Re: Tool to convert jpeg files to text

[Andy Kass]

Hi,

Many home multi-function printers/fax/scanners ship with OCR software. My HP 
LaserJet had a disk with ReadIRIS OCR software that I've used to open image 
files and convert to text. It worked fairly well on an old version (9) several 
years ago, I haven't tried the newest version (12) yet. So you might already 
have OCR software installed or on a disk nearby.

Thanks,

  Andy

 Date: Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:18:38 +0200
 From: Shmuel Wolfson shmue...@gmail.com
 Subject: Re: Tool to convert jpeg files to text
 
 Here's a free website that does OCR:
 http://www.free-ocr.com/
 
 Here's a free program for OCR:
 http://www.simpleocr.com/
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RE: Acrobat fails to highlight found search terms

[Andy Kass]

I have the free Acrobat Reader 9.4.5 on Windows Vista Pro, and I have noticed 
this problem too.

Actually, I didn't even know about the Search feature, never needed it. The 
search window makes the search term bold in each occurrence, but when clicking 
on it to see it on the page, it has the same problem for me.

In both cases (Find and Search), whenever Acrobat switches pages, the next term 
is not highlighted (it does have the cursor after the word). So when using 
find, it'll be the first occurrence on the page (or last if going backward). 
When using search, clicking on an occurrance that changes the page doesn't 
highlight it, but it will be if on the same page. Clicking twice on an 
occurrance highlights it, even if on a new page.

Thanks,

  Andy

 Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:19:54 -0400
 From: Fred Ridder docu...@hotmail.com
 To: srog...@phoenix-geophysics.com, framers@lists.frameusers.com
 Subject: RE: Acrobat fails to highlight found search terms
 Message-ID: snt117-w376c2bb4e555650a76b681ba...@phx.gbl
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
 
 
 Yes, this bug was noted previously on the list. It only started after
 Adobe's most recent patch of Acrobat 9.0 (which was supposedly a security
 patch rather than anything affecting basic functionality), and only seems
 to be a problem under Windows XP. Reportedly, Find works fine under
 Windows 7 (nobody has said anything one way or the other about Vista).
 
 Search still works properly (for me, at least...), but Find has been
 rendered essentially useless. All we can do is wait to find out if
 Adobe considers this enough of a bug that they fix it in their next
 patch. Or else bite the bullet and buy into the new set of bugs that
 reportedly come with Acrobat X.
 
 Unexplicably cynical on a sunny Thursday morning,
 Fred Ridder
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Acrobat fails to highlight found search terms

[Andy Kass]

I have the free Acrobat Reader 9.4.5 on Windows Vista Pro, and I have noticed 
this problem too.

Actually, I didn't even know about the Search feature, never needed it. The 
search window makes the search term bold in each occurrence, but when clicking 
on it to see it on the page, it has the same problem for me.

In both cases (Find and Search), whenever Acrobat switches pages, the next term 
is not highlighted (it does have the cursor after the word). So when using 
find, it'll be the first occurrence on the page (or last if going backward). 
When using search, clicking on an occurrance that changes the page doesn't 
highlight it, but it will be if on the same page. Clicking twice on an 
occurrance highlights it, even if on a new page.

Thanks,

  Andy

> Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2011 11:19:54 -0400
> From: Fred Ridder 
> To: , 
> Subject: RE: Acrobat fails to highlight found search terms
> Message-ID: 
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
> 
> 
> Yes, this bug was noted previously on the list. It only started after
> Adobe's most recent patch of Acrobat 9.0 (which was supposedly a security
> patch rather than anything affecting basic functionality), and only seems
> to be a problem under Windows XP. Reportedly, Find works fine under
> Windows 7 (nobody has said anything one way or the other about Vista).

> Search still works properly (for me, at least...), but Find has been
> rendered essentially useless. All we can do is wait to find out if
> Adobe considers this enough of a bug that they fix it in their next
> patch. Or else bite the bullet and buy into the new set of bugs that
> reportedly come with Acrobat X.

> Unexplicably cynical on a sunny Thursday morning,
> Fred Ridder

Re: OFF-Topic: Perfect Proverb for Tech Writers

[Andy Kass]

On Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:01:46 -0700, Flato, Gillian gfl...@nanometrics.com 
wrote:

 Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and 
 I'll understand.
 Native American Proverb

Mmmm, proverbs and quotes, I love them. Though I have to say, my version of the 
tech writer's proverb is:

Ce que l'on conçoit bien s'énonce clairement,
 Et les mots pour le dire arrivent aisément.

That which is well conceived is clearly said,
 And the words to say it flow with ease.

--Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux (1636-1711)
  L'Art Poétique (The Art of Poetry, 1674), Canto I, l. 153

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Boileau-Despr%C3%A9aux
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicolas_Boileau-Despr%C3%A9aux

Thanks,

  Andy
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OFF-Topic: Perfect Proverb for Tech Writers

[Andy Kass]

On Wed, 20 Apr 2011 11:01:46 -0700, "Flato, Gillian"  wrote:
>
> "Tell me, and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and 
> I'll understand."
> Native American Proverb

Mmmm, proverbs and quotes, I love them. Though I have to say, my version of the 
tech writer's proverb is:

"Ce que l'on con?oit bien s'?nonce clairement,
 Et les mots pour le dire arrivent ais?ment."

"That which is well conceived is clearly said,
 And the words to say it flow with ease."

--Nicolas Boileau-Despr?aux (1636-1711)
  L'Art Po?tique (The Art of Poetry, 1674), Canto I, l. 153

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Boileau-Despr%C3%A9aux
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicolas_Boileau-Despr%C3%A9aux

Thanks,

  Andy

Re: OFF-TOPIC: PC BIOS Screen Capture Software

[Andy Kass]

Sounds like Bill had the only workable answer so far (in yesterday's digest), 
taking the video out of the machine into another one.

I wondered if you had any sort of BIOS emulator, or even just BIOS mockup, for 
your specific BIOS. Of course, BIOS emulators are used for hacking, so 
searching for one and trusting to run one on your computer is far from simple. 
Maybe contact the BIOS manufacturer (or look in their docs for images you can 
crib).

The only other thought I had was to recreate the BIOS screen, which should just 
be a lot of ASCII characters of different colors, but that might be difficult 
if you have lots of different screens.

  Andy

On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 5:03 PM, Flato, Gillian gfl...@nanometrics.com wrote:

 Does anyone know of software that allows you to capture the screen within
 the BIOS? Currently I use a digital camera and just take pictures of the
 monitor, but of course, those graphics are distorted and look like crap.



Thanks,

  Andy
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OFF-TOPIC: PC BIOS Screen Capture Software

[Andy Kass]

Sounds like Bill had the only workable answer so far (in yesterday's digest), 
taking the video out of the machine into another one.

I wondered if you had any sort of BIOS emulator, or even just BIOS mockup, for 
your specific BIOS. Of course, BIOS emulators are used for hacking, so 
searching for one and trusting to run one on your computer is far from simple. 
Maybe contact the BIOS manufacturer (or look in their docs for images you can 
crib).

The only other thought I had was to recreate the BIOS screen, which should just 
be a lot of ASCII characters of different colors, but that might be difficult 
if you have lots of different screens.

  Andy

On Tue, Apr 19, 2011 at 5:03 PM, Flato, Gillian  
wrote:

> Does anyone know of software that allows you to capture the screen within
> the BIOS? Currently I use a digital camera and just take pictures of the
> monitor, but of course, those graphics are distorted and look like crap.



Thanks,

  Andy

Re: A simple numbering question

[Andy Kass]

Thanks for everyone's input, though it mostly confirms the two problems I 
listed.

I already have 4 levels of headings and Table, Figure, and Code Listing 
numbering in one series, so I don't really want to add 2 more levels everywhere 
(and duplicate the work in the appendix numbering series--but for that I 
should've used $chapnum). It was hard enough to debug, and with this, I'd have 
to add the autonumber series to most of my paragraph tags, not just the 
numbered ones.

And I am reluctant to require some sort of intro paragraph, because I often use 
the heading as an intro (but not always) so that it shows up in the TOC. So 
that will give me sections like this:

   4.3.2.1 Copying a File

   To copy a file:

   1. Select the file ...

In my situation, it seems like numbered list (and step) numbering will always 
be a 2-format deal (Numbered and NumberedFirst).

Regards,

  Andy

- Jay Mahler j...@mahler.com wrote:

 Andy,
 
 To answer your question, yes, you need to reset your list numbering in
 every paragraph type that could come between numbered lists. This
 generally isn't a large set of tags for the document formats I use. I
 often have a Numbered-cont paragraph tag that I use when numbered
 items may end up being more than one paragraph. This paragraph style
 indents and doesn't clear any of the auto-numbers. 
 
