** Welcome to Camille's DocBook starter kit!

This mini HOWTO and the accompanying files are designed to help
beginners in writing and formatting their first documents using the
DocBook technologies. The following has been written to work on the Mandrake
Linux operating system.

1) Packages requirements
You must first install the following packages on your system:

emacs-psgml (optional)
emacs-xslide (optional)
docbook-dtd412-xml
docbook-style-xsl
docbook-style-dsssl
docbook-style-xsl-doc
docbook-style-dsssl-doc
openjade
jadetex
libxslt-proc
make

2) Test everything works
run:
$ make test.html
And open the resulting test.html file in your favorite web browser
run:
$ make test.pdf
And open the resulting test.pdf file in your PDF viewer (xpdf)

3) Create your own document
Copy the sample file 
$ cp test.xml my_new_doc.xml
Edit it with your preferred XML editor (Emacs of course!)
The Emacs PSGML mode will help you in editing the file
http://www.snee.com/bob/sgmlfree/psgmqref.html
Use above make commands applied to your file to get the output format
$ make my_new_doc.html
$ make my_new_doc.pdf
And check the result

4) Customize the output presentation
Up to now output formats have been formatted using the stock DocBook
style sheets. You can customize these styles by adding your own
customization layer on top of the stock stylesheets. This kit provides
customization layers for the HTML and PDF output formats. To use them:
$ make my_new_doc.html XSL_JADETEX=docbook-html.xsl
$ make my_new_doc.pdf DSSSL_JADETEX=docbook-jadetex.dsssl
To modify these customizations, open the stylesheets with your text
editor and read the documentation, respectively at:
/usr/share/doc/docbook-style-dsssl-doc-1.77/doc/print/index.html
/usr/share/doc/docbook-style-xsl-doc-1.60.1/doc/html/index.html

5) To go further
The main entry point to get information about DocBook is the Wiki:
http://docbook.org/wiki/
including tutorials, and many many resources. Don't miss the mailing
lists and IRC:
http://docbook.org/wiki/moin.cgi/DocBookDiscussion
(tip: use channel #docbook-fr if you are a lucky French speaking
person ;-)


Enjoy your DocBook experience!

Camille Bgnis (c) 2003
2003-05-17