Tag-compare tool?

Nancy Allison maker at verizon.net
Wed Dec 17 09:13:13 PST 2008


Peter, I can easily generate a list of tags, and sort it any which way. 
That is not the issue.

My question is, how do I see if there are any similar or dissimilar 
settings between two tags?

In other words, all settings for Anchor and AnchorTable may be 
identical, except that the tabs for AnchorTable have been set with 
painstaking accuracy, while the tabs for Anchor are not useful.

Let's say that I don't know that, and let's say that there are a couple 
of other subtle differences between the two tags that I am not aware of. 
(Why am I not aware? Because I've inherited a document previously worked 
on by two tech writers, the first of whom knew a lot more about Frame 
than the second. The second created sloppy tags, imported tags, didn't 
sort out discrepancies, and so on and so forth. Now I'm trying to clean 
it up a bit. There aren't enough problems to justify creating a new 
template from scratch, however.)

The only way I know to identify the differences between two paragraph or 
character tags is to:

1. Generate a list of all tags and their characteristics

2. Find the listings for Anchor and AnchorTable (in this example)

3. Place them side-by-side on my screen or desk

4. Scan the many, many properties that are listed for those tags

5. Visually identify the discrepancies among settings

I suppose I could also put the tags through every conceivable possible 
usage in a template and see how they behave, and figure out which 
properties are more desirable that way, but I don't have the time or 
patience.

If you have any thoughts about how to automate the comparison of tag 
properties, I will be glad to hear them.

--Nancy



More information about the framers mailing list