 Regarding your example of a figure anchor paragraph, I generally try
 to avoid this technique. I know many Framers use a special anchor
 paragraph to keep figure numbers/captions with the anchored frame, but
 I prefer to put the anchor at the end of the paragraph that first
 references the figure. To keep the figure number with the anchored
 frame, I'll put a text frame inside of the graphic anchored frame at
 the bottom and house the figure caption inside the graphic's anchored
 frame. 
 
 Frankly, all of my clients lately have had predefined templates that
 use the Numbered-1, Numbered, etc., and Anchor paragraph techniques,
 so I haven't practiced what I'm preaching here in several years.
 
 Regarding your second point, the last time I did this, I used a fairly
 complex auto-numbering series. For example, assume that I have a
 document that requires a chapter numbers, Heading 1 numbers, and
 Heading 2 numbers, Numbered list, Lettered (sub) lists, Figure
 numbers, and Table numbers, the auto-number formats would be something
 like this:
 
 Chapter: N:n+ =0 =0 =0 =0 =0 =0
 Heading 1: N:n.n+ =0 =0 =0
 Heading  2: N:n.n.n+ =0 =0
 Body: N:=0 =0
 Numbered: N:n+ =0
 Lettered: N: a+
 Figure: Figure n-n+ 
 Table: Table n- n+
 
 This assumes that figure and table numbers have the chapter-number
 format, and they reset to one for each new chapter. I don't remember
 if I needed the empty   for Figure and Table numbers on paragraph
 tags that didn't reset or use those numbers.
 
 I guess the bottom line is that this auto-numbering style is more
 complex, but you only need to do it once. With the explicit set to one
 numbering, you're always having to select one of two style for each
 type of numbering. You also need to revisit the paragraph style if you
 ever enter a new Numbered-1 above the old one.
 
 Jay
 -Original Message-
 From: Andy Kass [mailto:ak...@jaspersoft.com] 
 Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2011 4:25 PM
 To: framers@lists.frameusers.com; Jay Mahler
 Subject: RE: A simple numbering question
 
 Hi,
 
 At first, I really liked Jay's idea. Those NumberedFirst and
 NumberedAlphaFirst para tags in my own templates have been bothering
 me for quite a while.
 
 But the more I think about it, the less I think it is practical, or
 even possible. I see two problems:
 
 1. With this solution, you need to reset your list numbering in every
 paragraph type that could come between numbered lists, but not in ones
 that are allowed inside a numbered list. And I'm not sure those two
 groups are mutually exclusive. For example, I could have a figure (in
 my figure anchor paragraph) both as a separator (and nothing else)
 between procedures and as a illustration inside a procedure.
 
 2. Any tag that may separate numbered lists (by itself) cannot have
 its own numbering (because paragraphs can have only one autonumber
 series). So I cannot use headings alone between lists, unless I put
 all my autonumbering into a single series, but that would be even more
 confusing.
 
 I am wondering how you solved these problems. From what I see, you
 need to have usage rules such as always put an intro paragraph or
 instruction lead-in before a procedure (so that lists are separated
 and numbering is reset), or you need a more complicated numbering
 format on all your tags. And both of those seem more complex and
 error-prone than the NumberedFirst para tags.
 
 Thanks,
 
   Andy
 
 --
 Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 13:58:56 -0400
 From: Jay Mahler j...@mahler.com
 To: framers@lists.frameusers.com framers@lists.frameusers.com
 Subject: RE: A simple numbering question
 Message-ID

A simple numbering question

[Andy Kass]

Thanks for everyone's input, though it mostly confirms the two problems I 
listed.

I already have 4 levels of headings and Table, Figure, and Code Listing 
numbering in one series, so I don't really want to add 2 more levels everywhere 
(and duplicate the work in the appendix numbering series--but for that I 
should've used $chapnum). It was hard enough to debug, and with this, I'd have 
to add the autonumber series to most of my paragraph tags, not just the 
numbered ones.

And I am reluctant to require some sort of intro paragraph, because I often use 
the heading as an intro (but not always) so that it shows up in the TOC. So 
that will give me sections like this:

   4.3.2.1 Copying a File

   To copy a file:

   1. Select the file ...

In my situation, it seems like numbered list (and step) numbering will always 
be a 2-format deal (Numbered and NumberedFirst).

Regards,

  Andy

- "Jay Mahler"  wrote:

> Andy,
> 
> To answer your question, yes, you need to reset your list numbering in
> every paragraph type that could come between numbered lists. This
> generally isn't a large set of tags for the document formats I use. I
> often have a Numbered-cont paragraph tag that I use when numbered
> items may end up being more than one paragraph. This paragraph style
> indents and doesn't clear any of the auto-numbers. 
> 
> Regarding your example of a figure anchor paragraph, I generally try
> to avoid this technique. I know many Framers use a special anchor
> paragraph to keep figure numbers/captions with the anchored frame, but
> I prefer to put the anchor at the end of the paragraph that first
> references the figure. To keep the figure number with the anchored
> frame, I'll put a text frame inside of the graphic anchored frame at
> the bottom and house the figure caption inside the graphic's anchored
> frame. 
> 
> Frankly, all of my clients lately have had predefined templates that
> use the Numbered-1, Numbered, etc., and Anchor paragraph techniques,
> so I haven't practiced what I'm preaching here in several years.
> 
> Regarding your second point, the last time I did this, I used a fairly
> complex auto-numbering series. For example, assume that I have a
> document that requires a chapter numbers, Heading 1 numbers, and
> Heading 2 numbers, Numbered list, Lettered (sub) lists, Figure
> numbers, and Table numbers, the auto-number formats would be something
> like this:
> 
> Chapter: N:<n+>< =0>< =0>< =0>< =0>< =0>< =0>
> Heading 1: N:.<n+>< =0>< =0>< =0>
> Heading  2: N:..<n+>< =0>< =0>
> Body: N:< >< >< >< =0>< =0>
> Numbered: N: < >< >< ><n+>< =0>
> Lettered: N: < >< >< >< ><a+>
> Figure: Figure -< >< >< >< ><n+> 
> Table: Table -< >< >< >< >< ><n+>
> 
> This assumes that figure and table numbers have the -
> format, and they reset to one for each new chapter. I don't remember
> if I needed the empty < > for Figure and Table numbers on paragraph
> tags that didn't reset or use those numbers.
> 
> I guess the bottom line is that this auto-numbering style is more
> complex, but you only need to do it once. With the explicit set to one
> numbering, you're always having to select one of two style for each
> type of numbering. You also need to revisit the paragraph style if you
> ever enter a new Numbered-1 above the old one.
> 
> Jay
> -Original Message-
> From: Andy Kass [mailto:akass at jaspersoft.com] 
> Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2011 4:25 PM
> To: framers at lists.frameusers.com; Jay Mahler
> Subject: RE: A simple numbering question
> 
> Hi,
> 
> At first, I really liked Jay's idea. Those NumberedFirst and
> NumberedAlphaFirst para tags in my own templates have been bothering
> me for quite a while.
> 
> But the more I think about it, the less I think it is practical, or
> even possible. I see two problems:
> 
> 1. With this solution, you need to reset your list numbering in every
> paragraph type that could come between numbered lists, but not in ones
> that are allowed inside a numbered list. And I'm not sure those two
> groups are mutually exclusive. For example, I could have a figure (in
> my figure anchor paragraph) both as a separator (and nothing else)
> between procedures and as a illustration inside a procedure.
> 
> 2. Any tag that may separate numbered lists (by itself) cannot have
> its own numbering (because paragraphs can have only one autonumber
> series). So I cannot use headings alone between lists, unless I put
> all my autonumbering into a single series, but that would be even more
> confu

RE: A simple numbering question

[Andy Kass]

Hi,

At first, I really liked Jay's idea. Those NumberedFirst and NumberedAlphaFirst 
para tags in my own templates have been bothering me for quite a while.

But the more I think about it, the less I think it is practical, or even 
possible. I see two problems:

1. With this solution, you need to reset your list numbering in every paragraph 
type that could come between numbered lists, but not in ones that are allowed 
inside a numbered list. And I'm not sure those two groups are mutually 
exclusive. For example, I could have a figure (in my figure anchor paragraph) 
both as a separator (and nothing else) between procedures and as a illustration 
inside a procedure.

2. Any tag that may separate numbered lists (by itself) cannot have its own 
numbering (because paragraphs can have only one autonumber series). So I cannot 
use headings alone between lists, unless I put all my autonumbering into a 
single series, but that would be even more confusing.

