DITA 2.0 - a NOT backward compatible release

This blog post contains a brief assessment of the DITA 2.0 release, which is announced for October 2022.

The picture shows two signs. A green sign with the word SIMPLE points to the left. A red sign with the word COMPLEX points to the right.

It has been known for quite a while that DITA 2.0 will not be backwards compatible. And that's a good thing too!

Attributes and elements that have been marked as 'deprecated' for ten years are finally being removed.

In addition, there are changes to existing structures. For example, the 'hazardstatements' have been adjusted to be even closer to ANSI Z535.6.

So do we need to worry for the move from DITA 1.3 to DITA 2.0? Is there a high migration effort coming our way?

DITA 2.0 is coming ...

DITA 2.0 is announced for October 2022. So at least there is time enough to prepare for the changeover.

Also time enough to tackle a possibly planned move to the #ditaxml world with the current version DITA 1.3.

Don't let the changes to the upcoming release deter you from DITA implementation projects!

Getting started in the world of structured data and the associated opportunities for automating and adding value to content can't begin soon enough.

But back to the planned changes for release 2.0.

You can find a detailed account of the changes in the slides by Kristen Eberlein, member of the OASIS committee on the DITA standard.

We looked at the changes in detail and noticed that there are many places that need to be adjusted when upgrading the version and require manual or automatic migration.

But! The way we at c-rex.net assess our DITA projects, migration will not be a major problem for us and our customers.

Because in all the projects that we have been involved in from the beginning, we have taken out the complexity of DITA.

On the one hand, we have reducedwhat is absolutely necessary the scope to . But if necessary, we have also expanded and specialized.

So far, this has mainly been for the reason, apart from user-friendliness, that we want to create the possibility of automated processing via stable and clear data structures.

This in turn leads to stable processes and process reliability.

Our approach is paying off now at the latest. We don't have to worry about the whole DITA world (>540 elements) when upgrading to 2.0.

Due to the clear DITA structures, the attributes and elements marked as deprecated in the standard, for example, no longer exist in our system.

We also have clear structures and thus know exactly which constellations can occur in a concrete DITA project.

This is not always the case when DITA is used out-of-the-box, as editorial teams in particular can develop a life of their own over time, partly due to fluctuation within the company. All in all, work continues to be DITA-compliant, but in an unclear overall situation.

We can take care of the scope actually used in the projects. And it is manageable.

To answer the question posed at the beginning: No need to worry!

However, it is already a good idea to analyze the data and check where adjustments will be necessary in the future. You should already plan them now or, in the best case, correct them.

If you are in the process of implementing DITA 1.3, you should already keep an eye on the future 2.0 release.

... and we support you with the introduction of DITA and the changeover

Do as we do and gladly with our support.

The release of DITA 2.0 is scheduled for October 2022. Enough time, therefore, to prepare.

For upgrading from 1.3 to 2.0 or getting started with structured content creation using DITA xml.

We are already working on a migration solution on our c-rex.net platform so that even large data sets can be transferred to the new world without any problems.