RE: Frame vs Word - the decision
Time to look for another job. -Gillian -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of la...@lavadome.net Sent: Thursday, September 20, 2012 12:49 AM To: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Frame vs Word - the decision Hi all You may remember a while back I asked for help regarding arguments I could use to persuade my company to use Framemaker for its docs. I'm sorry to report I have lost the argument. Even though the quality of Word may have minor disadvantages, the cost and consequence of shifting to Framemaker is not justified. Unless there is a fantastically good reason I am missing(?) then the choice is obvious. Please stick to Word henceforth and get no more production done in Framemaker. Yours, despondently. Laura ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as gillian.fl...@nexenta.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/gillian.flato%40nexenta.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 framers@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.
Re: Document revision control
Subversion is good and free. Perforce is good and not free. You don't have to convert to .mif, you can check in .fm and .book files as binaries. You can't merge binaries but who's going to merge a .mif file anyway? The one other you might want to look at is Git for Windows, which is a distributed system, reportedly has some advantages for peer workgroups. I haven't used it. Losers: CVS is free and not great. SharePoint is not a CVS. Good luck getting it to do anything except host MS Office-format docs. Documentum is an enterprise solution for huge organizations. MS Visual SourceSafe was bad but it's EOL, haven't used the successor, which might be worth checking out if somehow you have licenses already. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@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.
Re: Getting started with Context-Sensitive Help
Actually, since you're working with DITA another good option is Dita2Go (http://dita2go.com). Give the free demo version a try! ...scott Sent from my phone. Please excuse any typos or unexpected brevity. On Sep 21, 2012, at 2:46 PM, Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.com wrote: In FrameMaker, all you need to do is insert TopicAlias markers to define the help targets which will be linked to the application via the map (aka header) file. What flavor of application is it? Java, C++, Web application ...? The developers need to do some work on their side. http://help.adobe.com/en_US/robohelp/robohtml/WSFE586D66-E937-45bd-9F7B-3425A0D02B42.html There are two basic approaches: (1) the developers maintain the map file and give it to you to import into RoboHelp, or (2) you generate the map file with RoboHelp and give it to them. I've always done (1). You might check out Adobe's the Robohelp - FrameMaker integration forum: http://forums.adobe.com/community/robohelp/robohelp_framemaker Frankly, if you're starting from scratch, I suggest you use MIF2Go instead. RoboHelp is inflexible, generates messy HTML, and simply does some things wrong. On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 8:21 AM, Heather Thomas htho...@avbasesystems.com wrote: First, a bit of context: our team has TCS4 with the DITA-FMx plugin. Currently, we author in Structured FM, produce the PDF User Guide from FM, and then we link the FM files into RoboHelp to produce WebHelp. I've been tasked with exploring our options for implementing Context-Sensitive Help. ... ___ ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@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.
Re: Getting started with Context-Sensitive Help
On Sat, 22 Sep 2012 07:39:14 -0700, Scott Prentice s...@leximation.com wrote: Actually, since you're working with DITA another good option is Dita2Go (http://dita2go.com). Give the free demo version a try! For DITA2Go, it's not a free DEMO version, it's free, period. Just create a new account on: http://dita2go.com (needed to prevent spammers from monopolizing the forums on the site), and download the software, a much easier and faster (10x) alternative to the DITA-OT. -- Jeremy H. Griffith jer...@omsys.com DITA2Go site: http://www.dita2go.com/ ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@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.
RE: Frame vs Word - the decision
Hi Laura, Sorry I didn't notice your original post. Word has some issues with (not an exhaustive list): Long documents Graphics Lists Multi-chapter files Long Documents Word files have been known to go corrupt when documents get too long. Now long is a relative term--I'm talking about hundreds of pages per documents. One company I worked with was having text simply disappear from documents and it was costing them $250,000 per year to recover them. Graphics Most people cut-and-paste graphics into Word. This can lead to overly large and corrupt files. Word can link to a graphic like Frame and this will prevent most corruption, but the link option has to be chosen every time you insert a graphic. Plus, as far as I know, there is no collection method for the linked graphics. Lists Cutting-and-pasting lists in Word is a pain since it tries to think for you. Frame does exactly what you tell it to do. Word lists can be fixed and renumbered, but it takes additional time to fix it up. Multi-chapter files Creating TOCs and other lists in Word for multiple files is a pain. Not much you can do about it other than to reuse pre-setup Word books like you would in Frame. Word does have some benefits too, of course, including the fact that almost everyone has it, saving money. David Creamer IDEAS Training http://www.ideastraining.com Adobe Authorized Instructor Certified Expert since 1995 Authorized QuarkXPress Instructor and Certified Expert since 1988 .Unless there is a fantastically good reason I am missing(?) then the choice is obvious. Please stick to Word henceforth and get no more production done in Framemaker. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@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.
