Re: Arbortext Alternatives - MIL-STD 40051 XML Tech Manuals

[Liz Fraley <caltonia -at- gmail -dot- com>]

You can still get Print Composer. You just need a reseller that knows about
it. Not all of them do.

If you're buying/using Arbortext, make sure you connect with an Arbortext
"Qualified" (not just "authorized") partner.
There's a list at Squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/arbortext


On Tue, Oct 25, 2011 at 11:14 AM, Mark Giffin <mgiffin -at- earthlink -dot- net> wrote:

> A few quick comments.
>
> - You could adjust the Author view of Oxygen to display your XML in a more
> friendly way so you could avoid some raw tags editing. It uses CSS and is
> not terribly difficult to do.
> - How did you accomplish the PDF through Antenna House? Did you write your
> own XSL-FO? If so, maybe you can adjust it to match your client's output
> better.
> - If you are already using Arbortext Publishing Engine (or did I
> misunderstand), why doesn't your PDF match what your client is generating?
> - It sounds like you are already making the best of the situation. What
> would an ideal setup look like for you?
>
> Mark Giffin
>
>
>
> On 10/25/2011 8:40 AM, Robert Williams wrote:
>
>> Been awhile, hi all. Not inexperienced (SGML&  XML military tech manual
>> background), doing the usual Abortext shuffle for US Army LOGSA MIL-STD
>> 40051-2 Chg 3 XML tech manuals (TMs) that mostly result in hardcopy for
>> the
>> military end user.  They (the gov't) don't provide a screen fosi, and
>> without one, Arbortext is an ugly enough environment to work in - that
>> there
>> really isn't that much difference between Arbortext and a commercial XML
>> editor (save some goodies like toolbar and menu functionality that makes
>> table creation/edits and figure views a little easier.)
>>
>>
>>
>> Questions are mostly curiosity to see what other non-Arbortext methods
>> other
>> tech writers are using to do military TMs (besides Frame - not paying for
>> templates when GFE/GFI DTDs and stylesheets are mandated).  Our
>> deliverables
>> are all source files (XML and graphics) along with PDFs generated with
>> GFE/GFI stylesheets.  Arbortext at this point (with its attendant
>> proprietary and no longer software upgrade supported Print Composer), is
>> almost purely used for PDF generation (and not an inexpensive solution,
>> pricing it 'per workstation.')
>>
>>
>>
>> The delivery requirements are somewhat migratory - as the DoD customer now
>> realizes that there are differences in what you get for PDF even within
>> Arbortext selections. So the PDF delivery requirement is a little
>> nebulous,
>> as they now have to PDF the TMs themselves on their workstations (using
>> our
>> delivered XML and graphics), to see them the way they will ultimately
>> 'see'
>> them.
>>
>>
>>
>> We're a small shop, so the massively expensive Arbortext server based
>> publishing and printing 'engine' is not a realistic option (last time I
>> checked, you've got to be past the 10 seat range to make it more cost
>> effective than standalone Arbortext instantiations, no?)
>>
>>
>>
>> That being said, we've got Oxygen working as a reasonable cost XML editor
>> (same DTD error checking functionality as Arbortext, it would seem.) Now,
>> we've also got AntennaHouse working to generate PDFs.
>>
>>
>>
>> Yes, there are some differences between what we see in the PDFs from
>> Arbortext vice AntennaHouse. But since we're mainly using it to check
>> formatting and make sure that nothing in the customer provided DTDs or
>> stylesheets comes out horribly ugly on PDF output.
>>
>>
>>
>> Thoughts? Curious to see what is working for others.  We're looking hard
>> to
>> get off the PTC 'software maintenance' extortion 'hamster wheel' of +$40
>> per
>> month, per workstation (rather like a utility bill, isn't it?). With 6-8
>> tech writers, the monthly/annual cost of using PTC's not inexpensive
>> products is not trivial.
>>
>>
>>
>> What are you other small shops that are doing military TMs using?
>>
>>
>>
>> Regards (and thanks for any/all replies),
>>
>>
>>
>> Bob Williams
>>
>> (in a tiny little tech writing shop in a tiny little town in the tiniest
>> state in the US)
>>
>> Bristol, RI, US
>>
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