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Subject:Managing Multiple Versions of HTML Help Files From:Linda Castellani <linda -at- GRIC -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 6 Apr 1999 15:14:13 -0700
I searched the archives for this information (and it worked on the
Cambridge site!!), but I did not find what I was looking for.
Is this a tool issue, or a version management issue, or both, and how would
you handle this? If this is a tool issue, are there tools that you'd
recommend? I'm currently using Netscape Communicator to update these files.
I have inherited the task of updating existing HTML help for a product that
comes in three flavors:
1. The Generic GRIC flavor
2. The Customized-for-Every-Customer-Who-Pays-For-It Flavor
3. The So-Called OEM Flavor
The product was written in Java and C, and the help files are in HTML.
The help for the Generic GRIC flavor mentions GRIC and has screenshots with
the GRIC logo.
The help for the CFECWPFI flavor replaces every mention of GRIC with the
customer's name, and screenshots show the customized product with the
customer's logo.
The help for the So-Called OEM flavor has no screenshots, and does not
mention any product or company names.
I am anticipating a documentation management nightmare. I am anticipating
that the Generic and OEM Flavors will be updated once for each release, and
that all the custom versions will be based on the Generic version. Don't
yet know what the OEM version is for.
There is no way of planning for the customized versions; they will occur
whenever a customer pays for it. Since I inherited this following a big
layoff, there is no way of extrapolating from past occurrences.
I don't want my life to be about creating custom versions of help or
managing the help versions we have, because this is only a small part of
what I'm working on, now that I am the only tech writer...
I am grateful for your suggestions.
==========================
Obligatory bad haiku:
Ah, reality
sets in too soon. Alarm rings:
Monday morning! ARGH!
Linda Castellani
Technical Writer
GRIC Communications, Inc.
1421 McCarthy Blvd.
Milpitas, CA 95035