RE: Batch saving files in FrameMaker 11
I have a plugin that automatically saves a copy of each document as MIF... This is a super-backup and you can then open the MIF in any version of Maker. I just keep it running all the time. Saves are a bit slower, but I sleep better at night. If I get any interest, I'll put it on my site as freeware... cud ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@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.
Document revision control
Hi Amy, I have used Subversion / Tortoise SVN extensively and it has never failed me. The last couple of years I have been using www.assembla.com's services to. Assembla offers hosting of your files using SVN or GIT and maybe some other options too. Assembla seems to me a very reasonable option. Kind regards, Bodvar Bjorgvinsson Iceland 2012/9/19 Amy Super > Hi there, > > Does anyone out there use a revision control system? We are in dire need > of it, as my company has recently gone up to 3 writers (from 1) and we?re > afraid of overwriting work. > > ** ** > > Our document repository is made up of standalone FM docs with linked > images, FM books with linked images, and a pile of giant old Word docs that > have both embedded and referenced images. > > ** ** > > These are the solutions I know a little about: > > **? **Perforce ? used at my last job, since that?s what the > developers used. I think it has a bit of a steep learning curve for this > environment, though, given that I had to save my files out as .mif before > checking them in. I?m hoping for support of binary files instead. > > **? **SharePoint/TFS ? we have it here. But our version of > SharePoint is too old for FrameMaker to integrate. That means I can?t > access any linked files without checking them all out. Upgrading SharePoint > is not happening any time soon. I have also read a fair number of unhappy > stories on the Adobe forums about the FM/SP combination. > > **? **Subversion ? a friend recently installed this at his > company, and so far it looks promising. Does anyone use it? > > **? **Documentum ? just had a terrible experience trying to get > them to respond to a live chat. I know it?s an option for integrating FM.* > *** > > ** ** > > Thoughts are greatly appreciated, as I found out today I need to have a > candidate list ready by Friday. > > ** ** > > Thanks! > > Amy > > ** ** > > ___ > > > You are currently subscribed to framers as bodvar at gmail.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/bodvar%40gmail.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > > -- Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried. -- Gilbert K. Chesterton -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/attachments/20120922/afcf5697/attachment.html>
Document revision control
Hi Amy, Subversion is a good option. We have been using it for long, and we are a team of 20+ writers. We too use FM. Thanks and regards, Sebastian A On Thu, Sep 20, 2012 at 12:31 AM, Amy Super wrote: > Hi there, > > Does anyone out there use a revision control system? We are in dire need > of it, as my company has recently gone up to 3 writers (from 1) and we?re > afraid of overwriting work. > > ** ** > > Our document repository is made up of standalone FM docs with linked > images, FM books with linked images, and a pile of giant old Word docs that > have both embedded and referenced images. > > ** ** > > These are the solutions I know a little about: > > **? **Perforce ? used at my last job, since that?s what the > developers used. I think it has a bit of a steep learning curve for this > environment, though, given that I had to save my files out as .mif before > checking them in. I?m hoping for support of binary files instead. > > **? **SharePoint/TFS ? we have it here. But our version of > SharePoint is too old for FrameMaker to integrate. That means I can?t > access any linked files without checking them all out. Upgrading SharePoint > is not happening any time soon. I have also read a fair number of unhappy > stories on the Adobe forums about the FM/SP combination. > > **? **Subversion ? a friend recently installed this at his > company, and so far it looks promising. Does anyone use it? > > **? **Documentum ? just had a terrible experience trying to get > them to respond to a live chat. I know it?s an option for integrating FM.* > *** > > ** ** > > Thoughts are greatly appreciated, as I found out today I need to have a > candidate list ready by Friday. > > ** ** > > Thanks! > > Amy > > ** ** > > ___ > > > You are currently subscribed to framers as seba.bicstpt at gmail.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/seba.bicstpt%40gmail.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > > -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/attachments/20120922/afe77d7b/attachment.html>
Word indexing to Frame question