I am wondering how you solved these problems. From what I see, you need to have 
usage rules such as always put an intro paragraph or instruction lead-in 
before a procedure (so that lists are separated and numbering is reset), or you 
need a more complicated numbering format on all your tags. And both of those 
seem more complex and error-prone than the NumberedFirst para tags.

Thanks,

  Andy

--
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 13:58:56 -0400
From: Jay Mahler j...@mahler.com
To: framers@lists.frameusers.com framers@lists.frameusers.com
Subject: RE: A simple numbering question
Message-ID:
2827841e8340f047862e0808ef03c9d91e75448...@winxbeus16.exchange.xchg
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I agree. Zeroing lists with Body tags and some lists on each chapter or header 
tag is something I highly recommend. My Numbering format for Body tags often 
look something like this: N: =0 =0 =0

Then, I can have simple formats for Numbered, Numbered-A, Numbered-a, etc. 
There is nothing I hate more than a template required by a client that has a 
bunch of Numbered-1, Numbered; Numbered-A-1, Numbered-A, etc. formats. It just 
makes the document harder to maintain.

Jay Mahler
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A simple numbering question

[Andy Kass]

Hi,

At first, I really liked Jay's idea. Those NumberedFirst and NumberedAlphaFirst 
para tags in my own templates have been bothering me for quite a while.

But the more I think about it, the less I think it is practical, or even 
possible. I see two problems:

1. With this solution, you need to reset your list numbering in every paragraph 
type that could come between numbered lists, but not in ones that are allowed 
inside a numbered list. And I'm not sure those two groups are mutually 
exclusive. For example, I could have a figure (in my figure anchor paragraph) 
both as a separator (and nothing else) between procedures and as a illustration 
inside a procedure.

2. Any tag that may separate numbered lists (by itself) cannot have its own 
numbering (because paragraphs can have only one autonumber series). So I cannot 
use headings alone between lists, unless I put all my autonumbering into a 
single series, but that would be even more confusing.

I am wondering how you solved these problems. From what I see, you need to have 
usage rules such as "always put an intro paragraph or instruction lead-in" 
before a procedure (so that lists are separated and numbering is reset), or you 
need a more complicated numbering format on all your tags. And both of those 
seem more complex and error-prone than the NumberedFirst para tags.

Thanks,

  Andy

--
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 2011 13:58:56 -0400
From: Jay Mahler 
To: "framers at lists.frameusers.com" 
Subject: RE: A simple numbering question
Message-ID:
<2827841E8340F047862E0808EF03C9D91E754488E8 at winxbeus16.exchange.xchg>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I agree. Zeroing lists with Body tags and some lists on each chapter or header 
tag is something I highly recommend. My Numbering format for Body tags often 
look something like this: N:< =0>< =0>< =0>

Then, I can have simple formats for Numbered, Numbered-A, Numbered-a, etc. 
There is nothing I hate more than a template required by a client that has a 
bunch of Numbered-1, Numbered; Numbered-A-1, Numbered-A, etc. formats. It just 
makes the document harder to maintain.

Jay Mahler

Re: Inheriting formats when pasting

[Andy Kass]

Hi, 

Thanks for the puretext tool, that is sweet and simple. Fred is right that it 
doesn't do special characters, variables, or xrefs, but those are only 5% of my 
cases. 

A FrameScript would be nice, but then I have to buy FrameScript, and that hurts 
for something that should be in the product. Pasting the character formatting 
before cutting is just too convoluted, but it did give me an idea. I didn't 
think I could use keyboard shortcuts on the Paste Special dialog, but it turns 
out you can. 

Use either Alt-e, s or Orly's Ctrl-Shift-v to get the Paste Special dialog, 
then type t to select Text, and Enter will do the paste special as plain text. 
Still not perfect, but like I said, works in 95% of the cases for me. 

For the times I have special characters, variables, or xrefs in my pasted text, 
I'll still do a plain Ctrl-v to Paste, select the text (Ctrl-Shift-arrow seems 
to be the fastest) and apply Default P Formatting. For that, I can still do F8, 
Enter with Frame8. 

Thanks, 

Andy 

- Fred Ridder docu...@hotmail.com wrote: 


PureText is a useful tool, and I have it installed on my system. But it must be 
pointed out that in addiition to stripping out undesired character formatting, 
PureText also converts cross-references and references to variables into plain 
text, which is *not* what Andy wants to do. 

I still think that a simple FrameScript that auotmatically invokes Defaut Para 
Font immediately after pasting the content would be the best solution. 

But there is also another approach that may be useful, which deals with the 
formatting in advance of making the cut. If you have the insertion point in the 
destination paragraph (or any paragraph that is formatted like it) use 
EditCopy SpecialCharacter Formatting (Alt,e,o,c) to capture the desired 
formatting for the text's new location. Then select the content to be moved and 
press Ctrl+v to apply that formatting. Then press Ctrl+x to cut the formatted 
selection, and Ctrl+v to paste it into the new location just like you normally 
would. If you find that the Alt,e,o,c key sequence is too onerous, it's not 
difficult to edit the command configuration file to add a more convenient 
keyboard shortcut for that command. (See the Customizing_Frame_Products.pdf 
file in the Documents directory of the FrameMaker installation for details.) 

-Fred Ridder 

 Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:57:00 -0500 
 From: srog...@phoenix-geophysics.com 
 To: framers@lists.frameusers.com 
 Subject: Re: Inheriting formats when pasting 
 
 On 26/11/2010 12:54 PM, Andy Kass wrote: 
  Hi everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving, 
  
  Here's a FM 8 (p277) question for you to ponder, it's been bugging me 
  for some time. 
  
  When I cut-and-paste between paragraphs of different fonts (or any 
  other format), Frame remembers the source formatting, and pastes it 
  along with the text. So our strict formats get all mixed up. 
  
  Is there a way to configure smart paste by default? Do FM9 or 10 
  behave differently? 
  
 
 I use this very handy utility http://www.stevemiller.net/puretext/ 
 with the keyboard shortcut of WindowsLogoKey + v to strip formatting 
 from the clipboard and paste as text whenever required. Regular Ctrl + 
 v continues to work as always. 
 
 HTH, 
 
 -- 
 Stuart Rogers 
 Technical Communicator 
 Phoenix Geophysics Limited 
 3781 Victoria Park Avenue, Unit 3 
 Toronto, ON, Canada M1W 3K5 
 +1 (416) 491-7340 x 325 

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Inheriting formats when pasting

[Andy Kass]

Hi, 

Thanks for the puretext tool, that is sweet and simple. Fred is right that it 
doesn't do special characters, variables, or xrefs, but those are only 5% of my 
cases. 

A FrameScript would be nice, but then I have to buy FrameScript, and that hurts 
for something that should be in the product. Pasting the character formatting 
before cutting is just too convoluted, but it did give me an idea. I didn't 
think I could use keyboard shortcuts on the Paste Special dialog, but it turns 
out you can. 

Use either Alt-e, s or Orly's Ctrl-Shift-v to get the Paste Special dialog, 
then type t to select Text, and Enter will do the paste special as plain text. 
Still not perfect, but like I said, works in 95% of the cases for me. 

For the times I have special characters, variables, or xrefs in my pasted text, 
I'll still do a plain Ctrl-v to Paste, select the text (Ctrl-Shift-arrow seems 
to be the fastest) and apply Default P Formatting. For that, I can still do F8, 
Enter with Frame8. 

Thanks, 

Andy 

- "Fred Ridder"  wrote: 


PureText is a useful tool, and I have it installed on my system. But it must be 
pointed out that in addiition to stripping out undesired character formatting, 
PureText also converts cross-references and references to variables into plain 
text, which is *not* what Andy wants to do. 

I still think that a simple FrameScript that auotmatically invokes Defaut Para 
Font immediately after pasting the content would be the best solution. 

But there is also another approach that may be useful, which deals with the 
formatting in advance of making the cut. If you have the insertion point in the 
destination paragraph (or any paragraph that is formatted like it) use 
Edit>Copy Special>Character Formatting (Alt,e,o,c) to capture the desired 
formatting for the text's new location. Then select the content to be moved and 
press Ctrl+v to apply that formatting. Then press Ctrl+x to cut the formatted 
selection, and Ctrl+v to paste it into the new location just like you normally 
would. If you find that the Alt,e,o,c key sequence is too onerous, it's not 
difficult to edit the command configuration file to add a more convenient 
keyboard shortcut for that command. (See the Customizing_Frame_Products.pdf 
file in the Documents directory of the FrameMaker installation for details.) 

