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I agree for the most part. SGML and XML work, but there are also many
other methods. You can chunk in a linear format just as well as you can
using individual files or snippets of structured elements. It all boils
down to planning and need. I've been able to single-source using
FrameMaker beautifully for about 5 years now, and I've never used
FM+SGML (aside from a timed expiration sample copy) to do it. As long as
you have control over finite bits of information and can disable/enable
information as needed when publishing to various formats, you're good to
go (so long as you've planned everything out).
B I L L S W A L L O W
Information Design & Development Professional
tel/fax: 518.371.1867 wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com
List Owner: HATT, WWP-Users, InFrame
Co-Moderator: SingleSourcing-Mgmt
WebWorks Wizard Editor of InFrame Magazine
::: -----Original Message-----
::: I have always maintained that to single-source for online help and
::: printed documentation, you have to chunk your data. In other words,
::: you have to have such a fine granulation of data, and a means of
::: identification to pull it out that you are only writing
::: small pieces
::: of information. This can be achieved if you use something like SGML
::: or XML, however, it also means that to do it effectively, and
::: efficiently, you have to spend a lot of time up front
::: designing your
::: structure to that the data chunks can be small enough, and able to
::: identify chunks that appear in one or more purposed documents.
:::
::: Just writing a book and pouring it into a help file is not
::: the same.
::: You end up spending a lot more time to setup the system,
::: and then you
::: have to be very careful when you alter the data.
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