Re: whoa is me

[Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM>]

The simplest thing is to decide to either:

1. Find tools to suit your methods, or
2. Find methods to suit your tools.

I dislike FrameMaker's handling of multiple autonumber streams and
chapter-based page numbering.  If the use of FrameMaker is a given,
then you should adopt a numbering convention that it can handle
gracefully.

My personal preference would be to number the pages
straight through, rather than resetting the page number with every
chapter, which serves no purpose in These Enlightened Times -- it's
a holdover from the Bad Old Days.

I would also use a single number stream and captioning convention for
both tables and diagrams.  I don't know about you, but MY diagrams
often contain tables, and my tables often contain diagrams, and how
is the poor user to tell which is which?  So I call them all "figures."
 I also put all my captions at the bottom of the figure (or the top,
if the client insists), rather than at the top on tables, and at the
bottom on figures, since I find the inconsistency confusing and annoying.

On the other hand, if your layout conventions are cast in stone, you
should find a package that suits your foibles, if any exists.  But
it will always pay to find the package that suits you best overall,
then adjust your standards to dodge the bugs and embrace the best
features.

        -- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, President/Managing Editor, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139

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