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Re: Font Selection, Name Changes, and Fainting Goats
Subject:Re: Font Selection, Name Changes, and Fainting Goats From:johanne -dot- cadorette -at- locusdialog -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 24 Apr 2002 11:11:8
Jason wrote: "So, we moved to XML (the name thing was not the only reason,
but it was a good ROI justification). We keep product names as external
text entities (<!ENTITY bohica "WidgetWhisker2000" >) and insert the entity
as needed. Now, when marketing changes the product name, we tell them that
it will take 3 days, change the single entity (total time to update
1500-topic doc set--3 minutes), then go fishing.
Well, here's an irritating (hypothetical) situation that throws that
solution out the window in FrameMaker, anyway: A product, let's call it
CoolThing, is always referred to as "the CoolThing system" in the doc (as
in, "The CoolThing system enables the accomplishment of miracles,"). A name
change occurs. The product is now CoolThingSS, where SS stands for Special
Solution. The writer changes the variable 'product name' to CoolThingSS,
but is now faced with countless instances of "the CoolThingSS system" and
must now search the book for all the instances of CoolThingSS system and
remove system (because it can't be a solution system), as well at "the."
Fun!
Anyway, thank heaven for Search Book in FrameMaker 6. My point is (other
than a rant on name changes that occur without the approbation of tech
writers) that the writer might want to stop using variables for product
names altogether. CoolThingSS could be called something completely
different in a few weeks.
Getting back to work,
Johanne Cadorette
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