentation. I'll receive files, finesse them as required, and release them as documentation updates.
Be patient! Solutions will occur -- not nearly as fast as everyone would like, but they will occur!
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David Priest -- WritersBlock Technical Communications
Workplace Documentation, Manuals, Process Improvement
250 542-5208 www.sfu.ca/~priest