RE: A Survey: Do You Name Your Images in a Std Way?

["zzPinkham, zzJim" <Jim -dot- Pinkham -at- voith -dot- com>]

Carla's describing where I want to go. We're not there yet, but it's far
better than the Fig. 5-3 approach. 

Try finding a unique file in a folder that contains several variants and
versions of a particular family or style of machine. You may have 14 of
the Fig. 5-3 variety. But Fig. 5-3 may be different because of a feature
that is not in every single machine. Perhaps in the XYZ 05 Fig. 5-3 is
the thingamobby, but in the XYZ 05WR, there's an extra section on the
Acme widget being supplied for a particular customer, and so Fig. 5-3 is
the widget and Fig. 5-5 is the thingamobby. Mix in thousands of images,
like Carla has here, and you may have to open lots of files (and at
least the 14 you know about) to find what you want. If somebody skipped
the Fig. 5-3 altogether and just named the image file "thingamobby.eps,"
even the 14 might not do the trick. And what if they named it
"Acme_thingamobby.eps"? Throw in some international contributions that
you have to translate/deciper -- let's say, "Gestaltabobby," and you can
**really** have fun.

So, where we're at now is something more along the lines of
Fig_10-1_XYZ_10_Rotating_Assembly.eps. At this point, we at least have a
fighting chance of turning up what we need quickly in a search or a
visual scan of filenames.

Jim, Who's Been There

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Martinek, Carla
Sent: Thursday, May 24, 2007 7:24 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: RE: A Survey: Do You Name Your Images in a Std Way?

Yes, we have a standard method of naming graphics.  About two years ago,
as I pushed the single-sourcing initiative here in our group, I also
pushed putting all graphics in a central folder.  Previously, each
document had its own graphics folder, and many graphics were duplicated
20-30 times throughout the entire documentation tree, wasting space and
creating numerous potentials for inaccuracy and inconsistency.

In order to merge all graphics into a single folder, we had to
standardize the naming conventions.  Our graphics team did a great job
on this, and they kept a chart on what the "old" name is compared to
what the "new" name is, so when writers needed to relink in graphics
from the new location, they could find what they needed with minimal
trouble.

Our graphics folder has 14,000+ graphics in it (both .cdr source and
.eps output).  Naming conventions are something along the lines of this:

Productline_item_description.eps

We created a standard set of abbreviations for part names, descriptions,
and actions.  For example:

  * PAX_rbn_load_PH.eps 
    indicates PAX printer, ribbon loading, focused on the printhead
area, and
  * S4M_frnt_cvr_rem.eps 
    indicates S4M printer, front cover, remove.

Having all the graphics centralized helped on a recent project when they
changed a particular part after the documentation was (we thought)
completed.  By changing the affected graphics once, all docs that used
these graphics got the updates with minimal effort. (Framemaker,
imported graphics by reference.)

-Carla
 
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