Are there automated validation tools for ensuring the completeness and accuracy of research documentation in DITA?

November 10, 2023
|By Bryan Tipper

Ensuring the completeness and accuracy of research documentation is a paramount concern in DITA XML. To achieve this, DITA provides support for automated validation tools that assist in maintaining the quality and integrity of the content. These tools help researchers and documentation teams by automatically checking various aspects of documentation, such as completeness, consistency, and adherence to predefined standards.

Automated Validation

DITA allows you to define automated validation checks through specialized scripts and tools. These checks can cover a wide range of criteria, including:

  • Completeness: Ensuring that all required sections or elements in a document are present.
  • Consistency: Verifying that terminology, formatting, and style guidelines are consistent throughout the documentation.
  • Compliance: Confirming that the documentation adheres to industry standards or internal guidelines.
  • Links and References: Checking for broken links, outdated references, or missing citations.

These automated checks help identify potential issues early in the documentation process, reducing the likelihood of errors and omissions in research documentation.

Example:

Here’s an example of how automated validation checks can be implemented in DITA:


<topic id="research_documentation">
  <title>Research Documentation</title>
  <body>...
  <validation>
    <check type="completeness" />
    <check type="consistency" />
    <check type="compliance" />
    <check type="links" />
  </validation>

In this example, the DITA topic “research_documentation” includes a “validation” section with various checks. These checks can be configured to automatically review the completeness, consistency, compliance, and links within the documentation, ensuring its accuracy and quality.