-Fred Ridder 

> Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2010 13:57:00 -0500 
> From: srogers at phoenix-geophysics.com 
> To: framers at lists.frameusers.com 
> Subject: Re: Inheriting formats when pasting 
> 
> On 26/11/2010 12:54 PM, Andy Kass wrote: 
> > Hi everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving, 
> > 
> > Here's a FM 8 (p277) question for you to ponder, it's been bugging me 
> > for some time. 
> > 
> > When I cut-and-paste between paragraphs of different fonts (or any 
> > other format), Frame remembers the source formatting, and pastes it 
> > along with the text. So our strict formats get all mixed up. 
>  
> > Is there a way to configure "smart" paste by default? Do FM9 or 10 
> > behave differently? 
> > 
> 
> I use this very handy utility http://www.stevemiller.net/puretext/ 
> with the keyboard shortcut of WindowsLogoKey + v to strip formatting 
> from the clipboard and paste as text whenever required. Regular Ctrl + 
> v continues to work as always. 
> 
> HTH, 
> 
> -- 
> Stuart Rogers 
> Technical Communicator 
> Phoenix Geophysics Limited 
> 3781 Victoria Park Avenue, Unit 3 
> Toronto, ON, Canada M1W 3K5 
> +1 (416) 491-7340 x 325 

Inheriting formats when pasting

[Andy Kass]

Hi everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving,

Here's a FM 8 (p277) question for you to ponder, it's been bugging me for some 
time.

When I cut-and-paste between paragraphs of different fonts (or any other 
format), Frame remembers the source formatting, and pastes it along with the 
text. So our strict formats get all mixed up.

I usually just use Paste Special... to paste as text, so it takes the 
formatting of the target paragraph. It's rather annoying to have to do 3 extra 
clicks to do something as simple as pasting. But even that doesn't work if I'm 
pasting a cross reference or special character like a non-breaking space--they 
get lost when pasting as plain text. For that, I have to do a regular paste, 
then reselect and fix the formatting to Default P Font.

It seems that FrameMaker knows how to do this because if I do a search and 
replace with text that has special characters, they appear correctly anywhere 
they get inserted (though if you replace by pasting, you're back to the same 
problem).

Is there a way to configure smart paste by default? Do FM9 or 10 behave 
differently?

Thanks,

  Andy
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Re: Inheriting formats when pasting

[Andy Kass]

Thanks for the input so far, I had forgotten about that setting in maker.ini. 
Mine
was already set (in Program files, not overridden in my User files):

; notice there's no OLE
ClipboardFormatsPriorities=TEXT, EMF, META, DIB, BMP, MIFW, MIF, RTF, UNICODE 
TEXT

So that appears to work only for external clipboard sources. Maybe there's still
time to fix this in FM10 :-) Please?

Thanks,

  Andy

- Jeff Coatsworth jeff.coatswo...@jonassoftware.com wrote:

 FM10's not out there quite yet - I just tried it in FM9  it's
 behaving the same way you describe. I remember doing a tweak to my
 maker.ini settings to copy  paste just text from outside sources
 (like Word) without picking up the formatting of the source, but I
 don't think it's making any difference with FM to FM copy/pastes. 
 
 -Original Message-
 From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com
 [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Andy Kass
 Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 12:54 PM
 To: framers@lists.frameusers.com
 Subject: Inheriting formats when pasting
 
 Hi everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving,
 
 Here's a FM 8 (p277) question for you to ponder, it's been bugging me
 for some time.
 
 When I cut-and-paste between paragraphs of different fonts (or any
 other format), Frame remembers the source formatting, and pastes it
 along with the text. So our strict formats get all mixed up.
 
 I usually just use Paste Special... to paste as text, so it takes the
 formatting of the target paragraph. It's rather annoying to have to do
 3 extra clicks to do something as simple as pasting. But even that
 doesn't work if I'm pasting a cross reference or special character
 like a non-breaking space--they get lost when pasting as plain text.
 For that, I have to do a regular paste, then reselect and fix the
 formatting to Default P Font.
 
 It seems that FrameMaker knows how to do this because if I do a search
 and replace with text that has special characters, they appear
 correctly anywhere they get inserted (though if you replace by
 pasting, you're back to the same problem).
 
 Is there a way to configure smart paste by default? Do FM9 or 10
 behave differently?
 
 Thanks,
 
   Andy
 ___
 
 
 You are currently subscribed to framers as
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Re: Inheriting formats when pasting

[Andy Kass]

I submitted the following enhancement request to the Adobe URL
that was once posted on this list:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

***Enhancement / FMR*
 Brief title for your desired feature:

Smart Paste

 How would you like the feature to work?

Have several modes for pasting (content copied within FM):

1. As exists now: pasted content retains original formatting.

2. Paste Special: as exists now with same options (text, rich text, etc.)

3. Smart paste: text appears in target paragraph formatting, as if
typed or inserted there. Essentially, apply Default P Font to pasted
content after pasting, and then update any cross-references in the
pasted content.

Allow user to choose default pasting behavior in maker.ini and provide
all three in menus/commands.

 Why is this feature important to you?

Something as simple as pasting should require only a single click or key
press. This would save lots of time, while still retaining the ability
to perform all modes of pasting, as required.

***

I know some engineers who like to sneek in late features (don't we all),
so here's hoping. Plus Christmas is coming and I've been a good writer
this year.

Thanks for all your replies,

  Andy
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Inheriting formats when pasting

[Andy Kass]

Hi everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving,

Here's a FM 8 (p277) question for you to ponder, it's been bugging me for some 
time.

When I cut-and-paste between paragraphs of different fonts (or any other 
format), Frame remembers the source formatting, and pastes it along with the 
text. So our strict formats get all mixed up.

I usually just use Paste Special... to paste as text, so it takes the 
formatting of the target paragraph. It's rather annoying to have to do 3 extra 
clicks to do something as simple as pasting. But even that doesn't work if I'm 
pasting a cross reference or special character like a non-breaking space--they 
get lost when pasting as plain text. For that, I have to do a regular paste, 
then reselect and fix the formatting to Default P Font.

It seems that FrameMaker knows how to do this because if I do a search and 
replace with text that has special characters, they appear correctly anywhere 
they get inserted (though if you replace by pasting, you're back to the same 
problem).

Is there a way to configure "smart" paste by default? Do FM9 or 10 behave 
differently?

Thanks,

  Andy

Inheriting formats when pasting

[Andy Kass]

Thanks for the input so far, I had forgotten about that setting in maker.ini. 
Mine
was already set (in Program files, not overridden in my User files):

; notice there's no OLE
ClipboardFormatsPriorities=TEXT, EMF, META, DIB, BMP, MIFW, MIF, RTF, UNICODE 
TEXT

So that appears to work only for external clipboard sources. Maybe there's still
time to fix this in FM10 :-) Please?

Thanks,

  Andy

- "Jeff Coatsworth"  wrote:

> FM10's not out there quite yet - I just tried it in FM9 & it's
> behaving the same way you describe. I remember doing a tweak to my
> maker.ini settings to copy & paste just text from outside sources
> (like Word) without picking up the formatting of the source, but I
> don't think it's making any difference with FM to FM copy/pastes. 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com
> [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Andy Kass
> Sent: Friday, November 26, 2010 12:54 PM
> To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
> Subject: Inheriting formats when pasting
> 
> Hi everyone, and Happy Thanksgiving,
> 
> Here's a FM 8 (p277) question for you to ponder, it's been bugging me
> for some time.
> 
> When I cut-and-paste between paragraphs of different fonts (or any
> other format), Frame remembers the source formatting, and pastes it
> along with the text. So our strict formats get all mixed up.
> 
> I usually just use Paste Special... to paste as text, so it takes the
> formatting of the target paragraph. It's rather annoying to have to do
> 3 extra clicks to do something as simple as pasting. But even that
> doesn't work if I'm pasting a cross reference or special character
> like a non-breaking space--they get lost when pasting as plain text.
> For that, I have to do a regular paste, then reselect and fix the
> formatting to Default P Font.
> 
> It seems that FrameMaker knows how to do this because if I do a search
> and replace with text that has special characters, they appear
> correctly anywhere they get inserted (though if you replace by
> pasting, you're back to the same problem).
> 
> Is there a way to configure "smart" paste by default? Do FM9 or 10
> behave differently?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
>   Andy
> ___
> 
> 
> You are currently subscribed to framers as
> jeff.coatsworth at jonassoftware.com.
> 
> Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com.
> 
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
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> 
> Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit
> http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.

