Hi Carl, Depending on the amount that your installation instructions differs between platforms, you may want to consider using separate docs with text insets (and variables, if appropriate) in addition to conditionalized text. I have found that for sections of the installation steps that vary only in product name, you can cut the text, put it in a separate document, refer to the product as a variable (example: "navigate to the [product] installation folder..."), and then import that file as a text inset. Repeat for each large chunk of nearly identical sections. Whether this is a good solution depends on your preference and the way your material varies.
If you go with conditional text, I recommend conditionalizing by whole sentences or whole phrases, rather than letters or words. It will reduce the brain power you have to use to make sure all the spacing/grammar is correct. :) Cheers, Callie Bertsche Tecplot, Inc. From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com <mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com> ] On Behalf Of Carl Yorke Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 5:11 PM To: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Structured docs or conditional text Hi All, I came to tech writing late in life (ten years ago), so there's a lot about it, and technology, that doesn't come naturally. I want to single source my install instructions. All outputs right now are PDF, but I need to document how to install our product for production, for QA, and for demos. In addition, the install instructions vary depending on the hardware. Conditional text seems awfully complex for this situation, and I don't even know if using structured FrameMaker is a possible solution. Any thoughts? Thanks, Carl Yorke _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
