There is a better solution than VSS -- look at Subversion. It is both free and web-friendly, and we use it daily to share files (including FM files) between Salt Lake City, Paris, London, Bangalore, and Bangkok. Check-in and -out is bog simple (with "Tortoise", it's part of the Windows File manager).
As for tools, you might be better off looking at Open Office and saving as XML. A lot depends on the savvyness (savviness? savvity?) of your authors and how complex your books are. Grant ===================================== Grant Hogarth Senior Technical Writer Equis International Equis International - A Reuters Company (t) +1 801 270 3180 | (o) +1 801 265 9996 | (f) +1 801 265 3999 Get the latest news at Reuters.com -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:framers-bounces+grant.hogarth=reuters.com at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Kevin Rusnak Sent: Thursday, January 18, 2007 7:39 AM To: Framers at frameusers.com Subject: Any ideas Hello, I am new to the forums and thought this would be a useful place to ask questions about creating a FrameMaker structure. My situation is a bit unique, and I am in search of the best solution. Currently, I am in charge of manuals that are written by several different people. The process of editing these manuals is that the FrameMaker books and files are created in the PDF. The person then makes their edits that they want made through Comments in the PDF. This PDF is then given to me and I make the changes in FrameMaker as need be. I think that there might be an easier solution. My solution would be to keep all the FrameMaker files in one centralized location such as a network. Each person who is in charage of a manual should get FrameMaker and learn the tools to make the edits themselves. The problem that this poses is that the people who work on these manuals travel often, meaning that they cannot easily access the network to grab the files. There is also the problem of absolute paths vs. relative paths and the problems that could happen (such as broken links/graphics) with graphics, cross-references, text insets, etc. together. I've considered Visual SourceSafe for checking in and checking out files, but was wondering if anyone else had a better or creative solution to this problem. Thank you! ___________________________________________ Kevin Rusnak, CDIA+, ECMP E-Learning Development Specialist, Education Services Training.OnBase.com (P) 440.788.5609 (F) 440.788.5709 (E) kevin.rusnak at onbase.com <mailto:kevin.rusnak at onbase.com> Hyland Software, Inc. 28500 Clemens Road Westlake, OH 44145 USA ----------------------------------------- CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This message and any attached documents may contain confidential information from Hyland Software, Inc. The information is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above. If the reader of this message is not the intended recipient, or an employee or agent responsible for the delivery of this message to the intended recipient, the reader is hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this message or of any attached documents, or the taking of any action or omission to take any action in reliance on the contents of this message or of any attached documents, is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please notify the sender immediately by e-mail or telephone, at (440) 788-5000, and delete the original message immediately. Thank you. _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as Grant.Hogarth at reuters.com. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/grant.hogarth%40reut ers.com Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. This email was sent to you by Reuters, the global news and information company. To find out more about Reuters visit www.about.reuters.com Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the views of Reuters Ltd.
