Re: Framemaker questions (long)...

Subject: Re: Framemaker questions (long)...
From: Sharon Burton <sharonburton -at- EMAIL -dot- MSN -dot- COM>
Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 12:44:17 -0700

It is not that graphics per se are the source of corruption. It is that
Frame doesn't like really large files. No program, really, does, but Frame
has historically really not likes large files. Therefore, deliberately
creating large files is a bad idea, especially when the options are so
smart.

I also do software manuals and as the product grows, your screen shots will
appear in other places. Trust me. I also find that having the files in a
separate directory makes doing all the screens at the end - the only time
they can be done in the fast moving fun work we live in - much easier. Do
the captures, name and save. Don't even need Frame Open to do it. Then open
Frame and paginate, check screens for placement, etc. Very clean.


I have also heard this printing thing requires us to do this. That is
nonsense. You are almost always delivering to the printer postscript files.
They definitionally have the graphics info placed in them. You supply the PS
file, the printer goes from there.

sharon

Sharon Burton
Anthrobytes Consulting
Home of RoboNEWS, the award-winning unofficial RoboHELP Newsletter
www.anthrobytes.com
anthrobytes -at- anthrobytes -dot- com


-----Original Message-----
From: Kathleen Kuvinka <kkuvinka -at- CLIENTELE -dot- COM>
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Date: Wednesday, 10 June, 1998 12:30 PM
Subject: Re: Framemaker questions (long)...


>Hey, thanks everybody! My comments about forgetting where you put your
>graphics and bad performance were meant to be totally tongue-in-cheek.
>At previous jobs, I always imported by reference. But I think the
>manager's preference also has something to do with our print
>process...However, I had not considered that one may need to use a
>single graphic in several places. I deal with screen shots, they are in
>one place only, and if they're outdated they must be replaced entirely.
>
>I also did not know that graphics can be the source of file corruption.
>Thanks again. I'm forwarding this to the High One.
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Sharon Burton [SMTP:sharonburton -at- EMAIL -dot- MSN -dot- COM]
>> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 1998 12:05 PM
>> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>> Subject: Re: Framemaker questions (long)...
>>
>> Because when the next version of your product comes along, those
>> graphics
>> will change. And you have to remember every place that they are copied
>> into.
>> If you make a directory under your current project called graphics and
>> always put the graphics in there, then you know where they are. Then
>> when
>> the graphic that appears on 34 different pages in your 420 manual
>> changes,
>> you simply name the new version of the graphic the same name as the
>> old
>> graphic and save it in the graphics directory. Now it is automatically
>> updated through out the manual and you have time to do other things.
>> Like
>> paginate or spell check or index. Otherwise, you are being paid to do
>> it all
>> by hand - a terrible waste of your already aggressively scheduled
>> time.
>>
>> And the first time you completely corrupt a 20 meg file right before a
>> production deadline because the graphics were copied in to it, you
>> won't
>> think it is a fair trade off at all. Even if you have a backup, there
>> is a
>> lot of work to be redone and you have no assurance that, after you
>> finish
>> the changes to the backup, the file won't corrupt again. Or that when
>> it is
>> time to update the existing manual, that the files have not corrupted
>> while
>> they just sat. I have seen it far too many times and once during
>> crunch is
>> too often.
>>
>> sharon
>>
>> Sharon Burton
>> Anthrobytes Consulting
>> Home of RoboNEWS, the award-winning unofficial RoboHELP Newsletter
>> www.anthrobytes.com
>> anthrobytes -at- anthrobytes -dot- com
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Kathleen Kuvinka <kkuvinka -at- CLIENTELE -dot- COM>
>> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
>> Date: Wednesday, 10 June, 1998 11:17 AM
>> Subject: Re: Framemaker questions (long)...
>>
>>
>> >My manager seems to think that importing by REFERENCE is harder
>> because
>> >then you have to remember where you put all of the graphics.! The
>> >sluggish performance is a fair trade-off, I guess.
>> >
>> >But why is maintenance harder?
>> >
>> >> -----Original Message-----
>> >> From: Sharon Burton [SMTP:sharonburton -at- EMAIL -dot- MSN -dot- COM]
>> >> Sent: Wednesday, June 10, 1998 10:39 AM
>> >> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>> >> Subject: Re: Framemaker questions (long)...
>> >>
>> >> Never (OK hardly ever) copy graphics directly into your document.
>> It
>> >> makes
>> >> your life harder - you have to find all those graphics when the
>> >> graphic
>> >> changes and it will -, FrameMaker hates it - the file size
>> increases
>> >> dramatically and performance suffers - , and FrameMaker is much
>> more
>> >> likely
>> >> to corrupt the file - large file size equals more opportunity.
>> >>
>> >> Even if the graphics are small, the file size doesn't increase and
>> the
>> >> file
>> >> does not corrupt, please think of the poor writer who will follow
>> you
>> >> and
>> >> must make updates to the file. Copying into FrameMaker makes
>> updating
>> >> and
>> >> maintaining so hard.
>> >>
>> >> sharon
>> >>
>> >
>> ^&^~~~
>> >Send commands to listserv -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu (e.g., SIGNOFF
>> TECHWR-L)
>> >
>> >
>>
>> &^~~~
>> Send commands to listserv -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu (e.g., SIGNOFF
>> TECHWR-L)
>>
>
>
>




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