Re: Implementing a single source management system painlessly

[jason -dot- davis -at- pc-doctor -dot- com]

Thank you to everyone who was thoughtfull enough to contribute their 
thoughts and feelings on this subject. I apologize if the following summary 
is too long. If this is the case, please let me know off list as this is my 
first posting experience.

To summerize:

Andrew Plato's response seemed to come from the perspective of a manager as 
opposed to a writer. His comments seemed mostly judgemental but had a few 
good points. Understand the real value of implementing something like XML 
before you think you need it, and chances are you don't.

Sean Brierley like Andrew suggests that we don't necessarily need XML and 
states that "WebWorks Publisher Pro and FrameMaker also work well for 
single-sourcing (I am not using XML for this, I don't need to)."

John Gilger suggests that we use a tool such as DocBook 4.0, which he 
states "incorporates XML and works well. It also works well with SGML."

Dave Bree posed some good questions:
>1) Do Webhelp systems created with XML support standard HTML help 
>features?
>2) Are the majority of TW's using XML working in large pub departments? 
>3) Is the greatest advantage XML brings to the table the ability to 
manage
>otherwise unmanageable quantities of document changes for publishing to
>multiple platforms?

Bruce Byfield points out a disadvantage of XML is that "professional page 
design is difficult. XML is oriented towards structural content, and style 
sheets simply aren't very sophisticated."

Bill Swallow points out the content oriented need for XML stating "I use 
XML for structure, not for asthetics. For that I use HTML and CSS. XML is 
strictly (in my case) used for content management and information type 
taging." He also suggest using FrameMaker+SGML and WebWorks Publisher 
Professional Edition as tools for implementing XML/SGML.

Dan Emory points to the biotech industry as an example of the need for and 
use of XML. He makes several convincing ponts and even includes an online 
article as evidence: http://www.sciam.com/2000/1100issue/1100scicit4.html

Triston Bishop refered me to an excellent article on Single Source Intranet 
Development. She pointed out that the authors created an 8,000 page site 
using the tool combination that Bill Swallow suggests (FrameMaker+SGML and 
WebWorks Publisher Pro). The article is located at: 
http://stc.org/pics/online/hyperviews/archive/00Winter/001f1.htm

Tim Altom also points to FrameMaker+SGML with some very compeling reasons 
why: "And with Frame, you're not limited to XML/SGML; you can make a PDF, 
print doc, or roll the output through MIF2GO or Quadralay to get HTML, HTML 
Help, JavaHelp, etc."

Finally, Pam Mandel relates her own personal account of trying to implement 
an XML based document management system and suggests outside help as a 
solution: "We're trying to do version 1.0 software docs, and to add this in 
the mix is just too much. We're still unraveling the problem, but we've put 
it on the back burner for now. The clincher, I think, was that we did not 
hire an experience person to implement this for us."

Thanks again for all your thoughtful advice,
__________________________________________________
Jason Davis
Technical Writer
PC-Doctor, Inc.
(510) 596-2080, ext. 154
jason -dot- davis -at- pc-doctor -dot- com
http://www.pc-doctor.com



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY.
http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.

Sponsored by SOLUTIONS, Conferences and Seminars for Communicators 
Publications Management Clinic, TECH*COMM 2001 Conference, and more 
http://www.SolutionsEvents.com or 800-448-4230

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot-  Visit 
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.