TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Merrick, Tim [mailto:tim -dot- merrick -at- LSIL -dot- COM]
<snippity snip>
>>>The Questions:
>>>Have any of you tried creating multiple deliverables from
>>>one FrameMaker
>>>book? If so, was it a success or a nightmare? What are some things to
>>>consider as I plan for the project? What traps can I avoid?
>>>I know this can
>>>be done, but is it the best solution?
Yes, I am currently creating printed and online help deliverables from each
of my FrameMaker documents.
This is proving to be a success. While tracking two conditions and two sets
of information in one document is more complex than not using conditions,
using conditions beats the **** out of writing multiple documents. Updating
one book is a lot easier, too.
I have not run into any traps, yet. I've only been doing this for a quarter,
though, since I purchased Quadralay's WebWorks Publisher for online help
creation. I expect you will do fine, a multi-condition document really does
not need any management beyond what you would normally do for a project.
Just allow yourself a little more time to write-in extra information (this
is a little more than one book) and I recommend testing before releasing,
though I have experienced no failures.