TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
> Maybe I can elaborate about a situation where
> conditional text workarounds in Word would not work.
>
> I can see Word working where you have one layer of
> conditions: A, B, or C. But, what if you have more
> than one level where the levels can overlap in
> different combinations.
>
> Imagine four related products: A, B, C, and D.
> Now, add two or three operating systems: Win, Linux,
> Mac
> Next, complicate things by different groups of
> readers: Admin, Advanced, Novice.
> Finally, picture a need to produce documentation
> tailored for any combination of Product, OS, and
> reader. If my math is correct, that's 36 possible
> combinations to configure a manual. Can Word handle
> overlapping conditions to accommodate something that
> might be in "A for Win/Admin" and "A for
> Win/Advanced", but not in the Novice version.
>
Where I work I have a real-life situation somewhat
like what you describe. Rather than try to come up
with a conditioned text scheme this complicated, I
just use multiple template documents.
You may find it easier to have one template for Admin
readers with its own set of conditions, one template
for Novice readers with conditions appropriate, etc.
It's a compromise I know, and it does require multiple
source files which sort of violates the idea behind
single-sourcing, but it's a LOT easier than trying to
create a one-size-fits-all nested IF field stucture
this complex.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content
delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
