Strategy for Handling Conditional Text

[Combs, Richard]

Joseph Lorenzini wrote: 

<snip>
> sense to create two different documents, which share a large amount of
> information. This has led me finally to consider conditional text. I'd
> create two tags: windows and linux. Then,  I'll apply the tags to operating
> system specific UI/functionality while leaving shared content alone.
> 
> Here's the thing though, I am not a fan of conditional text. I've learned
> that i need to apply the tags in a very specific sequence and apply it to
> preceding paragraph marks or otherwise hiding and showing the conditional
> text introduces funky formatting into my book. I also think it makes
> managing and tracking content in a document really tricky. So here are my
> questions:

How are you using the condition tags and what problems are you having? The sequence in which you apply condition tags is completely irrelevant. And you don't need to apply the tag to the preceding pgf mark (pilcrow) unless you fail to apply it to the pilcrow at the end of a pgf whose entire content you're conditionalizing. 

People tend to have problems with conditional text when they try to apply conditions on too granular a level. Your needs are dead-simple: two conditions that never need to overlap. All you have to do is adhere to one simple rule: conditionalize only entire pgfs. Even if only a couple of words have changed, just duplicate the pgf, change those words, and apply the appropriate condition to each pgf in its entirety (including the pilcrow at the end). 

If you stick to that rule, there should be no "funky formatting" problems. In each case where there is an OS difference, one of two pgfs is shown. As long as both have the same pgf format, it makes no difference which is shown. 

Of course, while you're authoring/editing, you'll want to have both conditions shown (with condition indicators turned on). So the doc will be longer and pagination wrong. But so what? You don't worry about those things until it's time to hide one condition or the other and produce your final output. 

If you have very long pgfs (a bad idea) and/or simply reject the above rule, then at the very least restrict yourself to conditionalizing complete sentences. To succeed at this requires a bit more discipline -- for instance, you need to consistently include the space after the end of the sentence, but not the one before it, so that the remainder of the pgf looks OK when you hide that sentence. 

Whatever you do, _don't_ conditionalize a word here or there. That's what leads to problems. 

HTH!


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
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rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-903-6372
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