New to DocBook: XML or SGML, Clark or Open?

["Prikryl,Petr" <PRIKRYLP at skil dot cz>]

Hallo DocBookers,

Briefly first, more details below in the text:

 - Should I be oriented towards SGML or XML when starting
   with DocBook as a total greenhorn?  Do I need a unicode
   capable editor for XML?
 - Should I choose Clark's SP and Jade or OpenSP 
   and OpenJade?
 - Should I ask about JadeTeX here or somewhere else?
 - Notice: I am using Windows NT (I have no choice).

Now the context in more details
=======================

I have no experience with it and with SGML/XML
tools.  I have read some FAQs, HTML  and XML 
specifications, I know passively also the basics of SGML
and basic principles of style sheet languages. I have read
also the "DocBook: The Definitive Guide" by Norman Walsh
and Leonard Muellner (not the Reference part yet). 

I am still very new to DocBook, and to SGML/XML tools.
In the company, where I work as a programmer, I strugle for
a solid way of writing a documentation (MS Word is simply
not the way).  The time has come just now.  

My previous experience:
======================
I was used to use LaTeX before (not in the company),
and I liked both the stability of the documents in time, 
and also rather structural and semantic features of 
the LaTeX macros. I was also writing HTML documents
(using a text editor,  validated via W3C validator) and used 
CSS for them.

Just recently I tried to convert Word 6 documents (the old
manuals for previous version of the application that I am 
rewriting).  I tried to export it into HTML and then I gradually
developed a Perl script for crunching the visually oriented
markup generated by Word into some pseudo DTD less XML file
(no unicode, no headings, simply the xml-like tags around
the text portions).

After some manual solution of the visual-markup 
special-cases (generated by Word), I was able to write another
Perl script for generating fairly good HTML pages (images
converted automatically using ImageMagick's convert tool).

I tried to generate also LaTeX sources from my pseudo XML 
(or pseudo SGML?) files.  Even though it would be possible,
I have learned a lesson.  Now I really see why I should prefer
SGML or XML sources.  I like the possibility to validate 
the structure of the documents, and expect that I will be 
able to generate printable documentation without need to 
visually check all pages (which is necessary when you 
use Word, but not necessary in LaTeX).

Question on Clark vs. Open
======================

This question is not the basic one for me.  I only would like to
know, whether I should prefer Clark's SP and Jade or 
OpenSP and OpenJade (and why).  Are these projects
developed as competitors?  Did Clark ever expressed
his opinion on OpenSP and OpenJade?


Question on JadeTeX
================

I am thinking about using (La)TeX for generating printable
version of the documentation and also the PostScript
and PDF versions.  Is the TeX back-end the usual way
for doing that?


Thanks for reading patiently until here ;-)

Petr

-- 
Petr Prikryl, SKIL, spol. s r.o., prikrylp@skil.cz


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