Schemas and Document Type Definitions (DTDs) are ways of controlling your content. Both called "schema" (little "S") collectively, they operate like a dynamic template, letting you control:
- What kind of information content creators can write
- What structures it can form
- How many of each kind of content
- Any special information or metadata you can apply
When you control content you can automate its processing and formatting into other formats like HTML, different types PDF, database interchange formats and so on. This is the fundamental benefit of XML, and what enables content reuse, translation savings, single-sourcing, content syndication, quality and time-to-market improvements, and all the other benefits that this website mentions.
Schema and DTD are both international, text-based standards, not owned or controlled by any single organisation.
Bad Schema, Bad!
Your schema is your technical blueprint for your information. Therefore, if you write a bad blue-print, when you start to build information against it, you'll get very bad results. Mekon are often invited in to review or replace systems that were built on poorly executed schemas, or schemas that have simply out-lived their usefulness. Schema-development is a highly specialised skill that most organisations will not have in-house, and unfortunately far fewer of the "schema experts" offering services in today's market really have the broad range of experience necessary to build something that meets all a schema's requirements. A schema needs to be controlled enough for automation, yet flexible enough to be useable, and future-proof all at the same time.
Mekon will develop custom schemas, but only when it's truly necessary.
Standard Schemas
DITA, S1000D, Docbook, MathML, SVG and many more are all standard XML schemas that allow you to leverage the investment of organisations that came before you in tools, process and knowledge. The more you adhere to standards, the more you can use the best practice, materials and sometimes even technology that come with them. Mekon works with dozens of different standards, each optimised for a different context.
With a solid set of customisable and repeatedly proven standards - with cheaper associated implementation costs - now available, developing schema's truly from scratch is becoming more and more rare. If you're considering it, or having it suggested by "an expert", think twice and then maybe get a second opinion. Implementing the wrong information blueprint is one of the most expensive mistakes that can be made in an content project.
Mekon can build a custom schema, but more often we will work to add some additional development effort to an existing standard to deliver the best of both worlds.
