RE: Queries on Single Sourcing

["Bill Swallow" <wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com>]

::: I agree that it is possible to create 
::: good online help using ss, but I don't see how you can use 
::: ss to create 
::: online help AND a user guide that each contain different 
::: information. The 
::: whole point of ss is surely to to reduce the time spent on 
::: doc by allowing 
::: the author to create multiple docs from a single source. As 
::: I see it, by 
::: definition, the content must be the same, and only the 
::: appearance different. 

No, the content needs to come from the same source, not be the same content.
You may share information across multiple deliverables (procedures,
definitions, overviews, etc.) but where and how that information is used can
vary greatly.

::: And therein lies the problem: if the user cannot find the 
::: info in one 
::: source, s/he goes on a fool's errand looking for it in another. 

Well, that gets back to the whole "bad author" argument. ;)

::: When you last made your point about good help, I checked 
::: the archives, which 
::: informed me that ss'd docs are good only if they contain 
::: different info. 

Not necessarily. I ss some info to multiple deliverables verbatim, and to
others conditionally. It's all about purpose and audience.

::: Well, how? "Single-sourced" and "different" seem to me to 
::: be mutually exclusive terms.

Only when you consider the same content is used, which is not always the
case.

Bill Swallow
wswallow "at" nycap "dot" rr "dot" com