Basic question about Structured Frame

[Lofthouse Marsha-PT1816]

Rick asked, "if our documents were authored in Structured Frame, could
we use the same topic at a heading 1 level in one document and at a
heading 2 level in another document?"

The short answer is Yes.

The longer answer is yes, if you set up your EDD (and DTD) properly.
What you need is to use the same element for all of your headings, for
example <title> or <heading>. Then, in your EDD, define how that element
is formatted based on context.

Example (using DITA):
If context is: (topic | concept | task | reference | example | section)
  Count ancestors named: concept | task | reference | example | section
    If level is: 1
      Use paragraph format: Heading1
    If level is: 2
      Use paragraph format: Heading2
    If level is: 3
      Use paragraph format: Heading3

Bottom line: Use Heading1 if there is only a single concept or task or
reference or example or section element as the
parent/grandparent/whatever (ancestor) of the heading. Use Heading2 if
the topic is nested in 2 of any of the following: concept or task or
reference or example or section. And so on... 

Example (using a custom DTD/EDD):
Count ancestors named: Section
  If level is: 0
    Use paragraph format: Title1
  If level is: 1
    Use paragraph format: Heading1
  If level is: 2
    Use paragraph format: Heading2
  If level is: 3
    Use paragraph format: Heading3

Bottom line: Use Title1 if there are no sections as ancestors of this
topic (for example, a Chapter). Use Heading1 if there is only a single
section element as the parent/grandparent/whatever (ancestor) of the
heading. Use Heading2 if the topic is nested in 2 of sections. And so
on... 

In your example (using the same topic at a heading 1 level in one doc
and at a heading 2 level in another doc), you would simply copy whatever
parent element that contained the heading and the content, such as a
<section> element or a <topic> element, into your new document ***in a
place where the <section> or <topic> element is valid***. Your EDD would
then take care of the formatting, not only of the heading, but also of
anything else that needed to be formatted differently based on context
and your EDD definitions.

HTH,

M

Marsha Lofthouse
Motorola, Inc., Public Safety Applications
North America Government & Commercial Markets Division
Boulder Design Center
Marsha.Lofthouse at motorola.com
303.527.4178