Re: CDs and related (?) stuff

[Craig Sanders <csanders -at- ONLYXLNT -dot- COM>]

Good morning, Damien!

I don't know what you are using as your primary authoring tool, but if
(hopefully) it is Adobe FrameMaker, you might want to look at a couple of
products from a US outfit called Quadralay. They offer a FrameMaker-to-online
converter that translates FrameMaker files, including graphics, into a variety
of online formats: HTML, HTMLHelp, and WinHelp.

By using Frame in conjunction with this tool and the conditional text feature
in Frame, you can write for print, HTML, and WinHelp output simultaneously.
Once you have defined how you want your HTML output to look, conversion then
become almost entirely automated, making revisions and changes a snap. The HTML
is, naturally, particularly well-adapted for distribution on a CD as you are
planning.

Quadralay also has another product now in development that would be ideal for
your application: CD Express, a client-side (runs on your customer's system)
search utility that provides complete search capability for contents provided
on a CD, plus can open a gateway onto the Internet where your customers can
obtain "live" updates to documentation/software from your Web site. As I
understand it, this product should be available in late summer or early fall.

Quadralay is also offereing their Frame conversion product (WebWorks Publisher)
as a free 30-day evaluation with complete tech support during the eval period.
You can find them at http://www.quadralay.com, and information about the CD
Express product is at: http://www.quadralay.com/cdex.

Hope this helps,
Craig Sanders

Damien Braniff wrote:

> It has been decided, after much discussion, that we are going to supply our
> software and documentation on CD (aiming for complete switch by the new
> year).  Hard copy supplied will comprise an installation guide and a basic
> user guide.  Everything else will be supplied on the CD with the hardware.
> If the customer wants hard copy then it can be printed or supplied by us
> (at a price).  Now to my questions:
>
>    My initial thoughts are to go down the PDF route - simple to do and
>    reader free to distribute.  Development suggested looking at HTML as a
>    possibility.  Any thoughts suggestions?  Would the HTML route require
>    much (any?) reworking of the documents etc?
>
>    As we manufacture as well as design the idea is to burn the CDs
>    ourselves and we've looked at one piece of kit that will "print" up to
>    50 in 20 minutes.  Anyone (especially in UK) has had experience of
>    printing large volume CDs?
>
>    The aim is (as we've the space on the CD) to provide ALL the software
>    varieties (US, French, Spanish etc) with a pretty front end that allows
>    the user to choose required variety of software and lit.  Any ideas as
>    to what would create a good front end?  Somebody here has suggested it
>    can be done using DemoShield (we already have it and plan puttting a
>    tutorial on the CD as well) but I'm not sure.
>
>    Finally (UK only) - does anyone know of a training course for
>    DemoShield? I've had a brief play and it seems fairly straightforward
>    but if we're expected to be doing all sorts of fancy stuff with it I'd
>    rather know exactly what it can and can't do and how to do it!
>
> No doubt there's things I've not thought of in this first plunge so all
> commments are welcome.
>
> TIA
>
> Damien Braniff
> Technical Author
> PAC International
>



--


"We do not see things as they are...
we see things as we are."
 -Anais Nin