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Subject:RE: Big Doc Word From:"Roy Jacobsen" <roy -dot- jacobsen -at- greatplains -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 19 Mar 2001 10:03:57 -0600
Andrew Plato wrote:
>"Scott Turner" wrote...
>
>> Unfortunately, Andrew, you are saying you can use Word, just that you
>> cannot use it as it is documented and marketed.
>
>No. I did not say that. You did.
Well, it seems to me that you did. You said "don't use the Master
Document feature, put it all in one mongo document." However, the Word
documentation (can't say regarding the marketing bilge) says much about
using the Master Document "feature." In my experience, you can't use
that feature as documented because it is prone to crashing your computer
and corrupting docs. (I'm not excited by the prospect of a 200+ page
Word doc, with hundreds of illustrations embedded in it either. Much
easier to manage discrete chunks, IMO, but as my grandpappy said,
"Different streaks for different freaks.")
>I said don't try to apply your Frame methods to Word. It won't work,
you will
>be frustrated, and you will start to invent inane arguments to defend
your
>emotions about a software product.
I was having trouble with Word before I ever was exposed to FrameMaker,
so I'm don't think I could have been applying Frame methods to Word. I
discovered a number of methods for dealing with large documents that
worked, but they weren't elegant or trouble-free.
I'll agree that Word is a fine tool for *short*, mostly text documents.
It has some cool text-manipulation features (some of them I really miss
when I'm using FrameMaker). When it comes to large documents, FrameMaker
wipes the floor with Word.
Word isn't the be-all-and-end-all of a TW's toolkit, and neither is
FrameMaker, and neither is <insert tool name here>. Our main tool is
adaptability. Adaptability and curiosity.
Our *two* main tools are adaptability, curiosity, and a keen
understanding of communications principles. . . Our *three* main tools
are. . . (Oh, bugger.)
Roy M. Jacobsen
Senior Editor
Great Plains
1701 38th Street Southwest
Fargo, ND 58103
USA
The man at the top of the mountain didn't fall there.
IPCC 01, the IEEE International Professional Communication Conference,
October 24-27, 2001 at historic La Fonda in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.
CALL FOR PAPERS OPEN UNTIL MARCH 15. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/
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