Inheriting formats when pasting

[Andy Kass]

I submitted the following enhancement request to the Adobe URL
that was once posted on this list:

https://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

***Enhancement / FMR*
 Brief title for your desired feature:

Smart Paste

 How would you like the feature to work?

Have several modes for pasting (content copied within FM):

1. As exists now: pasted content retains original formatting.

2. Paste Special: as exists now with same options (text, rich text, etc.)

3. Smart paste: text appears in target paragraph formatting, as if
typed or inserted there. Essentially, apply "Default P Font" to pasted
content after pasting, and then update any cross-references in the
pasted content.

Allow user to choose default pasting behavior in maker.ini and provide
all three in menus/commands.

 Why is this feature important to you?

Something as simple as pasting should require only a single click or key
press. This would save lots of time, while still retaining the ability
to perform all modes of pasting, as required.

***

I know some engineers who like to sneek in late features (don't we all),
so here's hoping. Plus Christmas is coming and I've been a good writer
this year.

Thanks for all your replies,

  Andy

RE: FrameMaker and Version Control Software

[Andy Kass]

Hi,

I'm on digest, so a bit late to this discussion.

I wanted to clarify that version control and backups serve 2 different 
purposes. And although version control inherently does backup, it does it 
inefficiently (uses more space) in the case of unstructured FM's binary files. 
For binary files, version control stores the whole file every time. So if you 
change a comma, update your book, and commit your change, every file in the 
entire book will be archived to the repository (about 5 MB in our case).

For structured FM, whose text files are like code, version control is actually 
a very useful tool for backup because it provides all the benefits of version 
control (no locking necessary, concurrent changes, merging, rollback), and can 
be used as an efficient backup if you commit the files every day (or more 
often). IMHO, this functionality and simplicity is a huge benefit of structured 
FM (and SGML-based writing tools in general).

We use unstructured FM 8 with SVN for version control, and here's our process:

We only do checkins (commits) at major milestones (writer handoffs or releases) 
to reduce the impact of binary FM files on SVN. Then we check out from SVN to 
our PC drives (not backed up) and copy the files back and forth to a working 
directory on a backed up network drive. This keeps the very large SVN 
repository from taking up too much space on the networked drive and it keeps FM 
(and myself) from polluting my SVN directory with lock files, backup files, and 
other temporary working files.

Because I don't work directly on my repository files, I only need a few SVN 
commands that I can do from the command line--so I don't use tortoise (but 
others in my team do).

For locking, the SVN mechanism isn't very easy to use, so we just have a wiki 
pages that we update to indicate a lock--and we only lock entire books at a 
time. However, if I'm only fixing a bug or modifying one chapter, I'll only 
commit the one file. This leaves the checked in book in an unpublishable state, 
but we have to do a full production before the next release anyway.


Regards,

  Andy
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FrameMaker and Version Control Software

[Andy Kass]

Hi,

I'm on digest, so a bit late to this discussion.

I wanted to clarify that version control and backups serve 2 different 
purposes. And although version control inherently does backup, it does it 
inefficiently (uses more space) in the case of unstructured FM's binary files. 
For binary files, version control stores the whole file every time. So if you 
change a comma, update your book, and commit your change, every file in the 
entire book will be archived to the repository (about 5 MB in our case).

For structured FM, whose text files are like code, version control is actually 
a very useful tool for backup because it provides all the benefits of version 
control (no locking necessary, concurrent changes, merging, rollback), and can 
be used as an efficient backup if you commit the files every day (or more 
often). IMHO, this functionality and simplicity is a huge benefit of structured 
FM (and SGML-based writing tools in general).

We use unstructured FM 8 with SVN for version control, and here's our process:

We only do checkins (commits) at major milestones (writer handoffs or releases) 
to reduce the impact of binary FM files on SVN. Then we check out from SVN to 
our PC drives (not backed up) and copy the files back and forth to a working 
directory on a backed up network drive. This keeps the very large SVN 
repository from taking up too much space on the networked drive and it keeps FM 
(and myself) from polluting my SVN directory with lock files, backup files, and 
other temporary working files.

Because I don't work directly on my repository files, I only need a few SVN 
commands that I can do from the command line--so I don't use tortoise (but 
others in my team do).

For locking, the SVN mechanism isn't very easy to use, so we just have a wiki 
pages that we update to indicate a lock--and we only lock entire books at a 
time. However, if I'm only fixing a bug or modifying one chapter, I'll only 
commit the one file. This leaves the checked in book in an unpublishable state, 
but we have to do a full production before the next release anyway.


Regards,

  Andy

Re: Spell checking with em dashes in text ...

[Andy Kass]

Hi,

I have FM 8p277 and spell checking seems to ignore the em-dashes, but upon 
testing, it's weirder than that. It spell checks the whole word before the 
em-dash, and ignores anything after it. So I see the following (and here I use 
the conventional two dashes for an em-dash in plain text):

mitake--mistake = both words and the em-dash are highlighted by the 
spell-checker

mistake--mitake = not caught by the spell checker

In my options, the only characters I have set to ignore in words are . = and  
(for code samples).

Fortunately, we don't use em-dashes in our documentation (from my experience, 
they're not generally used in technical writing), so it's not an issue for me, 
but it still looks like a bug. I agree with you (and the CMS :-) that there 
should be no spaces--that's how I've always seen it in print.

The space-EN-dash-space has a different usage: it's an alternative to a period 
for separating lead-ins from whatever follows. For example:

bullet Lead-in - Description.
bullet Lead-in - Description.

And I do like the fact that Word automatically converts space-dash-space to 
space-EN-dash-space. It also converts dash-dash to EM-dash automatically when 
it occurs between two words without any spaces. Those are very nice shortcuts 
I'd love to see in FM.

Thanks,

  Andy
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Spell checking with em dashes in text ...

[Andy Kass]

Hi,

I have FM 8p277 and spell checking seems to ignore the em-dashes, but upon 
testing, it's weirder than that. It spell checks the whole word before the 
em-dash, and ignores anything after it. So I see the following (and here I use 
the conventional two dashes for an em-dash in plain text):

mitake--mistake => both words and the em-dash are highlighted by the 
spell-checker

mistake--mitake => not caught by the spell checker

In my options, the only characters I have set to ignore in words are . = and " 
(for code samples).

Fortunately, we don't use em-dashes in our documentation (from my experience, 
they're not generally used in technical writing), so it's not an issue for me, 
but it still looks like a bug. I agree with you (and the CMS :-) that there 
should be no spaces--that's how I've always seen it in print.

The space-EN-dash-space has a different usage: it's an alternative to a period 
for separating lead-ins from whatever follows. For example:

 Lead-in - Description.
 Lead-in - Description.

And I do like the fact that Word automatically converts space-dash-space to 
space-EN-dash-space. It also converts dash-dash to EM-dash automatically when 
it occurs between two words without any spaces. Those are very nice shortcuts 
I'd love to see in FM.

Thanks,

  Andy

Question about flow and background text frames

[Andy Kass]

Hi everyone,

I have unstructured FM 8, fully patched, on Vista.

I'm working on templates and having an issue with background text frames. What 
I'd like is for the Glossary and Index template files to have permanent 
headings, that is cannot be edited on the body pages.

After reading the help, it sounds like I need to put the heading in a 
background text frame on a First master page. But to make a background text 
frame, it must be untagged and unconnected, which means the heading it contains 
no longer shows up in my Table of Contents.

Does anyone know a workaround or another way to achieve this?

Thanks,

  Andy
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Re: Question about flow and background text frames

[Andy Kass]

Thanks, Richard, for confirming that that's just how FM works.

I still don't see the technical limitation. Master pages are applied
to the body pages, which in my mind implies being copied into the
relevant body page. So it would be possible to compute the page that
the text frame appears on and link to it in the TOC. If a text frame
is used repeatedly, it should just get several TOC entries (indexing
would work similarly).

To me, it just seems that disconnecting a text frame is overloaded
with the meaning of making it background as well. I'm thinking it
should work just like a text inset, just stored on the Master pages
instead of in a separate file (because it will never be shared with
another file). But I'm new to working with Body/Master/Reference
pages, so maybe I am misunderstanding them.

  Andy

- Richard Combs richard.co...@polycom.com wrote:
 The primary purpose of background text frames is to hold text that
 repeats on multiple pages -- yes, you may have a First master page
 that occurs only once per file, but it's the exception that proves the
 rule. :-) 
 
 The functionality you'd like really can't be made to exist without
 significant change in how FM works. 
 
