Sirius DITA Suite

Sirius DITA Suite is a DITA-based standard configuration of Acolada´s XML Content Management System Sirius CMS.

This standard configuration contains everything that users need to create documentation or other technical documents using XML and DITA.

Immediately create reusable content

All essential content types are available out-of-the-box:

  • various types of paragraphs, character markup and lists
  • figures, legends and tables
  • boxes for notes, examples or ANSI/ISO hazard statements
  • tasks with intermediate or final result
  • definitions for all important document parts
    (e.g. cover page, imprint, table of content, back page etc.)

Thanks to the DITA-based structure, content always gets created as modular and reusable topics.

Of course, all important features of SiriusCMS are available (version history, translation management searching etc.).

No in-depth knowledge of XML necessary

Users create content via Acolada´s graphical XML editor SIMQIN which is similar to Microsoft Word in look-and-feel.

Out of the box, SIMQIN offers the following functionality:

  • a graphical document view just like Word
  • usage via buttons, menus and dialogs, not via XML element names
  • prespicuous descriptions, so that users know what they need to do
  • many useful Quickparts just like in Word, even for complex content

Easy data migration from Word, Adobe InDesign or PDF via smart copy/paste

Existing documents can be migrated simply by copy/paste if they are available in Microsoft Word, Adobe InDesign or PDF format.

The following content gets migrated automatically to XML:

  • headings
  • tables and lists
  • the usual character markup
  • images

Details of the migration are configurable.

Using smart copy/paste these scenarios become feasible:

  • discard some markup on purpose (e.g. underlining)
  • migrate numbered list as tasks automatically

If necessary, Acolada also offers fully automatic data migration.

Even complex features are easy to use

Even features that normally require XML knowledge are easy to use:

  • variant filtering
  • variables
  • metadata
  • PDF output via Adobe InDesign

Everything can be customized

All aspects of Sirius DITA Suite can be customized to specific requirements, also by users themselves, notably layouts (e.g. PDF layout using Adobe InDesign).

If necessary, Acolada can also customize core features of SiriusCMS to requirements.