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| | Dynamic Publishing Tools from Altova
Dynamic PublishingDynamic publishing is a methodology for building processes in which layout templates are created to maintain a consistent format for publication, while actual content is determined at run-time. This gives page designers the freedom and flexibility to work with overall look and feel and/or functionality rather than focusing on particular content constraints. When combined with the powerful separation of content and presentation that is XML publishing, dynamic publishing offers an infrastructure of modular and reusable components that can be customized with variable data based on output and/or audience requirements. One of the key benefits of dynamic publishing is that it enables organizations to automate their publishing processes by creating template designs for each type of content they intend to publish. Sophisticated systems can even output simultaneously to different display mediums (i.e., print, Web, and/or other electronic content) depending on presentation needs. Print on Demand (POD)Print on demand has borrowed from dynamic publishing methodologies to revolutionize the world of traditional publishing. With the advent of digital publishing, and without the massive overhead that comes from operating and maintaining a commercial printing press and warehouse inventories, POD has enabled a huge reduction in costs and time to market for all kinds of publications. A typical book publishing lifecycle can span several months, if not years, threatening many time-sensitive materials like textbooks, social commentary, and many scientific works with redundancy if they miss their window. Print on demand mitigates this risk with the promise of timely information that can be updated, and then printed, as needed. In addition, because of the decrease in costs, POD has also opened the field up to many small publishers, academic publishers, and even self-publishers that were previously unable to afford the high price associated with offset printing. Variable Data PrintingVariable data printing (VDP) refers to a subset of dynamic publishing that is common to contact systems such as those used for customer relationship management (CRM), direct marketing, and other forms of mass communication. For example, email marketing campaigns require salutation lines and sometimes other information to be modified for each recipient. Of course, many VDP scenarios require functionality that cannot be achieved by simple mail merge programs. A name and address file, for example, could include variable data like addresses that span three or four lines, ZIP codes that are five or nine digits, or often international address types that have additional differences. Requirements could involve complex filtering and user-defined functions for determining which members of a list get contacted, translating data from one type to another, and so on. This form of dynamic publishing has opened marketers up to entirely new possibilities for reaching customers with timely, personalized content at a fraction of the cost of large scale direct mail and other traditional advertising means. Altova Tools for Dynamic PublishingAltova is the leader in XML development tools, and provides support for dynamic publishing through XML-related technologies. StyleVision Altova StyleVision is a stylesheet designer that offers a wide variety of options for dynamic publishing. Design templates can be developed based on an XML Schema or DTD content model, or users can define layout properties and add content later in the same way that they would approach common desktop publishing applications. (StyleVision also supports designing templates based on XBRL and database sources.) StyleVision supports multi-channel publishing, enabling users to output content to HTML, Microsoft® Word, PDF, or electronic forms all from the same template design. Once the document structure is defined, non-technical users can add content using Authentic, Altova's WYSIWYG XML and database content editor. StyleVision template designs can be reused from one project to the next to publish dynamic data.
Authentic Altova Authentic is a WYSIWYG XML authoring tool that allows technical writers, documentation specialists, and other content contributors to view and edit XML and database content without being exposed to the underlying technology. This is an extremely valuable asset for dynamic publishing, enabling authors and subject matter experts to maintain the integrity of their content assets directly, without requiring an additional conversion step that can lead to reliability issues and time to market delays. Authentic is ideally implemented as the user interface element of XML-based content management systems, document frameworks, and enterprise collaboration workflows. MapForce Altova MapForce is an any-to-any data mapping and conversion tool with advanced support for variable data printing. MapForce supports all of the data formats generally used in VDP implementations, such as CSV (comma separated values), FLF (fixed length field), Microsoft® Excel, databases, and XML. Its user-friendly graphical interface lets less technical users easily use drag and drop mapping to create an advanced XML Schema from these formats - and then use that as a reference for any VDP workflow. Once you have your data in XML, a rendering tool like StyleVision (described above) can then be used to create a template-based dynamic publishing project for output to HTML, RTF, PDF, or Word.
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