Hey all can any of you point me in the direction of converting Word index entries to Framemaker? Don't ask! Grin. -- love and light, hugs and blessings ? <http://www.mylivesignature.com/> MamaRed Knight intuitive business strategist| kick-a$$ cosultant Cook up recipes to leverage your content, make more money, and transform lives <http://contentchef.com/> and be so SELF-ISH? you transform your world <http://theselfishformula.com/> P.S. If you're stuck on dead-center, spinning your wheels, ain't nothin' gonna change, take the first step toward living your vision of success by registering for your complimentary *Get Off Your A$$ and Succeed* *Strategy Session*<http://contentchef.com/?p=684> . Let's connect <http://www.facebook.com/mamared> Facebook<http://www.facebook.com/mamared> <http://www.linkedin.com/in/jerilynneknight> LinkedIn<http://www.linkedin.com/in/mamared> <http://twitter.com/mama_red> Twitter <http://twitter.com/mama_red> Let's talk: [image: Skype] mamared2002 | 203.MAMA054 (203.626.2054) -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/attachments/20120922/ed357f7d/attachment.html>
Getting started with Context-Sensitive Help
Actually, since you're working with DITA another good option is Dita2Go (http://dita2go.com). Give the free demo version a try! ...scott Sent from my phone. Please excuse any typos or unexpected brevity. On Sep 21, 2012, at 2:46 PM, Robert Lauriston wrote: > In FrameMaker, all you need to do is insert TopicAlias markers to > define the help targets which will be linked to the application via > the map (aka header) file. > > What flavor of application is it? Java, C++, Web application ...? The > developers need to do some work on their side. > > http://help.adobe.com/en_US/robohelp/robohtml/WSFE586D66-E937-45bd-9F7B-3425A0D02B42.html > > There are two basic approaches: (1) the developers maintain the map > file and give it to you to import into RoboHelp, or (2) you generate > the map file with RoboHelp and give it to them. I've always done (1). > > You might check out Adobe's the Robohelp - FrameMaker integration forum: > > http://forums.adobe.com/community/robohelp/robohelp_framemaker > > Frankly, if you're starting from scratch, I suggest you use MIF2Go > instead. RoboHelp is inflexible, generates messy HTML, and simply does > some things wrong. > > On Fri, Sep 21, 2012 at 8:21 AM, Heather Thomas > wrote: >> First, a bit of context: our team has TCS4 with the DITA-FMx plugin. >> Currently, we author in Structured FM, produce the PDF User Guide from FM, >> and then we link the FM files into RoboHelp to produce WebHelp. >> >> I've been tasked with exploring our options for implementing >> Context-Sensitive Help. ... > ___
Getting started with Context-Sensitive Help
On Sat, 22 Sep 2012 07:39:14 -0700, Scott Prentice wrote: >Actually, since you're working with DITA another good >option is Dita2Go (http://dita2go.com). Give the free >demo version a try! For DITA2Go, it's not a free DEMO version, it's free, period. Just create a new account on: http://dita2go.com (needed to prevent spammers from monopolizing the forums on the site), and download the software, a much easier and faster (10x) alternative to the DITA-OT. -- Jeremy H. Griffith DITA2Go site: http://www.dita2go.com/
Frame vs Word - the decision
Hi Laura, Sorry I didn't notice your original post. Word has some issues with (not an exhaustive list): Long documents Graphics Lists Multi-chapter files Long Documents Word files have been known to go corrupt when documents get too long. Now "long" is a relative term--I'm talking about hundreds of pages per documents. One company I worked with was having text simply disappear from documents and it was costing them $250,000 per year to recover them. Graphics Most people cut-and-paste graphics into Word. This can lead to overly large and corrupt files. Word can link to a graphic like Frame and this will prevent most corruption, but the link option has to be chosen every time you insert a graphic. Plus, as far as I know, there is no collection method for the linked graphics. Lists Cutting-and-pasting lists in Word is a pain since it tries to "think" for you. Frame does exactly what you tell it to do. Word lists can be fixed and renumbered, but it takes additional time to fix it up. Multi-chapter files Creating TOCs and other lists in Word for multiple files is a pain. Not much you can do about it other than to reuse pre-setup Word "books" like you would in Frame. Word does have some benefits too, of course, including the fact that almost everyone has it, saving money. David Creamer IDEAS Training http://www.ideastraining.com Adobe Authorized Instructor & Certified Expert since 1995 Authorized QuarkXPress Instructor and Certified Expert since 1988 .Unless there is a fantastically good reason I am missing(?) then the choice is obvious. Please stick to Word henceforth and get no more production done in Framemaker."
