The DITA Open Toolkit provides a method for specifying a CSS style sheet, blocks of HTML code to add to the top and bottom of each generated HTML file, and a block of code to add to the <head> section of each generated HTML file. However, the method is cumbersome to use from a command line or terminal window invocation of the Apache Ant build processor. The HyperWrite WinANT software tool, which acts as a Windows interface to Ant, makes this method extremely simple.
Overview
WinANT is a Windows program, build with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2008 using VB.NET. It serves as an interface to the Ant build utility, for the sole purpose of processing DITA documents.
WinANT allows a user to select build characteristics using normal Windows interface devices such as drop-down lists, radio buttons, tabs and browse buttons. When all the required settings are in place, the program creates the Ant build file, creates a ditaval file (if required), creates a batch file, and then executes the batch file to trigger the Ant build. When Ant has finished the processing, WinANT displays the generated output file. The settings can be saved (as a build file) and later recalled.
Setup and configuration
WinANT can be downloaded without charge on a "take it as it comes" basis from http://www.helpml.com/winant_setup.exe. It installs using a standard Windows installer, and requires .Net Framework 2.0.
The Ant arguments that can be set within WinANT include:
- The folder where the output will be created.
- The type of output.
- A CSS stylesheet to be applied to each output HTML page.
- A file containing HTML code to be added to the <head> section of each output HTML page.
- A file containing HTML code to be added to the top of the <body> section of each output HTML page.
- A file containing HTML code to be added to the bottom of the <body> section of each output HTML page.
- A list of files to be copied to the output folder (or compiled into HTML Help output).
- Some limited conditional processing rules.
- Images to be used for flagging conditional text.
- The DITA topic file extension used.
- The output HTML file extension to be used.
- Whether content marked as draft will be included in the output.
Publishing
When you are ready to produce HTML-based output from your DITA source, you can process your DITA map file through WinANT.
WinANT supports the following base DITA Open Toolkit and additional plug-ins:
- HTML
- (Microsoft ) HTML Help
- HTML Help 2 (plug-in)
- PDF2
- Eclipse Help
- DocBook
- Word
- HTML - tocjs (plug-in)
- XHTML with Search (plug-in)
- HTML - tocjsbis (plug-in)
- HTML with tocjs
- HTML with search
You will need to prepare the CSS stylesheet to use for presentation of the output, as well as any code blocks for the top (Custom Header), bottom (Custom Footer), and <head> section (Custom Head Block).
If you are producing HTML Help output, you can also nominate an include file, which is a simple list of additional files to be compiled into the resultant CHM, in plain text format. If your CSS file references graphics, these graphics files should be listed in the include file.
Selecting the CSS and code files
The CSS and HTML code block files are selected on the Main tab of WinANT. These fields are:
only active if the Output Type field on the Main tab is set to HTML Help or HTML Help 2.
Summary
WinANT provides a simpler way of controlling the HTML-based output from DITA content than the standard DITA Open Toolkit command line. Its ability to store settings for future use also help make it a practical tool for DITA publishing.
Tony Self
HyperWrite Pty. Ltd.
Chairperson, OASIS DITA Help Subcommittee