1. Experience with XML – based production of publications Case of « Statistical yearbook 2005 and 2006  »
Guy Zacharias
Centralisation et Diffusion
STATEC
Tel:

2. Workflow :
Set up of tables in Beyond 20/20 application (ivt cube format) and export in XML
editing of text documents in MS Word RTF format (using a template) and exporting in XML
set up of maps in Corel Draw and transformed in SVG.
organisation of any type of publication via Publication Management System PMS (tree structure, automatic creation of the table of contents, pagination and key words)
creation of one PDF per publication
one or two proof readings before final validation
print of publication

3. > Document generation flow – RTF to PDF

4. > Publication tree

5. > Menu

6. > Adding / modifying a document

7. > Addition / modification of a Beyond table - XML format

8. > Document in Ms Word structured with styles

9. > Document is not structured according the predefined rules

10. > Table in IVT XML format

11. > Charts, maps and images integrated in the publication

12. Advantages of XML based publication
reducing amount of errors in work process (the PMS checks if the content is structured according the rules defined in the DTD / Schema)
no time lost for type setting or table formatting (as template is used)
use of same basic data (ivt BEYOND tables) for web site and publication: all modifications are done in the source document
easy update of any single table or text document before creation of the final print-ready PDF document (one PDF per publication, independency from the printing company)
track of all changes, automatic creation of table of contents, keyword index and pagination

13. Conclusions after 2 years experience
The access via web to the external server is sometimes slow or interrupted during maintenance.
The system is expensive if it is used for a low number of publications
Strong commitment to an external service provider
No in-house development, maintenance and know how necessary
Very user friendly tool, easy to use even for beginners