ePublisher Pro vs. other generated online help

[Jeremy H. Griffith]

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:01:44 -0400, "Rick Quatro" <frameexpert at truevine.net> 
wrote:

>I respectfully disagree with the idea of "vendor interference". Since 
>third-party products related to FrameMaker are part of many workflows, I 
>don't think it is inappropriate at all to talk about them on the list. 

Obviously, I agree.  That applies to *any* third-party product.

>To put the shoe on the other foot, if someone posts a difficulty with their 
>MIF2Go process, and you know that ePublisher can solve their problem, I 
>think it is more than appropriate for you to point this out. 

Absolutely!  I'd want to know about that too.  We *do* give referrals
to other vendors when we know of something they do that we don't, or
that they do better.  That has included Quadralay.  For example, ePP
works with Word as source; we don't.  If you have both Frame and Word
docs going into the same Help system, you should certainly consider
using ePP for that.

>Although some may see this as self-serving on your part, it still serves 
>the overall purpose of the list, which is to help people solve FrameMaker-
>related problems. 

Exactly; that's the bottom line.

>We all know that Jeremy is biased towards MIF2Go, 

Yep.  At least, I'm way more *familiar* with it than I am with other
options.  ;-)  I can't browse the C++ source of any other plugin... <g>

>but I still find it beneficial to read how it may solve a particular 
>problem. This kind of information can be valuable for me down the road. 

Right.  And for the vendors themselves, it may suggest areas where
they can improve.  This helps everyone.

>If he, or any other vendor, overstates their case, there are others on 
>the list that can and should point that out.

Right again.  This list serves as a reality check for vendor claims.

>Overall, I think it is good practice for vendors to monitor the FrameMaker 
>lists and be ready to contribute, especially if the discussion involves 
>their products. It gives them credibility as being in touch with FrameMaker 
>users and ready to help provide solutions.

It gives them even more credibility, as members of the community,
if they *also* post on points unrelated to their products where
they happen to have expertise.  After a while, you get to know who
is on top of various aspects of Frame.  For example, I'm not going
to post about FrameScript because I know Rick will, and he's the
expert on it.  But I will post about FM8 Unicode issues that are
unrelated to conversion because I know those very well.

Thank you, Rick, for a clear and cogent analysis!

-- Jeremy H. Griffith, at Omni Systems Inc.
  <jeremy at omsys.com>  http://www.omsys.com/