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RE: Word and amazon.com (was: PDF a "book" of Word files )
Subject:RE: Word and amazon.com (was: PDF a "book" of Word files ) From:"Bill Lawrence" <scribe -at- matrixplus -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 9 Oct 2003 14:39:52 -0400
>
> Excuse my ignorance on this subject, I've been working with XML
strictly
> for web output, and before that I was working with DTP software
strictly
> for print. So I have no "crossover" knowledge.
>
> So, what I was picturing is a well formed (heck even valid) xml
document.
> Crack that bad boy open in Word (or Frame, or whatever) AS an xml
> document. Apply a template that formats the xml. Then do a save as a
DOC
> (or an FM file, or whatever). This way, the source xml file remains
pure
> xml but you have a properly formatted output.
>
>
Why bother to do that? If you keep the content separate from the
formatting, you can do whatever you want by simply changing the
stylesheet used to format. It's the stylesheet that should govern the
format, not the content file.
I'm currently creating single-source documents that are transformed into
reference guides, training material, and online help. All three have
different content and format, all of which is controlled by the
stylesheets. If you had and XML editor, XSL processor, and an FO
formatter, I could simply send you the XML source and you could apply
the appropriate Stylesheets to replicate the output. The great thing is
that this is entirely portable and vendor independent. Also, for the
most part, the available tools are either dirt cheap or free.
RoboHelp for FrameMaker is a NEW online publishing tool for FrameMaker that
lets you easily single-source content to online Help, intranet, and Web.
The interface is designed for FrameMaker users, so there is little or no
learning curve and no macro language required! Call 800-718-4407 for
competitive pricing or view a live demo at: http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l3
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