Documentation frustration :(

[Hugo Gayosso <hgayosso gnu org>]

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Hello guys!!!

        It has been 3 days since I started doing some research about
documentation for software and I am frustrated!!

        I am involved in a Free Software project, and I offered myself to
create or at least convert the current documentation to an SGML/XML format, so
it can be converted to HTML, and be displayed with PHP on-the-fly.

        When I knew that GNOME is using DocBook as the "official" format for
documentation, I decided to adopt the same format for this project.

        I am completely new to DocBook, SGML, XML. I only know very basic HTML.

        I tried to look for help and tools, and I found some, but nothing that
could help a newbie (or at least the way I was expecting), even when I found
tools and tutorials for newbies, but none of them are complete, some of them are
missing either an explanation, or the tools, or examples.

        I am asking you guys for help, because I want to do this documentation
following GNOME standards, even when this project is not part of GNOME, so I
can learn about DocBook and then later, help GNOME with my knowledge in that
area.

        What I am looking is for:

        1) A tutorial for newbies (kindergarden-oriented would be fine)
        2) A set of tools to work with the documents, in order to do all the
neccesary conversions: SGML-> DocBook, DocBook -> HTML, SGML -> XML
           XML ready to be used by PHP so it can be displayed on a web browser
on-the-fly.
        3) A set of examples that I can just take them and modify them, instead
of creating my own DSSL, CSS, or whatever they are called (the style sheets).

        If somebody have all this please send this to me in a tarball: SGML
document, Stylesheets, and instructions on what tools and how to convert the
document.

        Please help!!!!!! 

        I am writing this just before dinner with the expectations to find that
somebody answered while I am eating and then start hacking on that all-night
long.


Thanks in advance.

P.S.
        Yes I know about Conglomerate, but it seems to be in a very immature
state, and with a lot of changes expected, so I prefer to do it with EMACS and
some command-line tools.
        All the solutions should be Free Software, or at least Open Source
Software please.


- -----------------------
Hugo Gayosso

"Protecting essential freedoms is always a matter of restricting the actions
that would deny them. Remember, your freedom to swing your fist ends at the tip
of my nose. "
 --Richard Stallman

http://hgayosso.linuxbox.com

http://www.gnu.org

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