DocBook from OpenOffice documents

OpenOffice.org 1.9 (supplied with Fedora Core 4) and above supports exporting to DocBook, the file format used by the DocsProject for master copies of all Project documents.

If you're using Fedora Core 4, and you have the  package installed, you will find that you can write the body of your document with Writer, the Open Office.org, this makes early collaboration very easy, just by emailing drafts back and forth.

Once you're happy with a draft, you can use the Open Office.org's OpenDocument format are really not that good yet.|}}

Installing DocBook Support
The standard Desktop and Workstation installations of Fedora include Open package:

su -c 'yum install openoffice.org-javafilter'

Enter the  password at the prompt.

~-Note from PatrickBarnes: Do we need openoffice.org-xsltfilter to be installed, too?-~ ~-Reply from PaulWFrields : Yes, but this is a required piece of the "Office/Productivity" group, and installed by default with OO.o in Fedora. Do you think we need to mention it?-~

Writing the Document
Now, write, import or edit your document in Writer as normal.

BIG TIP: Use the Stylist to select styles for your headings. When you select Heading 1, you open a first-level section. After you type the heading title, just hit Enter, and the style changes automatically to make the following paragraphs part of that DocBook section. If you select Heading 2, and type a title, the following paragraphs are part of that DocBook second-level section.

Although DocsProject authors use  tags for marking document sections rather than the   tags that Open  Office.org produces, that's very easy to fix later.

The main point of doing this is that it makes writing easier for you, and should make the DocBook conversion relatively easy for other contributors when it's time to add the document to the Project CVS.

Saving and Exporting the Document
When you're finished:

1. Select File -> Save As... and choose the "File Type" option 1. Select DocBook from the list 1. Give a name to your file.

If you have Automatic file extension selected, Writer adds the .xml extension to the file name.