 A TOC consists of hypertext links (go to markers) to specific points
 in the flow (destination markers). If the destination marker were on
 the master page, how would the link work? FM would have to somehow
 replicate that destination marker on each body page (floating on the
 page somewhere, since there's no text location for it) where the
 background text appeared. 
 
 If there were more than one such body page, which one would the link
 in the TOC point to? FM would then have to make each replicated marker
 unique so that each link pointed to a unique destination. 
 
 The workaround is to put the heading in the main flow at the top of
 the first body page. And then don't edit it. It's only going to change
 if someone consciously edits the text. Is it really that hard for you
 and/or your co-workers to refrain from doing that? :-) 

 Andy Kass wrote:
  
  I'm working on templates and having an issue with background text
  frames. What I'd like is for the Glossary and Index template files
  to have permanent headings, that is cannot be edited on the body
  pages.
  
  After reading the help, it sounds like I need to put the heading in
  a background text frame on a First master page. But to make a
  background text frame, it must be untagged and unconnected, which
  means the heading it contains no longer shows up in my Table of
  Contents.
  
  Does anyone know a workaround or another way to achieve this?
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Re: Question about flow and background text frames

[Andy Kass]

That is a nice workaround, unfortunately, my paragraph tag is named Heading 
GlossaryIndex and I use it in both files. I might try it out though. One extra 
step you didn't mention: tweaking the Running H/F variable to use $paranum as 
well.

For maintenance reasons, I want my template files to differ in the least number 
of ways, and unfortunately, that's seems to be an unobtainable ideal.

Thanks,

  Andy

- Matt Sullivan m...@grafixtraining.com wrote:

 To add to Richard's excellent summary of why you can't do what you
 want the way you want...
 
 I recommend the following to students and template dev clients to
 ensure ease of use and consistency in headings like TOC and IX:
 
 Set the autonumbering of your TOC_Title paragraph tag to display the
 phrase Table of Contents. Do the same for any other generated TOC
 or IX. 
 
 You'll still have to add it manually, but it'll be consistent, and
 will show in your TOC (as long as you define the TOC so that you
 display the $paranum instead of the $paratext building block.
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Question about flow and background text frames

[Andy Kass]

Hi everyone,

I have unstructured FM 8, fully patched, on Vista.

I'm working on templates and having an issue with background text frames. What 
I'd like is for the Glossary and Index template files to have permanent 
headings, that is cannot be edited on the body pages.

After reading the help, it sounds like I need to put the heading in a 
background text frame on a First master page. But to make a background text 
frame, it must be untagged and unconnected, which means the heading it contains 
no longer shows up in my Table of Contents.

Does anyone know a workaround or another way to achieve this?

Thanks,

  Andy

Question about flow and background text frames

[Andy Kass]

Thanks, Richard, for confirming that that's just how FM works.

I still don't see the technical limitation. Master pages are applied
to the body pages, which in my mind implies being copied into the
relevant body page. So it would be possible to compute the page that
the text frame appears on and link to it in the TOC. If a text frame
is used repeatedly, it should just get several TOC entries (indexing
would work similarly).

To me, it just seems that disconnecting a text frame is overloaded
with the meaning of making it background as well. I'm thinking it
should work just like a text inset, just stored on the Master pages
instead of in a separate file (because it will never be shared with
another file). But I'm new to working with Body/Master/Reference
pages, so maybe I am misunderstanding them.

  Andy

- "Richard Combs"  wrote:
> The primary purpose of background text frames is to hold text that
> repeats on multiple pages -- yes, you may have a First master page
> that occurs only once per file, but it's the exception that proves the
> rule. :-) 
> 
> The functionality you'd like really can't be made to exist without
> significant change in how FM works. 
> 
> A TOC consists of hypertext links (go to markers) to specific points
> in the flow (destination markers). If the destination marker were on
> the master page, how would the link work? FM would have to somehow
> replicate that destination marker on each body page (floating on the
> page somewhere, since there's no text location for it) where the
> background text appeared. 
> 
> If there were more than one such body page, which one would the link
> in the TOC point to? FM would then have to make each replicated marker
> unique so that each link pointed to a unique destination. 
> 
> The "workaround" is to put the heading in the main flow at the top of
> the first body page. And then don't edit it. It's only going to change
> if someone consciously edits the text. Is it really that hard for you
> and/or your co-workers to refrain from doing that? :-) 
>
> Andy Kass wrote:
>  
> > I'm working on templates and having an issue with background text
> > frames. What I'd like is for the Glossary and Index template files
> > to have permanent headings, that is cannot be edited on the body
> > pages.
> > 
> > After reading the help, it sounds like I need to put the heading in
> > a background text frame on a First master page. But to make a
> > background text frame, it must be untagged and unconnected, which
> > means the heading it contains no longer shows up in my Table of
> > Contents.
> > 
> > Does anyone know a workaround or another way to achieve this?

Question about flow and background text frames

[Andy Kass]

That is a nice workaround, unfortunately, my paragraph tag is named "Heading 
GlossaryIndex" and I use it in both files. I might try it out though. One extra 
step you didn't mention: tweaking the Running H/F variable to use <$paranum> as 
well.

For maintenance reasons, I want my template files to differ in the least number 
of ways, and unfortunately, that's seems to be an unobtainable ideal.

Thanks,

  Andy

- "Matt Sullivan"  wrote:

> To add to Richard's excellent summary of why you can't do what you
> want the way you want...
> 
> I recommend the following to students and template dev clients to
> ensure ease of use and consistency in headings like TOC and IX:
> 
> Set the autonumbering of your TOC_Title paragraph tag to display the
> phrase Table of Contents. Do the same for any other generated TOC
> or IX. 
> 
> You'll still have to add it manually, but it'll be consistent, and
> will show in your TOC (as long as you define the TOC so that you
> display the <$paranum> instead of the <$paratext> building block.

Re: OT: Heading levels in a UG

[Andy Kass]

Very interesting topic, and quite a funny anecdote about ET pigeonholing tech 
writers. We have 4 levels in our templates, including the chapter title, but 
usually avoid going down to 4. So most content is under

1 Chapter Title (actually a Heading 1)
1.2 Heading 2
1.2.3 Heading 3

For our type of doc (user and admin guide for GUI-based application), this 
really covers it. We find that if we have smaller pieces, we put them together 
in a bulleted list with lead-ins (* Lead-in - Text...) or in a table. Both 
easily support 1-3 paragraphs per item and provide a way of grouping similar 
information (button functionality, etc.). One thing we do is flatten some 
levels, when the logical distinction between them is not important. You can 
also refactor the lower levels to a higher level especially if it is more in 
line with use cases. To illustrate both techniques:

1. Administration  VS 1. Administration with the GUI
1.1 User Management   1.1 Creating Users
1.1.1 Creating Users  1.2 Deleting Users
1.1.1.1 Creating Users with the GUI   1.3 Creating Roles
1.1.1.2 Creating Users with the CLI   1.4 Creating Roles
1.1.2 Deleting Users  
1.1.2.1 Deleting Users with the GUI   2. Administration with the CLI
1.1.2.1 Deleting Users with the CLI   2.1 Creating Users
1.2 Role Management   2.2 Deleting Users
1.2.1 Creating Roles  2.3 Creating Roles
1.1.2.1 Creating Roles with the GUI   1.4 Creating Roles
1.1.2.1 Creating Roles with the CLI
1.2.2 Deleting Roles
1.1.2.1 Deleting Roles with the GUI  
1.1.2.1 Deleting Roles with the CLI

We do use heading 4s for really big chunks of subordinate matter. For reference 
docs, sometimes the extra levels are unavoidable due to the complexity and 
levels in the product itself.

  Andy

ak...@jaspersoft.com

Original message:

On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 7:31 AM, Lin Simsljsims...@gmail.com wrote:
 On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 3:25 AM, Evanth,
 Henrikhenrik.eva...@sonyericsson.com wrote:
 Hi All

 I have an off-topic question that may or may not interest you.

 We are having a discussion at the office regarding the maximum levels of 
 heading that a User guide/User manual can/should contain. Do you know of any 
 best practice rules that define how deep a publication should/could be. 
 Personally I think that 6 levels is too deep for a user, but that is just a 
 personal preference that I cannot back up with evidence.

 Heading 1
 ? Heading 2
 ? ? ?Heading 3
 ? ? ? ? Heading 4
 ? ? ? ? ? ?Heading 5
 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Heading 6

 Insights, comments or instructions are highly appreciated.

 I attended an Edward Tufte seminar a number of years ago. He does book
 signings at these, and while he was signing my copies he asked my
 profession. When I said technical writer, his response was No more
 than 3 levels of headings.

