Structuring documents (was RE: Adobe's New Corporate Strategies)

[Rick Quatro]

Hi Ed,

I think you have too many experts in your list. Many of us learned the steps
as novices. For example,

>An expert to create an EDD and/or DTD.

You can learn to create an EDD by reading the FrameMaker documentation. If
you are going to use DITA, FrameMaker comes with an EDD that you can learn
to edit.

>An expert in XSL to create output.

If you are authoring in FrameMaker, you can continue to use FrameMaker for
your print and PDF output. If that's all you need, then you don't need XSL.
If you are using WebWorks, etc. for help or HTML, you can continue to use
that with your structured documents.

>An expert to map your current styles to elements.

Since you know your unstructured content, you are the expert that is going
to do this. Granted, you will have to become familiar with the target
structure, but that may be easier than the structure expert becoming
familiar with your unstructured documents. You are going to have to learn
the target structure anyway to author in it, so may as well learn by
building the conversion table.

>An expert to help you update your content to shoe-horn into the new XML
'buckets'.

Again, that could be you, not an expert.

>An expert to train those who are going to be using the new tools.

For lone writers, that would be you.

My main point is that you can move to structure in a measured, incremental
basis and learn as you go. Before you know it, you will be the "expert".

Rick Quatro
Carmen Publishing Inc.
585-659-8267
rick at frameexpert.com

*** Frame Automation blog at http://frameautomation.com