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.
You are (understandably) misreading it. What the statement means is that
you cannot include conditional text when authoring the _PDF template_
itself. For example, if you need one document with a Terms and
Conditions section for the United States and another doc with a Terms
and Conditions section for Bolivia, you'd need to use two different
templates. This is not a big deal. H&M features very nice bundled
templates and they are easy to modify using H&M's template authoring
tool (which is bundled and included in the price of the product). And
once you create your two templates, you can still generate your entire
suite of documents with a single click if you use a batch file with an
H&M .ini. It's all in the user docs.
Having said this, I would add that PDF templates in H&M do support
variables. I use the same templates for a product that is sold under two
different names.
Regarding the use of condition text within a document, there is no
theoretical limit to what you can do. As I mentioned, I use conditional
text extensively.
You might want to put a question into the forum: http://helpman.it-authoring.com/viewforum.php?f=22. EC Software staffs
it with some excellent end user support personnel. And if you don't get
an immediate response, you can count on one the following day.
After using HATs such as RoboHelp, Flare, and H&M, I dread the thought
of going back to Frame or Word.
Leonard
-----Original Message-----
From: Lin Sims [mailto:ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com]
Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:53 AM
To: Leonard C. Porrello; techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Frame 8 outputs / pick a tool (set?) help needed
There's a "Key Information" box in Help & Manual 5 that states,
"Conditions are not supported in PDF print manual templates. You
cannot use conditional text or any other conditions in these
templates." This is on the Help page for PDF template variables.
It's possible I'm misreading this. What I want to know is, can text be
tagged so that it is (or is not) included in a PDF output?
Thanks for the review of Help & Manual - I've never heard of it
before. It appears as if it would take me a little while to figure out
how to use it, simply because I'm accustomed to writing documents in
either Frame or Word. This has an entirely different approach!
On Tue, Jul 1, 2008 at 10:39 AM, Leonard C. Porrello
<Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -dot- com> wrote:
> I've been using Help & Manual 4 for the past three years, and have
found
> it to be a very powerful and flexible single sourcing and publication
> tool. I'm not sure what you read, but I use extensive conditional
> formatting to create PDF and HTML Help versions of several discrete
> docs, with different content in PDF than online, branded for two
> different clients, from a single source. H&M is also relatively user
> friendly.
>
> Leonard
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
> om] On Behalf Of Lin Sims
> Sent: Tuesday, July 01, 2008 7:01 AM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: Frame 8 outputs / pick a tool (set?) help needed
>
> New job, as in I started yesterday.
>
> I get to pick my tools.
>
> Outputs needed include PDF and various help formats, including
> context-sensitive help. Because of a multiplicity of configurations
> and clients, conditional text and variables will be in heavy use. Note
> that I have not worked much with help authoring tools--a brief
> exposure to RoboHelp and WebWorks is all, and those were both in the
> nature of a full conversion from a manual and occurred at least 5
> years ago.
>
> Document control via CVS/TortoiseCVS is possible to probable.
>
> Single-sourcing is highly desired (by me, since I'm the sole and first
> tech writer and if there's anything I hate is duplicating effort and
> multiple maintenance).
>
> My preference for source files is Frame, but I am having trouble
> verifying whether Frame can output to the help/context-sensitive help
> requested.
>
> Before I recommend definitively that we go with Frame, I need to know
> whether Frame 8 can output to all those formats by itself, or whether
> it needs auxiliary programs to do so. So far, I've been unable to
> confirm this on the Adobe site, although I'm still looking.
>
> Advice and suggestions appreciated, including alternate programs. I'm
> not married to Frame, but I need something I can come up to speed on
> quickly. The boss has come up with one alternate called Help & Manual,
> but according to its documentation, it doesn't support conditional
> text to a PDF output.
>
> Help!
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats
> or
> printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista &
2007
>
> Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more.
>http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
>
> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as
> Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -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/leonard.porrello%40so
> leratec.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/ for more resources and info.
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Create HTML or Microsoft Word content and convert to Help file formats or
printed documentation. Features include support for Windows Vista & 2007
Microsoft Office, team authoring, plus more. http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