 --
 Lin Sims
 ___


Art Campbell says it this way:

I agree, four is as many as you need (and, I believe the most I've
ever seen in a published book) -- if you think you need more, it may
be because of an organizational problem.

I guess Tufte didn't verbally indicate * and G with his comment.
His methods of providing multiple layers of information - sparklines,
common measurement references across graphics that vary in scale, and
various graphic schemes that indicate data and information
relationships - present much of the additional levels of information,
without additional heading levels. IOW, organizational problem
solutions.

Regards,

Peter
__
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices


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OT: Heading levels in a UG

[Andy Kass]

Very interesting topic, and quite a funny anecdote about ET pigeonholing tech 
writers. We have 4 levels in our templates, including the chapter title, but 
usually avoid going down to 4. So most content is under

1 Chapter Title (actually a Heading 1)
1.2 Heading 2
1.2.3 Heading 3

For our type of doc (user and admin guide for GUI-based application), this 
really covers it. We find that if we have smaller pieces, we put them together 
in a bulleted list with lead-ins (* Lead-in - Text...) or in a table. Both 
easily support 1-3 paragraphs per item and provide a way of grouping similar 
information (button functionality, etc.). One thing we do is flatten some 
levels, when the logical distinction between them is not important. You can 
also refactor the lower levels to a higher level especially if it is more in 
line with use cases. To illustrate both techniques:

1. Administration  VS 1. Administration with the GUI
1.1 User Management   1.1 Creating Users
1.1.1 Creating Users  1.2 Deleting Users
1.1.1.1 Creating Users with the GUI   1.3 Creating Roles
1.1.1.2 Creating Users with the CLI   1.4 Creating Roles
1.1.2 Deleting Users  
1.1.2.1 Deleting Users with the GUI   2. Administration with the CLI
1.1.2.1 Deleting Users with the CLI   2.1 Creating Users
1.2 Role Management   2.2 Deleting Users
1.2.1 Creating Roles  2.3 Creating Roles
1.1.2.1 Creating Roles with the GUI   1.4 Creating Roles
1.1.2.1 Creating Roles with the CLI
1.2.2 Deleting Roles
1.1.2.1 Deleting Roles with the GUI  
1.1.2.1 Deleting Roles with the CLI

We do use heading 4s for really big chunks of subordinate matter. For reference 
docs, sometimes the extra levels are unavoidable due to the complexity and 
levels in the product itself.

  Andy

akass at jaspersoft.com

Original message:

On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 7:31 AM, Lin Sims wrote:
> On Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 3:25 AM, Evanth,
> Henrik wrote:
>> Hi All
>>
>> I have an off-topic question that may or may not interest you.
>>
>> We are having a discussion at the office regarding the maximum levels of 
>> heading that a User guide/User manual can/should contain. Do you know of any 
>> best practice rules that define how deep a publication should/could be. 
>> Personally I think that 6 levels is too deep for a user, but that is just a 
>> personal preference that I cannot back up with "evidence".
>>
>> Heading 1
>> ? Heading 2
>> ? ? ?Heading 3
>> ? ? ? ? Heading 4
>> ? ? ? ? ? ?Heading 5
>> ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Heading 6
>>
>> Insights, comments or instructions are highly appreciated.
>
> I attended an Edward Tufte seminar a number of years ago. He does book
> signings at these, and while he was signing my copies he asked my
> profession. When I said "technical writer", his response was "No more
> than 3 levels of headings."
>
> --
> Lin Sims
> ___


Art Campbell says it this way:

"I agree, four is as many as you need (and, I believe the most I've
ever seen in a published book) -- if you think you need more, it may
be because of an organizational problem."

I guess Tufte didn't verbally indicate "*" and "" with his comment.
His methods of providing multiple layers of information - sparklines,
common measurement references across graphics that vary in scale, and
various graphic schemes that indicate data and information
relationships - present much of the additional levels of information,
without additional heading levels. IOW, "organizational problem"
solutions.

Regards,

Peter
__
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

Re: Strange orphan behavior in tables

[Andy Kass]

Hi again,

Fred Ridder wrote:

 Andy Kass wrote (in small part): 
 
 I actually don't mind breaking a small table, since I have
 fairly tall rows. And if it does break like that, having
 orphans is better than having widows. However, not being
 able to use the space created at the bottom of the page
 makes it all useless. Maybe my tables are haunted by the
 ghost of the widow's spouse. 

 Are you saying that you'd like to be able to put text at
 the bottom of the page in between the parts of a table
 that breaks across pages? Or are you saying that you
 wouldn't mind pushing the whole table to the next page
 if you could fill the empty space that is created at the
 bottom of the first page? [...]

Not quite. Say I have a table with 3 rows, each one inch
high, and the orphan row setting is 2. Lets pretend this
table fits on a page, but then I add content above the
table that pushes it down.

As soon as the bottom row of the table doesn't fit, the
last 2 rows of the table jump to the next page. This is
the first quirk, that an orphan setting of 2 allows a
single orphan row orphan (feature or bug, you decide).

I should now be able to insert more content *above* my
table, pushing the orphan row down to my page margin.
However, as soon as the orphan row gets pushed to within
an inch of the page margin, the whole table jumps to the
next page. If row 2 of my table is 2 inches high, the
table jumps when the orphan row is within 2 inches of
the page margin. The only explanation I could find was
that this is a bug (or a ghost row).

Note that this does not happen if you have 2 or more times
as many rows as your orphan row setting. In that case, the
setting works exactly as documented, and you don't have the
problem with unusable whitespace mentioned above.

Thanks,

  Andy
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Strange orphan behavior in tables

[Andy Kass]

Hi again,

Fred Ridder wrote:
>
>> Andy Kass wrote (in small part): 
>> 
>> I actually don't mind breaking a small table, since I have
>> fairly tall rows. And if it does break like that, having
>> orphans is better than having widows. However, not being
>> able to use the space created at the bottom of the page
>> makes it all useless. Maybe my tables are haunted by the
>> ghost of the widow's spouse. 
>
> Are you saying that you'd like to be able to put text at
> the bottom of the page in between the parts of a table
> that breaks across pages? Or are you saying that you
> wouldn't mind pushing the whole table to the next page
> if you could fill the empty space that is created at the
> bottom of the first page? [...]

Not quite. Say I have a table with 3 rows, each one inch
high, and the orphan row setting is 2. Lets pretend this
table fits on a page, but then I add content above the
table that pushes it down.

As soon as the bottom row of the table doesn't fit, the
last 2 rows of the table jump to the next page. This is
the first quirk, that an orphan setting of 2 allows a
single orphan row orphan (feature or bug, you decide).

I should now be able to insert more content *above* my
table, pushing the orphan row down to my page margin.
However, as soon as the orphan row gets pushed to within
an inch of the page margin, the whole table jumps to the
next page. If row 2 of my table is 2 inches high, the
table jumps when the orphan row is within 2 inches of
the page margin. The only explanation I could find was
that this is a bug (or a ghost row).

Note that this does not happen if you have 2 or more times
as many rows as your orphan row setting. In that case, the
setting works exactly as documented, and you don't have the
problem with unusable whitespace mentioned above.

Thanks,

  Andy

Re: Strange orphan behavior in tables

[Andy Kass]

Lynne A. Price lpr...@txstruct.com wrote:
 Are you asking why the second row isn't placed on the first page
 or why a 3-row table with an orphan setting of 2 breaks at all?

Either way. Something was inconsistent for me, so thanks for confirming you see 
the behavior as well.

In the para designer, this feature is clearly labeled widow/orphan control, but 
the table designer controls refer only to orphans, so I thought that maybe 
tables handle only orphan rows, despite the documentation. But the behavior 
we're seeing is clearly setting the *widow* rows for small tables (assuming 
this definition of widows and orphans is correct: 
http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/2005-December/000401.html).

Note that for tables with more than 2 x OrphanRows, the orphan row setting 
behaves as an orhpan and widow setting.

 If you want FM to use available space at the bottom of a page
 for the 2nd row, change the orphan setting to 1.

But my templates have the orphan setting of 2, and I would prefer not deal with 
table format overrides. However, I think I will just do it to get around this 
issue.

 I have confirmed the behavior you report, that FM (I tested 7.2, 8,
 and 9), will break a 3-row table after the first row even with an
 orphan setting of 2. Since, quoting from the FM 9 UG, The orphan
 row property determines the minimum number of body rows that must
 be kept together on a page or in a column., this behavior is indeed
 a bug, in either the documentation or the software. What FM seems
 to actually be doing could be described as The orphan row property
 determines the minimum number of body rows that must be kept
 together after a page break or column break.

