At one larger router company that uses XML and proprietary structure, it takes 20-25% longer to create a document/manual than with unstructured FM.
Better tools and a more general structure may reduce the time, but.... Also, they discovered after several years of doing this that only 33-40% of content was _ever_ resused. YMMV, but make sure it's going to work for you before you commit. Art Campbell art.campb...@gmail.com "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 3:40 PM, Writer <generic...@yahoo.ca> wrote: > We are still at a sort of fledgling phase of our conversion to DITA, but > one of the things I like the most is how easy it is to create a variety of > deliverables or reconfigure a deliverable quickly. For example, we thought > we were supposed to create one large document for a project, but we found > out at the last moment that the project required four smaller documents. It > was so easy to create new ditamaps to reorganize the topics. It took us only > a couple of hours to recreate the deliverables. > > Nadine > > --- On Wed, 12/9/09, Eichelberger, Mark <mark.eichelber...@fiserv.com> > wrote: > > > From: Eichelberger, Mark <mark.eichelber...@fiserv.com> > > Subject: RE: Switching to Structured FrameMaker > > To: framers@lists.frameusers.com > > Date: Wednesday, December 9, 2009, 3:10 PM > > As it turns out, I was about to ask > > this list the exact same question. > > We also have always used unstructured FM, but with the > > recent > > integration of documentation teams within multiple business > > lines > > throughout my company, I can see that structured FM may be > > considered as > > part of a solution for content reuse or for single > > sourcing. I too > > would be interested in the responses to Nancy's questions. > > > > Thanks, > > Mark > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com > > [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] > > On Behalf Of Nancy Allison > > Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 2:09 PM > > To: framers@lists.frameusers.com > > Subject: Switching to Structured FrameMaker > > > > Hi, all.. > > > > With regard to structured FrameMaker, I am very late to the > > party. In > > fact, I have never used it yet. There's a good chance I'll > > be asked to > > investigate whether it would be useful to my current > > client. I thought > > I'd get a head start on the issues by asking for > > information from people > > who have made the switch. Here are my questions: > > > > --What was your documentation situation? (How many product > > lines, how > > many publications, how much single-sourcing, how much > > translation?) > > > > --Why did you (or your manager) decide that it was time to > > switch to > > structured documentation? What kind of limit had you > > reached? > > > > --What kinds of output do you create from structured > > FrameMaker? > > > > --Has structured FrameMaker made your work easier or more > > efficient? Has > > it improved the responsiveness or quality of your > > documentation? > > > > Feel free to tell me something else, if my questions don't > > address your > > situation. > > > > Thanks for all responses. > > > > --Nancy > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as mark.eichelber...@fiserv.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/mark.eichelberger%40 > > fiserv.com > > > > Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. > > Visit > > http://www..frameusers.com/ for more resources and > > info. > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as generic...@yahoo.ca. > > > > 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/generic668%40yahoo.ca > > > > Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. > > Visit > > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and > > info. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as art.campb...@gmail.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/art.campbell%40gmail.com > > Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > _______________________________________________ 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.