atw: Re: Master/sub-documents and corruptions.


Terry:
I worked at a place where they used structured FrameMaker.
So they were using a document definition such as DocBook, S1000D, DITA or similar arbitrary schema. I do not recall that Word can support arbitrary SGML or XML schemas. Word 2007 uses XML as a format, but it is largely /unstructured/, like OpenOffice.org's unstructured use of XML. (Think XHTML's free and easy approach to structure and you've got it nailed.)
They had all sorts of notes and tips on how to get productivity up to a page a day while using the counter-intuitve application.
"Counter-intuitive" is often code for "different from Word" (that great intuitive app!), "different from what I am used to" or "not understood". Or it could be truly complex with far more structure than you need for most documents (yes, DocBook, I am looking at you). On the other hand, these could have been just quick ref hints for keyboard commands; FrameMaker lets you build a structured document progressively just by using key commands to insert elements, change elements, etc.
Was the content stored in a content-management system (CMS) such as Documentum? That can add an awful lot of administrivia overhead which would slow you down to a page a day.
(Three windows required to be open to type, format and structure.)
That would be the Elements dialogue (which shows you what elements are valid to insert in the current element), the Attributes dialogue, and the Structure View. These don't have to be open all the time but they sure are handy as they give you feedback on what you are doing with your keyboard-driven structure building. Of course, as this is a structured document, it is handy to have some means for modifying the structure -- dragging elements and their descendants to a different location, collapsing and expanding the tree, clicking on an element to instantly jump to that location in the content, etc. Sort of like the
Required to /format/? In FrameMaker, the formatting is part of the structure application and is /not/ readily available to the writer to change, sort of like a hidden CSS file. Just enter the elements and their content and the formatting happens automagically.
Most word-processing apps require at least one window to be open so you can type. Not much can be done with that dark grey rectangle on its own.
The local 'expert', who had been at the company for several years, had achieved that impressive 1 p/d goal.
Of course, if you were copy typing, 30 pp/day is easily achievable. But most of the time is chewed up making screen captures, researching tech. specs, studying schemas and drawings, playing with the app being documented to understand its behaviour, etc. I think it wouldn't be too hard to slow a Word expert down to 1 p/day with the right task! 

Regards,
Hedley


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Hedley Finger

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Tel: +61 3 9809 1229   Fax: (call phone first)
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