RE: department software restructuring

Subject: RE: department software restructuring
From: "Glenn Maxey" <glenn -dot- maxey -at- voyanttech -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2001 09:50:28 -0600



> -----Original Message-----
> From: dbloom -at- betasys -dot- com [mailto:dbloom -at- betasys -dot- com]
> Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2001 8:10 AM
> To: TECHWR-L
> Subject: department software restructuring

<snippage>
> In any case, we are trying to simplify matters. This could
> mean an entire overhaul to our distribution system, including a move
to
> exclusively PDF, if necessary.

That would be a scary thought. If you're going to Adobe FrameMaker which
has tighter integration into Adobe Acrobat, you'll be able to get Print
and PDF relatively painlessly.

> The obvious move for us is to go to FrameMaker, as it seems
> to be industry standard.

You'll start a tool war if you call it "an industry standard." :)
However, you are correct in that it is very popular in our profession
because it works reliably for large projects with minimal tweaking ONCE
you have a bullet-proof template.

> We are currently experimenting with version 5.5. Is 6.0
> significantly different?

Not really, but you'll want it anyway. The improvements to 6.0 were to
the book feature. A major useful feature is being able to rename files
in the book and have all cross-referencing features taken care of
automatically.

> Are there other products that might work for our situation?

Yes, look into the full version of WebWorks Publisher (which goes way
beyond the standard version built into FM) or Mif2Go. One or the other
will be able to assist you immeasurably in single-sourcing from FM into
HTML or other online formats.

Also, look into FrameScripts and IXGen which take FM to the next level.
Must have's.

> If we move exclusively to PDF for distribution, we may have file size
> issues.

Again, you may be jumping the gun with the PDF only solution.


> Our user manuals are constantly undergoing changes and must
> always be updated. An average manual can be 20-30 pages in
> length, and we
> have over 300 manuals and a couple thousand reports that are
> distributed.
> Will this mean having to keep copies of all our documentation
> in both the
> original version (FrameMaker, Word, etc.) AND in PDF format?

Yes and no. FrameMaker is your source. If you have the source, you can
generate the PDF. So this is the "no" part. However, you'll want to keep
track of all PDF files that you issued to customers mostly because it's
good product management practices. This is the "yes" part.

> Or is there
> a way to simply keep PDF files AND be able to edit them later?

You can use Acrobat to edit PDF files later. However, for best results
the smallest element of change to the PDF files should be the page
level. PDF files can be combined, pages removed, pages added. Even if
you just changed one word on a page, the easiest way to handle this is
to generate a PDF file for that page, add it to the PDF file, and remove
the old page from the PDF file. Hence, you'll still need the source FM
in order to generate that single updated page.

Glenn Maxey
Voyant Technologies, Inc.
Tel. +1 303.223.5164
Fax. +1 303.223.5275
glenn -dot- maxey -at- voyanttech -dot- com

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