"Real Life" Migration to Structured Doc

[Marcus Carr]

Rick Quatro wrote:

> I agree with Marcus's excellent post, but one thing to consider on the 
> above point: even if you hire it out, try to learn as much about each 
> process, especially if you can devote some time to it. In today's job 
> climate, it pays to learn as much as you can about XML and related 
> technologies. This is knowledge that will be valuable, not only in your 
> current job, but perhaps in a future job search.

Very true - just make sure that if you're paying the bills, you can 
justify that use of your time. As far as personal and professional gain 
is concerned there's no question that it's worth keeping your hand in 
everywhere you can - this structure stuff isn't going away.

> Also, in regards to steps (b) and (c), I have found that some 
> unstructured to structured conversions can be adequately handled with 
> FrameMaker's conversion tables. Again, if you have time, and a limited 
> budget, this is one area that you might consider experimenting with.

Yeah, grudgingly... ;-) I'm (perhaps unnecessarily) hard on FrameMaker 
as a migration tool because I've seen people get caught out after 
they've done a lot of work. I tend to advocate a solution that should 
always work, but I probably throw some babies with that bathwater.

While we're clapping each other on the back, I really like Rick's 
comment that it's more important to focus on working post-migration than 
to spend too much energy on migration. Migration will never be fun, but 
if you do it properly, it'll only have to happen once.


-- 
Regards,

Marcus Carr                      email:  mcarr at allette.com.au
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Allette Systems (Australia)      www:    http://www.allette.com.au
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"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
        - Einstein