RE: Giving Up on XML

["Klasovsky, Nick" <nklasovsky -at- nordson -dot- com>]

Eric Dunn wrote: 

"I'd also wonder if writers who can't set-up the DITA implementations in

commercial software or get the open tool kit functioning won't have 
difficulty grasping other basic changes in thinking required by working
in 
a DITA environment."

There are many, many writers out here like me who are not programmers.
We can't set up the DITA implementations in commercial software, we
can't get the open tool kit functioning. We can't quite get our heads
around DITA or XML, possibly because its all too complicated and
requires too much fiddling around to get working. We write and
illustrate manuals in the old fashioned way, with software that allows
us to get 'r done with a minimum of fuss. 

We don't want to have stop what we're doing to get under the hood of
tools and write custom scripts to do what most commercial software does
for us. We also work for employers who don't give us budgets and staff
to do programming for something that we can do in Word or our publishing
software. A lot of us out here work in industries other than IT, so the
programmers we may have in house don't do publishing software and don't
know what XML is. They are too busy writing controls software. Our
employers don't think spending a lot of time and money fiddling with
publishing software adds much value to what we do, and our users could
care less if we use Word or XML to publish the information they need.

Like other posters have said, when it is all reduced to an all-in-one
program that costs no more than Framemaker and doesn't require outside
consultants to set up and maintain, then it may be widely adopted. Until
then it is still no more than a programmer's dream and a user's
nightmare. 

Nick Klasovsky
Senior Technical Writer
Team Finishing
Nordson Corporation
Amherst, OH 44001



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or 
printed documentation. Features include single source authoring, team authoring,
Web-based technology, and PDF output. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

Now shipping: Help & Manual 4 with RoboHelp(r) import! New editor,
full Unicode support. Create help files, web-based help and PDF in up
to 106 languages with Help & Manual: http://www.helpandmanual.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to 
techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.