Structured docs or conditional text

[David Spreadbury]

Carl,
The answer is both  flavors of Frame will handle Conditional Text with ease,
and from what you say below, conditional text is the way to go, whether it
be structured or unstructured.

A few things to consider:

1) Decide on an input scheme, always put the differences in the document in
the same order, i.e., unconditional, condition1, condition2, condition3,
etc. If an instance occurs that doesn't use a particular condition, still
maintain the overall scheme.
2) When you have two conditions in, turn one off and make sure the sentence
reads correct. Change as required.
3) Watch out for table cells. In unstructured Frame, you can conditionalize
rows, not columns. In structured Frame, create multiple copies of the table,
make the changes, then conditionalize the entire table (at least that has
been my experience).
4) You can conditionalize individual content within a cell.
5) In unstructured Frame, watch carefully when selecting entire lines
(paragraphs, bullets in lists, etc. Make sure you capture the entire line,
including the end-of-line (turn on View Text Symbols).
6) In structured Frame you can select the element in the Structured View,
which simplifies matters.
7) Probably a no-brainer, but set your conditions before creating your PDF.
The PDF will then contain only the conditions that are turned on in the
Frame file.

I am sure you will hear from others, either correcting some of the above
points or pointing out some options I missed.

HTH
Dave Spreadbury


-----Original Message-----
From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com
[mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Carl Yorke
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 5:11 PM
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: Structured docs or conditional text

Hi All,

I came to tech writing late in life (ten years ago), so there's a lot
about it, and technology, that doesn't come naturally.

 

I want to single source my install instructions. All outputs right now
are PDF, but I need to document how to install our product for
production, for QA, and for demos. In addition, the install instructions
vary depending on the hardware. 

 

Conditional text seems awfully complex for this situation, and I don't
even know if using structured FrameMaker is a possible solution. 

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Carl Yorke