TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:RE: Table that spreads over multiple pages From:"Mike Hiatt" <mhiatt -at- vocaldata -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 6 Aug 2004 09:33:59 -0500
I'm with Dick on this one. Other than being 33 pages long - what's
broke? If nothing, I say leave alone and update the content. If it
doesn't have header on the following pages, fix that. Otherwise, why
does it need to be changed?
I'd also agree with the poster who said to check mil spec and make sure
this isn't a required method of presenting the information. Also, if you
have access to end users or someone who can talk to end users, have you
checked with them to see if changing the format would interfere with
their use of the information. It's possible that they're very used to
finding information in this table and changing it means they slow down
while they learn a new way of finding the information they need.
I have a table of error messages that is 7-10 pages at present and will
continue to grow as more error messages are added to our product. We
have a header row for the table that flows from page to page, we have
indexed the error number, the error name, the severity and I'm sure
something I'm missing. This is reference material for a technicial or
curious administrator to look up the error message. It includes probable
cause and suggested actions. If someone complains they can't find the
information they need in the current format, I'll change it, until then
it will stay a single table no matter how many pages it becomes.
Mike Hiatt
Manager, Tech Pubs
VocalData, Inc.
Richardson, TX
mhiatt -at- vocaldata -dot- com
www.vocaldata.com
-----Original Message-----
From: bounce-techwr-l-86349 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
[mailto:bounce-techwr-l-86349 -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com] On Behalf Of Dick
Margulis
Sent: Friday, August 06, 2004 8:17 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Cc: TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Table that spreads over multiple pages
Kimberly Thornton wrote:
> Hello all:
>
> I have inherited a military technical manual to update. I've come
> across a troubleshooting table that spreads across 33 pages!!!!! Just
> one table! Its a three-column table that lists the Symptom, Probable
> Cause, and Corrective Action. Obviously this table needs to be broken
up into something more sane.
>
Why?
If the table is designed intelligently (sounds like it is), and if you
have repeating column headers, cross-headers, and footers on each page
(something you can implement if they're not already present), what's
wrong with a 33-page troubleshooting table?
ROBOHELP X5: Featuring Word 2003 support, Content Management, Multi-Author
support, PDF and XML support and much more!
TRY IT TODAY at http://www.macromedia.com/go/techwrl
WEBWORKS FINALDRAFT: New! Document review system for Word and FrameMaker
authors. Automatic browser-based drafts with unlimited reviewers. Full
online discussions -- no Web server needed! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -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.
