How do you store your information?

[Gordon McLean]

Thanks Yves, I'm well aware of DITA.
 
So let's take a step forward. Let's presume I have all my content properly
chunked. What then? Is it living on a file system? How do I work with it in
FrameMaker, do I NEED FrameMaker? Do I pull content from a database? I'm not
worried about the low-level technical details of XML, DITA and so on. I'm
learning those, and will understand them better as time goes on. 
 
When I first looked at DITA I suggested that one big stumbling block would
be the lack of "ease-into-ability" that switching to that kind of system
would imply. Any subsequent discussions along these lines veers between the
business reasons of WHY you would want to go down the single source route,
or heads off into techie-land discussing the details of how you get it done
at an XML level. Surely we are missing a level in-between?
 
Or, again, is it just me? 
 
Yes, I know why my current situation suggests single source is something we
need to be embracing. 
Yes I know that DITA is the upcoming player in this space. 
Yes, we already have an EDD but the content is still stored in FM. 
Yes, I know I have some work converting things to use DITA as the basis of
the structure.
 
I guess what I'm asking for is an inbetween message that says something
like: You should save all your files to XML, store them in a database (we
suggest product XYZ), then use FrameMaker and...??? to build books and
generate PDFs as you normally would.
 
I've used AuthorIT in the past, and that level of re-use is simple and
efficient, would I be better switching products?? Is there really not any
FrameMaker based solution that can match it? 
 
Or does this information simply not yet exist? If not, then I'm curious as
to how everyone is managing their content.
 
Yours, still somewhat befuddled,
 
Gordon
 

  _____  

From: Yves Barbion [mailto:yves.barbion at gmail.com] 
Sent: 26 February 2007 13:40
To: Gordon McLean
Cc: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: Re: How do you store your information?


Hi Gordon,

you want to take a look at DITA:

- http://dita.xml.org/

- http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-dita1/index.html
<http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/xml/library/x-dita1/index.html> 

- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DITA

- http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/framemaker_ap/

Best regards

-- 
Yves Barbion 
Documentation Architect
Adobe-Certified FrameMaker Instructor
____________________________________ 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________
This email (and any attachments) is private and confidential, and is intended solely for the
addressee. If you have received this communication in error please remove it and inform us via
telephone or email. Although we take all possible steps to ensure mail and attachments
are free from malicious content, malware and viruses, we cannot accept any responsibility
whatsoever for any changes to content outwith our administrative bounds. The views represented
within this mail are solely the view of the author and do not reflect the views of the organisation
as a whole.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Graham Technology plc
Registered in Scotland company no. SC143434
Registered Office India of Inchinnan, Renfrewshire, Scotland PA4 9LH
                                                
http://www.grahamtechnology.com
____________________________________________________________________________________________________