Frame -> Word (LONG!!)

Subject: Frame -> Word (LONG!!)
From: Emma Heftman <emma -at- AMIL -dot- CO -dot- IL>
Date: Tue, 30 Sep 1997 13:10:50 IST

Dear all
My company's decided that all internal documentation should be in Word format, despite
the fact that most of our manuals were written in FrameMaker. The decision was made because we
store our documentation in Lotus Notes and the user's must download FrameReader to read
the documentation, whereas with Word they can just click on a document and Lotus knows
how to open Word.
I'm using FrameMaker 5.1 on Unix and Windows '95 platforms.
Any-way, I'm the only tech writer here and I've been given the task of researching into the
issue. So here are my questions:
1. Without getting into a major war, what functionalities is Word lacking?
In particular:
a. Can you group documents as "books" and use codes to automatically update the page numbering, i.e. 1-1, 2-1, depending on the position of the file within the book?
b. Can you automate the chapter numbering within the book so that if you move chapter 1(file 1) to chapter 2, the chapter numbers are updated automatically?
c. Can the figure/table numbering be in the form chap num-1, etc. and can the numbering be updated
automatically when you move the position of the chapter, or delete a chapter in the book.

2. Graphic manipulation.
Any problems with wrapping text around graphics, making the graphic "float" i.e. text is squeezed in
to fill in the empty space before the graphic?

3. Cross-references to other files. Can you make cross-refs of the type, Chapter 3, Section 3.5 aaa,
on page 3-5, from another file. If Chapter 4 then becomes Chapter 3, are the cross-refs automatically
updated?

4. What problems will I come across when converting a Frame book of, say, 15 files, each containing
20-30 pages. Plus a TOC. The chapter numbers, page numbers, figure numbers, table numbers
all contain the same serial number in their numbering format so that they are all updated
automatically when something is moved, deleted.

5. Do cross-refs remain as hypertext links in read-only mode once converted to Word (I love this
feature). You can click on the TOC in read-only mode and the appropriate page in the appropriate
file is opened. This is true of any cross-ref in the document, not just in the TOC.

6. Is there a maximum file size that you can work with before Word 7 crashes? What memory/disk space do people recommend for best results.

7. How should I convert? To RTF or MIF. Is there a difference in results if I do it from FrameMaker
for Unix or for Windows '95. How about Windows NT (we have that here too). Any good add-ons?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. I'd also appreciate good reasons for persuading them why
conversion is not worth it, and why Frame maybe a superior product (IMHO) for larger jobs.
Also, what path do people recommend for getting a grasp of Word macros etc. Any good books?

Thanks again for your time,

Emma Heftman
emma -at- amil -dot- co -dot- il

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