Text Inset vs. Variable Question (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Mike Wickham]

It sounds like you are on the right track, using a single file to create 
variables and then importing them. Too bad you can't install third party 
software, because I think the only way to make this easier would be to 
use the inexpensive BookVars plugin:

http://leximation.com/tools/info/bookvars.php

Mike Wickham

On 12/10/2014 1:58 PM, Zacchetti, Maeli E CIV USARMY ECBC (US) wrote:
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: FOUO
>
> I'm getting back to unstructured FrameMaker 10 (after two years of 
> having to use MS Word). So apologies if I don't use some of the 
> correct terms or if I'm misunderstanding some of FrameMaker's 
> capabilities!
>
> I'm doing the planning work for converting a technical manual from MS 
> Word into FrameMaker 10. The system has over 100 parts, currently each 
> part has two to five different variations on the name scattered 
> throughout the manual, so a huge component of this conversion is 
> getting the nomenclature down to a single version of each part name. 
> Since most of the names will change at some point in the next year my 
> goal is a single point of edit for each part name, to save some 
> headaches down the road.
>
> On previous projects I've used ~20 part name variables (created in a 
> master file, then applied to each *.fm file through a book update) and 
> then inserted that part's variable any time I need to use the part 
> name.  For this project with 100+ parts it seems like that could start 
> getting painful, just in terms of scrolling through a massive variable 
> list.
>
> I was thinking that I could use text insets as another option, if it 
> were possible to import from a single cell in a table (e.g. excel 
> file). That would let me use the spreadsheet that I'd have to create 
> anyway for planning out the variables (and internal tracking of what 
> name I'm assigning to a given part number).
>
> In the past I've used text insets to reference repeated short 
> paragraphs, using a series of individual text documents to hold each 
> paragraph. So I guess I could do the same thing again, but then I'd 
> end up with 100+ text files, which seems like a different kind of 
> inconvenient compared to the 100+ variables.
>
> One major limitation: with my organization's network policies I cannot 
> install 3^rd party software, and the review and approval process to 
> purchase extensions or supplements to Adobe's software would be so 
> arduous that it may as well be impossible. So I'm limited to what I 
> can do without having to install anything else.
>
> Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated! (Or even advice on 
> where I could go to read up on the various ways to effectively manage 
> nomenclature updates in unstructured FrameMaker.)
>
> Thanks,
>
> Maeli Zacchetti
>
> maeli.e.zacchetti.civ at mail.mil
>
> Technical Writer
>
> U.S. Army
>
> In modern times, if the sole measure
>
> of what's out there flows from your five senses
>
> then a precarious life awaits you.
>
> - Neil DeGrasse Tyson
>
>
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: FOUO
>
>
>
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