Carol Levine wrote: QUESTIONS: * The "platform" variable, as it currently exists in the variables document, doesn't "fit" into all locations in the chapter documents; I don't always need to use the full product name, and sometimes the structure of the sentence leads to a bad fit. Is it best to create two flavors of "platform" variable, for example, "platform-title" to use in the TitlePage document and "platform-chap" to use in the chapters? * Would you conditionalize "in the device's control panel" (which applies only to the embedded platform) in the sentence or, to avoid a word-level condition, repeat the entire sentence and conditionalize each for the appropriate platform? * Would it be better to turn this type of paragraph into three conditionalized text insets (one for MEAP, one for Ricoh, and one for ScanStation) that are then imported into the container chapter? Cheers and thanks for all the interesting personal information!
------------------------------------------ Hi Carol, * Create as many variables as you need to and set them in your variables document. We have three different ones for our company name (Company Name ALL CAPS, Company Name Initial Caps, and Company Name short). That helps when we're rebranding manuals for other companies that buy our products. I even have two that refer to the type of printer. The printer/print engine and Printer/Print Engine variables let me toggle between those words and take capitalization into account. * For things that are translated, you're better off repeating entire sentences and conditionalizing them. As Carla Martinek, our translation coordinator, reminded me, the word order in other languages isn't always the same as in English. Hiding a word or phrase in the middle of a sentence could have unexpected results during initial machine translation. If you're using translation memory to lower costs on near matches, the cost of repeating things should be minimal. * I avoid text insets whenever I can in unstructured Frame. Too many strange things tend to happen with them, particularly with spacing. I wouldn't recommend using them at a paragraph level simply because of the time involved in creating, inserting, and maintaining them. Because it's only a paragraph, you can achieve the same effect by repeating the paragraph three times and applying conditional text accordingly. When I think of text insets, I think a single chunk of text that is used in multiple places rather than multiple pieces of text that take turns being used in one place. Happy Friday, everyone! Donna - CONFIDENTIAL- This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential, and may also be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you may not review, use, copy, or distribute this message. If you receive this email in error, please notify the sender immediately by reply email and then delete this email. _______________________________________________ Are you a Help Authoring Trainer or Consultant? Let clients find you at www.HAT.Matrix.com, the searchable HAT database based on Char James-Tanny's HAT Comparison Matrix. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] for details. Interested in Interactive 3D Documentation? Get the scoop at http://www.doc-u-motion.com Your 3D Documentation Community. _______________________________________________ Technical Communication Professionals To post a message to the list, send an email to [email protected] To find out more about the list, including archives and your account options, visit http://techcommpros.com/mailman/listinfo/tcp_techcommpros.com If you need assistance with the list, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
