Glossary · 3 · Publishing SDKs and structured content
Single-sourcing
Also known as: Single sourcing, Single-source publishing, Write once, publish many
In technical communication, single-sourcing is the practice of writing and maintaining a piece of content once, in one source, and reusing it in several documents, outputs, product variants or contexts through references and automated assembly instead of copies.
- Publishing SDKs
- Technical documentation
In one sentence
Single-sourcing keeps content in one source and reuses it across documents, variants and outputs by reference instead of copying.
Example
A safety notice on residual voltage is written once and pulled by reference into the installation guide, the service manual and the online help of three drive models.
How it applies
- Publishing SDKs: Single-sourcing depends on reuse mechanisms in the content format and on a toolkit that resolves them. In DITA, a content reference (conref) pulls an element from another topic, keys let maps define what a reference points to, and DITA maps assemble topics into deliverables. Conditional processing filters variant-specific content at build time.
- Developer SDKs: Parameter descriptions, error tables and code samples are kept in one place (an interface description or a sample repository) and pulled into reference pages, guides and IDE help.
- Platform and hardware SDKs: Shared concepts (authentication, installation, safety information) appear in the guides of many products and SDK versions; single-sourcing keeps them consistent when one of them changes.
- Maintenance: A correction in the source reaches every output at the next build. The reverse also holds: an error in the source reaches every output, so reused content needs careful review and a clear owner.
- Content design: Reusable units must make sense in every context they are used in. Content that refers to “the previous step” or to a specific model cannot be reused without change.
Single-sourcing vs. multichannel publishing
Single-sourcing is about reuse of content units across documents and variants. Multichannel publishing is about delivering content through several output channels. They are often combined — one source, many deliverables, many formats — but either can exist without the other.
Single-sourcing vs. single source of truth
A single source of truth is the one authoritative place for a piece of data or a decision. Single-sourcing is a writing and publishing technique. Content can be single-sourced from a file that is not itself the authoritative source of truth for the facts it states, for example when product data is copied in instead of referenced.