Re: FrameMaker Discrepancy

[Nicholas Russon <nrusson -at- LAVASYS -dot- COM>]

Win Day wrote:
>I'm currently living in Mississauga, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto.  I lived
>and worked in Calgary, Alberta until August 94.  Neither location is a
>hotbed of Frame usage.

I'm also working in Mississauga, and I agree with Win's characterization
of the suburb as not being "a hotbed". I'm using FrameMaker+SGML
and my previous employer (also in Mississauga) used the precursor
to FM+SGML, FrameBuilder.

I've used the following packages over the years:

     - Microsoft Word (v. 2.0 on the Mac)
     - Microsoft Word (versions 5.0 through 7.0 on PCs)
     - Ventura Publisher (v. 2)
     - Pagemaker (v. 2.0 on the Mac)
     - WordPerfect (v. 5.1 through 6.1 on PCs)
     - Lotus Manuscript (PC...can't recall a version)
     - Describe (recently deceased)
     - vi and troff (UNIX)
     - XEDIT/ZEDIT and DCF (IBM VM/CMS)

I have to agree with several other posters on the list: Frame is the
best
package I've ever used for software documentation. PM was better for
newsletter/brochure style publications, VP had some strengths, but
since I've spent most of the last ten years doing book-length technical
documents, Frame is my tool of choice.

When I started work here at LAVA Systems, I inherited four books done
using Microsoft Word master documents...I couldn't wait to get that
first release out the door and begin converting to FrameMaker! Every
time I needed to make just a small change, I never could predict how
long it would take to fix all the other things that would break. Word is
good for memos, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone doing much
more complex work than that.

Frame isn't perfect: no software package could possibly be all things to
all tech writers. For what I need to do, it isn't just the best
choice...it's
the only choice! (Okay, maybe it's just the best choice! ;-)

Regards,
Nicholas


Nicholas Russon
nrusson -at- lavasys -dot- com (work)    nrusson -at- io -dot- org (home)
http://www.lavasys.com           http://www.io.org/~nrusson

It is impossible to imagine the universe run by a wise, just, and
omnipotent God, but it is quite easy to imagine it run by a board of
gods. If such a board actually exists it operates precisely like the
board of a corporation that is losing money. (H.L. Mencken)



>A possible cause of the discrepancy might be the final use of, and
>production methods for, our documents.  How many of us create documents
>either for internal use or for single-copy issue to one client?  That's what
>I do.  My reports and manuals are either aimed directly at my clients' own
>employees, or are issued one, maybe two copies at a time to their clients.
>None of my stuff is mass-produced for outside audiences.

>I produce large, complex, highly technical documents for a very small
>audience.  We don't need Frame; Word can handle our needs just fine, thank
>you very much.

>Win
>------------------
>Win Day
>Technical Writer/Editor
>Email: winday -at- idirect -dot- com