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>At first blush, IXgen may look expensive, but it is such a useful
>and well-designed tool that I think you'll find it pays for itself in
>saved time on the first one or two documents you use it for.
Other people's experience may vary, but here's my experinece:
To do a first rate index for a manual of 300 pages takes me a
minimum of four days. I mean an index that includes with
sub-entries and multiple entries, and is built from an extnesive
key-word list, rather than simply headings. Such an index is
usually about 15 double-columned pages. Using IXgen, I can
complete this work in less than a day and a half.
Last time I checked, IXgen cost about $200 US for a single
license. Let's assume your indexer works at $40 an hour. That
means that the first project done with IXgen costs $200 + (4$0 x
12 hours) = $680.
By contrast, working without IXgen for four days would cost $40 X
32 hours = $1280.
In other words, IXgen pays for itself by the time you finish the
first index you build with it.
The figures here are cautious ones, so I'm pretty sure of them.
Everyone can plug in their own figures, but, unless the indexer
works for pennies per hour, or the manual is going to have a
brief, almost worthless index, I don't think that anyone can deny
IXgen's value.
In fact, in many cases, a complete index might never been done,
because it would be too expensive. So, IXgen not only quickly
pays for itself, but also makes possible a feature that might
otherwise be left out.
--
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
"The Open Road" column, Maximum Linux
3015 Aries Place, Burnaby, BC V3J 7E8, Canada
bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com 604.421.7189
"Hey, Johnnie Cope, are you waulking yet,
Or are you sleeping, I would wit,
O get up, for the drums do beat,
Fie, Cope, get up in the morning!
-Robert Burns, "Johnnie Cope"
