Text insets: to be or not to be?

[Van Boening, Tammy]

Shmuel,

Index entries work in text insets just as in a container file; however,
x-refs. within an inset require special consideration. You can either
manually manipulate them to work in the final output or you can use a
script from Rick Quatro to automate this. The best practice for a
variety of reasons is to indeed NOT include the heading in a text inset.
I have given several presentations on this topic and if you're
interested in receiving a copy, contact me offline and I can send you
one.

HTH,

TVB


Tammy L. Van Boening
Senior Technical Writer
Fiserv Insurance Solutions 
Property and Casualty Division
303-729-7733
tammy.vanboening at fiserv.com
***********************************************************************
Keep smiling, at least until you get your own way.

-----Original Message-----
From: framers-bounces+tammy.vanboening=fiserv.com at lists.frameusers.com
[mailto:framers-bounces+tammy.vanboening=fiserv.com at lists.frameusers.com
] On Behalf Of Shmuel Wolfson
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2007 6:35 AM
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: Re: Text insets: to be or not to be?

I use text insets for individual sections and make sure not to include
the heading in the text inset. This way if the heading is a different
heading level in 2 different manuals, it won't interfere. Also, if I
include the heading in the text inset, I'm not sure what would happen
when I try to cross-reference to it or to add an index entry to the
heading.

Regards,
Shmuel Wolfson
052-763-7133



Martinek, Carla wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
>
> The first couple of pages of the Preface contain the doc info 
> (audience, scope, purpose, structure, etc.), and the stuff that's 
> shared among the docs is in the latter 3/4 of the Preface. Would it 
> work to split it into two files (the first part with all the 
> doc-specific stuff just set up as a regular template, and the second 
> part set up as a single-sourced file that everyone could point to from
their books)?
> ----------
>
> In a short, simple, answer -- Yes.  By breaking your content into 
> shorter topical files, you can increase their reuse.
>
> Our general standard here is to break apart files when they have a 
> top-level (Heading 1, etc.) heading.  We've got 1000+ different 
> topical files that we can reuse between docs as necessary.  Some files

> can be reused across multiple product lines; some only within product
lines.
>
> We got away from text insets because of some inherent problems we were

> having with them, and build the books by linking the topical files 
> together.  For example, a book might look like this:
>
> Cover
> Copyright
> Toc
> About This Doc__FrontPage
>   About_contacts_tech_support ---- (reused across all product lines)
>   About_doc_conventions
> Intro__FrontPage
>   External_view ---- (reused within product lines)
>   Media_compartment
>   front_panel
>   Firmware_language_modes
> Operations_FrontPage
>   etc.
>   Etc.
>
> We create a intro page (FrontPage) for each chapter, and then link in 
> the topical files behind it. It works for us.  We have one writer who 
> maintains all of the UG/QRG files for 6 product lines and several OEM 
> versions. I think at last count she was responsible for 25+ active 
> manuals, and by sharing the content this way, she manages to keep 
> things updated and meet deadlines and release dates.
>
> We set this up with the expectation that we will be moving to 
> structured content (XML/DITA), and topical is the way to go for that.

> Also, once we move the topical content to XML, our Tech Support Help 
> Desk will easily be able to grab and reuse the content for their
needs.
>
> -Carla
>  
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