Suggested workflows for single-sourcing with FrameMaker -> RoboHelp + P4V

[Robert Lauriston]

Source control *should not* be relevant to single-sourcing except
insofar as you might automate builds with scripts.

I've never had a problem using .fm files with source control. If
you're converting to .mif on the theory that P4 requires it, that's
not true.

I did not find RoboHelp 9 at all source-control friendly. It was hard
or impossible to identify exactly which files were source that needed
to be under control and which were generated that should not be. Just
opening and closing a project without making any changes updated a
slew of files.

Easy source control configuration was a minor benefit of switching
from RoboHelp to ePublisher Pro. Basically there was just one file
that defined the project plus maybe one other file if you used a
certain optional feature.

At least with FrameMaker 10 and RoboHelp 9, Adobe had not properly
documented how to link FrameMaker source to a RoboHelp project so that
you don't need to do anything in RoboHelp except configure the output
settings. I documented that for my own purposes and created and
documented a sample product for future reference:

http://lauriston.com/fm10_link_to_rh9.zip

All else being equal I'll take FrameMaker over Flare for the WYSIWYG
preview of PDF output while writing and editing.


On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 3:18 PM, Spencer Huff <sch at terrasim.com> wrote:
> Good day everyone,
>
> For the last few years, my company has been working towards single-sourcing
> the documentation we create (e.g. user manuals and integrated program help)
> for all of our products. We have one big product and quite a few smaller
> products, with each one having its own user manual and integrated help.  We
> use Adobe FrameMaker 11 and RoboHelp 10 to create and manage the content for
> our user manuals and integrated help respectively. We also use Perforce P4V
> for version control. Content typically is authored in FrameMaker first
> before being exported into RoboHelp as a .book file, which is then used to
> build our integrated help system.
>
> Currently, half of our smaller products are single-sourced while the rest
> are curated by hand. We'd eventually like to have all of our products be
> single-sourced.  However, even with the products that are already
> single-sourced, we're having some issues with how our authoring software
> interacts with our version-control software. We've also had problems
> converting back and forth between .FM and .MIF formats. My question here is
> two-fold.
>
> First, what is a good workflow(s) for single-sourcing content using
> FrameMaker, RoboHelp, and version control software?  Second, are there are
> other tools that we could use for such a workflow?  For instance, there's
> been some consideration about switching from FrameMaker to MadCap Flare.
> What is MadCap Flare better at doing than FM for single-sourcing?  What can
> be done to convert from using FM to MadCap Flare?  What would be potentially
> lost in doing
> such a switch?  We've also been considering switch to the Adobe Creative
> Cloud, but before we make a decision one way or another, we'd like to nail
> these details down.
>
> Any and all insight would be greatly appreciated.  If further details are
> required, I'd be happy to give them to the best of my ability.
>
> --
> Spencer C. Huff
> Corporate Communications Specialist
> TerraSim, Inc.                      (412) 232-3646 x 23
> One Gateway Center, Suite 2050      (412) 232-3649 (Fax)
> 420 Fort Duquesne Blvd              sch at terrasim.com
> Pittsburgh, PA 15222                http://www.terrasim.com
>
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