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On top of Art's comments, make sure that you understand what outputs
you need to create and how to create them from structured sources.
In terms of DITA, authoring is easy once you get the hang of it;
however, you need to figure out which tools allow you to create
PDFs, online help, mobile help, etc from DITA. Your boss should be
aware that you might need to invest in a different tool set,
training, and outside expertise to achieve his expectations.<br>
<br>
Nadine<br>
<br>
On 25/03/2012 8:41 AM, Art Campbell wrote:
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAOW=E1dQC8aVe+fYQA2qPKW0+nsxM-2jWOKO7P2q0Hd2Ltp4MQ@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">Bottom line is that he's correct, but the
implementation is pretty labor intensive especially if you're a
small shop, and the payback he's thinking about may not
materialize. Basically, you're adding a set of rules to your
documents that control the formatting and possible uses of
different chunks of (often nested) text.
<div>
<br>
</div>
<div>I'd start by reading up on Docbook and DITA, which are two of
the most popular standards. </div>
<div>I would avoid any proprietary or non-standard implementation
like the plague... Even if they're in use in other parts of
your company.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>And the other obvious question is whether the sharing/reuse
is one way or two, so that you need to implement or share an
existing set up.<br>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><br clear="all">
Art Campbell
<a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:art.campbell@gmail.com" target="_blank">art.campbell@gmail.com</a><br>
"... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a
'52 Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson<br>
No
disclaimers apply.<br>
DoD 358<br>
<br>
I support <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.TheGrotonLine.com" target="_blank">www.TheGrotonLine.com</a>,
hyperlocal news for Groton MA.<br>
<br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 9:58 AM,
Laura Fergusson <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:l.fergusson@codestuff.net">l.fergusson@codestuff.net</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0
.8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-GB">
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Hi all</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My boss has mentioned the
possibility of transferring our unstructured
Frame docs to structured XML format. I have NO
experience of structured FM and
to be honest I’m a bit intimidated by it! (Boss is
technical but knows
little about tech writing tools btw)</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">He thinks that it will make it
easier to share our doc set
with other parts of the company which has just
acquired us – but he’s
not totally sure – so I’m looking into it. I’m not
even sure
this is correct. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I am the sole author here and
make heavy use of conditional
text as we have several different clients and many
product variants. I
currently use Frame 8 on Windows.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Could you kind guys please tell
me the pros and cons of
transferring from unstructured to structured? Any
caveats or things to watch out
for would be appreciated .As I say, I know nothing
about structured FM or XML
at all, but have many years of experience in
unstructured.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many many thanks</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Consolas">Laura
Fergusson</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Consolas">Technical
Author</span></p>
</div>
</div>
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