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RE: FrameMaker and conditional text

Subject: RE: FrameMaker and conditional text
From: "Fred Ridder" <docudoc -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: cll01821 -at- lycos -dot- com, thejavaguy -at- gmail -dot- com
Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2006 12:48:28 -0500

A much more effective approach to dealing with product names
(or platform names, to use your terminology) is to use user variables
rather than conditional text. Beiseds avoiding any potential issues
with missing spaces or excess spaces when you turn on a different
condition, the variables approach makes it *very* much easier to
accommodate the addition of new names as your company's
product line evolves. All you need to do is redefine the variable
values in one file and import them into all the others. No need
to search for every instance of multiple, conditionalized names to
add a new name with a new condition applied to it.

My opinions only; I don't speak for Intel
Fred Ridder
Intel
Parsippany, NJ


From: cll01821 -at- lycos -dot- com
To: thejavaguy -at- gmail -dot- com
CC: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Subject: FrameMaker and conditional text
Date: Sat, 07 Jan 2006 09:30:40 -0500

Just curious ... did you consider generating two separate guides?

I'm currently generating 11 "separate" install guides from one set of source files. I create a book file for each platform-specific guide. Each book file contains the appropriate chapters for the platform; for example, some of the books use "Installing the TWAIN driver" while others use "Installing the JAR file".

Some chapters, such as "Installing the software" contain a combination of common and unique text; I apply conditional tags as needed to the platform-specific text or images. For example, step 6 might document how to license a device. The step contains all the information for licensing devices for all platforms, but I've applied a conditional tag to each bit of platform-specific information.

In addition, I do violate one of the "rules" of conditional text by applying conditional tags within a sentence. For example, if a sentence relates to platform x and platform y, I might writing On platformxplatformy, do this, with appropriate tags applied to "platformx" and "platformy". (I try to avoid doing this as much as possible because it makes localisation a wee bit more complex.)

Carol

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References:
FrameMaker and conditional text: From: cll01821

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