Document revision control
Just a word about MIF in source control.? It's true that storing binary files (.fm) in source control is somewhat abusive, because the system has to store a complete copy of the file for each revision.? In the old days dev would never let you do that because storage actually cost something.? You might be tempted to think that storing MIF would be an alternative...? It's text, so source control can store just deltas to each revision.? While that's technically true, you would not gain anything.? It turns out that MIF files store dates and unique IDs on just about every line in the file.? So from one MIF to another you don't have many (or any???) lines that are the same.? Given that a MIF file is usually as large as a binary, if source control has to store a delta that amounts to every line in the file, then you actually loose -- not only are you still consuming disk space, but the control system has to process the files to find the delta.? Also, merging would be out of the question because pretty much every line would show a change.? Pretty much the only text format you can use for Maker documents is XML...? Yet another reason to consider it, BTW. -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/attachments/20120922/8a2aa5f4/attachment.html>
Batch saving files in FrameMaker 11
I have a plugin that automatically saves a copy of each document as MIF...? This is a super-backup and you can then open the MIF in any version of Maker.? I just keep it running all the time.? Saves are a bit slower, but I sleep better at night.? If I get any interest, I'll put it on my site as freeware... cud -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/attachments/20120922/2cab9318/attachment.html>
FM 11 somewhat disappointing. Am I alone?
> The other problem has been my Acrobat X Pro installation becoming > corrupted. Sometimes it just won't start, so I can't open a PDF at > all. Distiller disappears too. Then the Adobe PDF printer disappears, > so I can't create a PDF either. A few rounds of repair/reinstall > later, it is still unstable; I had to reinstall again today, and I > expect it will last a couple of days. At times, Acrobat X has made me want to become an eX Acrobat user. The printer occasionally becomes corrupted for unknown reasons. (I'm on Windows 7 64-bit.) Early Acrobat updates actually were the cause, changing the port setting from the documents port to COM1! Sheesh! Going to control panel and using the Uninstall>repair option has worked to fix things up, but what an annoyance. Mike Wickham
Batch saving files in FrameMaker 11
Sounds like a terrific method. Having just lost an incremental save this could be a secure method for preventing it from happening again. Will you be kind enough to post it? What is your site address? Thx Greg. Eckrich On 22Sep2012, at 2:17 PM, Chris Despopoulos wrote: > I have a plugin that automatically saves a copy of each document as MIF... > This is a super-backup and you can then open the MIF in any version of Maker. > I just keep it running all the time. Saves are a bit slower, but I sleep > better at night. If I get any interest, I'll put it on my site as freeware... > > cud > ___ > > > You are currently subscribed to framers as GWEckrich at wowway.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/gweckrich%40wowway.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/attachments/20120922/c98124b2/attachment.html>
Document revision control
Hi Amy, I strongly recommend subversion considering that you are such a small team, especially compared to the other options. In the end, it does ultimately come down to your use case, so it in some sense depends. --Perforce: have not used this personally but i believe its a high learning curve and will cost moneyhow much i don't know. --Sharepoint: I would not touch this with a 10 foot pole. It seems like I see a post at least once a week from some writer complaining about how the integration is not working as expected. They usually are complaining about how check in and check outs are not functioning, which is a really bad sign. Plus, you have to license and maintain a sharepoint site. And then you as a tech writer have to be burdened with sharepoint in order to handle some of the most basic tasks. --Documentum: Okay here's the thing. It costs like 200 thousand dollars. I think that's an insane amount of money to charge for a content management system that technical writers need. I could only see that being a consideration if you had a team of like 50 writers or something massive. ---Subversion: Its basically free. You just have the cost of setting up a subversion server, which is not that big of a deal. Typically, someone in your IT department will it do for you. Plus, there are nice free SVN clients for doing check ins, check outs, looking at the repository etc. And here's the awesome thing about this: it just works. There's nothing complicated about it. I have been using SVN for years now and I have had almost no problems with it. There are some pros and cons associated with SVN, which I can go into detail if you want. But i give a big thumbs up to SVN if I were if you consider the ROI, cost of business, and the fact that you are talking about only 3 writers. Joe -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/attachments/20120922/35f0e80f/attachment.html>
Batch saving files in FrameMaker 11
Hi Salome, You can easily do this with an ExtendScript. I am a novice scripter and I was able to create a script that batch saved files to MIF in FM 10 with about half an hour of work. If you don't know how to do simple scripts and you don't have time to learn, I am sure you could purchase the services of someone to create a script for you. I doubt it would be more than 100 dollars. Joe -- next part -- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/attachments/20120922/251eda9c/attachment.html>
