Manual > Task Sheet > Checklist

[David Artman]

Hi, Framers--it's been a while!

I am working within Unstructured FM8, though we might transition to
Structured (and maybe FM10) someday, so please bear that in mind as you
devise a strategy to deal with my challenge below.

Goals:
Three separate deliverables:
- Full Manual: A traditional book; comprised of chapters; print-ready
PDF; often viewed on-screen
- Task Sheet: A section of a Chapter; comprised of substeps; primarily
viewed on tablet screen
- Checklist: A PDF form, with fields to the right of each line item for
Comments and Initials (was typeset in tables; needn't be going forward,
but would have to *look* like it's a table/form)

Example:
- The Manual has a Chapter called "Installation" for getting the
software on servers and workstations and monkeying with devices to get
them upgraded to work with the new software version. Obviously, the
Chapter contains a lot of preamble information, lists of related
documents to prep for the install, and other text I dub "Yadda".
- Within the Chapter, there are Stages: site data collection, tasks to
be done prior to site arrival, setting up the server(s), setting up
workstations, etc.
- Within a Stage is a series of Tasks, which are "chunked" to make Task
Sheets. A given Task Sheet contains ALL the content of that Task, down
to the Substep (and lower) level(s).
- Finally, for the entire Chapter, there is a Checklist. It contains
ONLY Tasks and Steps: no Yadda, no Substeps (nor art, nor details, nor
listings of related publications for that Task/Step(/Substep)--those are
in the Task Sheet and Full Manual).

Challenge:
- Single-sourcing: I'd like to build out of a single set of (FM,
content) files, not have to keep two file sets in synch nor use
cross-references to "drag in" content (e.g., build the Checklist out of
xrefs to the Task and Step paras--labor-intensive should the sequence
need changing!).
- Cross-linking: As a user uses a Checklist, they need to be able to
click [something: icon, the whole para's text, a small phrase like
"How?"] on a Task or a Step and it shows the Task Sheet (at that
Task/Step point) with all the Substeps and art and Yadda and "See Also"
details not in the minimalist-formatted, stripped-down Checklist.

SO....
Without muddying the water further with details of my past few days of
experimentation (nor with details of the junkpile that is the template
I've inherited and will slowly walk away from while maintaining steady
eye contact)...

??? How would the experts here a FrameUsers go about building that
deliverables set? No need to be super-detailed; I'm not new to the game.
Just a basic overview of how you would build BOOK(s) and template
schemes to rapidly reformat things, whether you'd use conditional text
to hide Substeps and Details or LOP to extract Tasks and Steps, or
whether you'd maybe look to text insets (better bring me some advice
about rapidly updating cross-references in hundreds of insets, then!).

[Yes, I know this is trivial in Structured and that it's also ready-made
for HTML Help (or similar) drop-down paras in Checklist... I'm trying,
here... Baby steps....]
David Artman