I actually don't mind breaking a small table, since I have fairly tall rows. 
And if it does break like that, having orphans is better than having widows. 
However, not being able to use the space created at the bottom of the page 
makes it all useless. Maybe my tables are haunted by the ghost of the widow's 
spouse.

Thanks,

  Andy

At 04:06 PM 6/26/2009, Andy Kass wrote:
Hi everyone,

I'm working in unstructured FrameMaker 8 (p277) on Windows XP, and I'm 
noticing that tables have spacing issues at the bottom of a page when they 
have less than twice the number of orphan rows.

For example, if I have a table with 3 rows (regardless of heading rows) 
that has an orphan setting of 2, the last 2 rows will move to the next 
page when there isn't space for the whole table. However, if the table 
moves down the page, or if that first row expands vertically, it jumps to 
the next page before it fills the whitespace below it.

In fact, after some testing, it appear that the whitespace below the first 
row can never be less than the height of the second row of the table. You 
can actually expand the second row of the table, the one after the page 
break, and cause the first row to jump after the break.

I don't have any keep with or start on settings on any of the rows, so 
I can't figure out what is causing this behavior. Has anyone else see 
this, is it a known bug? Is there a workaround?

Thanks,

   Andy

ak...@jaspersoft.com
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Strange orphan behavior in tables

[Andy Kass]

"Lynne A. Price"  wrote:
> Are you asking why the second row isn't placed on the first page
> or why a 3-row table with an orphan setting of 2 breaks at all?

Either way. Something was inconsistent for me, so thanks for confirming you see 
the behavior as well.

In the para designer, this feature is clearly labeled widow/orphan control, but 
the table designer controls refer only to orphans, so I thought that maybe 
tables handle only orphan rows, despite the documentation. But the behavior 
we're seeing is clearly setting the *widow* rows for small tables (assuming 
this definition of widows and orphans is correct: 
http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/2005-December/000401.html).

Note that for tables with more than 2 x OrphanRows, the orphan row setting 
behaves as an orhpan and widow setting.

> If you want FM to use available space at the bottom of a page
> for the 2nd row, change the orphan setting to 1.

But my templates have the orphan setting of 2, and I would prefer not deal with 
table format overrides. However, I think I will just do it to get around this 
issue.

> I have confirmed the behavior you report, that FM (I tested 7.2, 8,
> and 9), will break a 3-row table after the first row even with an
> orphan setting of 2. Since, quoting from the FM 9 UG, "The orphan
> row property determines the minimum number of body rows that must
> be kept together on a page or in a column.", this behavior is indeed
> a bug", in either the documentation or the software. What FM seems
> to actually be doing could be described as "The orphan row property
> determines the minimum number of body rows that must be kept
> together after a page break or column break."

I actually don't mind breaking a small table, since I have fairly tall rows. 
And if it does break like that, having orphans is better than having widows. 
However, not being able to use the space created at the bottom of the page 
makes it all useless. Maybe my tables are haunted by the ghost of the widow's 
spouse.

Thanks,

  Andy

At 04:06 PM 6/26/2009, Andy Kass wrote:
>Hi everyone,
>
>I'm working in unstructured FrameMaker 8 (p277) on Windows XP, and I'm 
>noticing that tables have spacing issues at the bottom of a page when they 
>have less than twice the number of orphan rows.
>
>For example, if I have a table with 3 rows (regardless of heading rows) 
>that has an orphan setting of 2, the last 2 rows will move to the next 
>page when there isn't space for the whole table. However, if the table 
>moves down the page, or if that first row expands vertically, it jumps to 
>the next page before it fills the whitespace below it.
>
>In fact, after some testing, it appear that the whitespace below the first 
>row can never be less than the height of the second row of the table. You 
>can actually expand the second row of the table, the one after the page 
>break, and cause the first row to jump after the break.
>
>I don't have any "keep with" or "start on" settings on any of the rows, so 
>I can't figure out what is causing this behavior. Has anyone else see 
>this, is it a known bug? Is there a workaround?
>
>Thanks,
>
>   Andy
>
>akass at jaspersoft.com

Strange orphan behavior in tables

[Andy Kass]

Hi everyone,

I'm working in unstructured FrameMaker 8 (p277) on Windows XP, and I'm noticing 
that tables have spacing issues at the bottom of a page when they have less 
than twice the number of orphan rows.

For example, if I have a table with 3 rows (regardless of heading rows) that 
has an orphan setting of 2, the last 2 rows will move to the next page when 
there isn't space for the whole table. However, if the table moves down the 
page, or if that first row expands vertically, it jumps to the next page before 
it fills the whitespace below it.

In fact, after some testing, it appear that the whitespace below the first row 
can never be less than the height of the second row of the table. You can 
actually expand the second row of the table, the one after the page break, and 
cause the first row to jump after the break.

I don't have any keep with or start on settings on any of the rows, so I 
can't figure out what is causing this behavior. Has anyone else see this, is it 
a known bug? Is there a workaround?

Thanks,

  Andy

ak...@jaspersoft.com
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Strange orphan behavior in tables

[Andy Kass]

Hi everyone,

I'm working in unstructured FrameMaker 8 (p277) on Windows XP, and I'm noticing 
that tables have spacing issues at the bottom of a page when they have less 
than twice the number of orphan rows.

For example, if I have a table with 3 rows (regardless of heading rows) that 
has an orphan setting of 2, the last 2 rows will move to the next page when 
there isn't space for the whole table. However, if the table moves down the 
page, or if that first row expands vertically, it jumps to the next page before 
it fills the whitespace below it.

In fact, after some testing, it appear that the whitespace below the first row 
can never be less than the height of the second row of the table. You can 
actually expand the second row of the table, the one after the page break, and 
cause the first row to jump after the break.

I don't have any "keep with" or "start on" settings on any of the rows, so I 
can't figure out what is causing this behavior. Has anyone else see this, is it 
a known bug? Is there a workaround?

Thanks,

  Andy

akass at jaspersoft.com

Font Issues - Unavaiilable Fonts and Font Information Changed - Recap

[Andy Kass]

Another solution to avoid pasting random fonts and formats into Frame is set 
your ClipboardFormatsPriorities in maker.ini (either the user copy or the 
system copy). I believe the following setting will do the the trick:

ClipboardFormatsPriorities=UNICODE TEXT, TEXT, FILE, OLE 2, EMF, META, DIB, 
BMP, MIFW, MIF, RTF

Although I personally removed OLE2 from this list because I never want to have 
to deal with it--there are probably others as well, but I'm not sure about all 
the formats listed.

But I like the idea of PureText, it sounds like it will solve the issue of 
FrameMaker's internal paste buffer retaining paragraph formatting that I don't 
want in the destination paragraph. Like Paste Special  Text, but faster. 
Here's a link to a previous thread on this list:

  http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/2007-March/007038.html

Karen Robbins wrote: Also working on ways to get co-users to use character 
styles (more) correctly.

My solution to the rogue formatting was to customize the menus and toolbars 
(and command shortcut definitions) to remove the ability to do so. Instead, I 
have many ways to access the catalog of character and paragraph tags, ensuring 
that only formats from my templates can be applied. As a side benefit, my 
FrameMaker menus are now decluttered.

Hope that helps,

  Andy

ak...@jaspersoft.com

--
From: Stuart Rogers srog...@phoenix-geophysics.com
Subject: Re: Font Issues - Unavaiilable Fonts and Font Information Changed - 
Recap

 Oran Petersen wrote:
 
  Following the two recent threads on the list concerning fonts, I did
  not see a comprehensive recap of these issues for cause and cure.
 
  CAUSE-Unavailable fonts
 
  1. Most postscript printers come loaded with a set of Postscript
  fonts.
 
  2. If you set a postscript printer as your default, Windows will
  see these fonts and allow you to use them in your documents. Also,
  if you copy/paste text from another document that uses them you can
  also inject them into your documents.


 Good summary, Oran, thank you.
 
 Two further points:
 
 Some printer drivers can be set so that Windows *doesn't* see the
 printer's fonts.  The driver for our Lexmark of a few years ago had a
 checkbox labelled Do not report printer fonts to applications (or
 similar wording), which I always kept checked.  Unfortunately, our
 current printer does not offer the same choice.  No big deal, since I
 use SetPrint anyway, but this info may help others.
 
 I also advocate the use of PureText for pasting content from other
 applications.  After installation, Ctrl+v continues to work normally,
 but Windows+v pastes the clipboard contents with formatting removed.
 It's free:
 http://stevemiller.net/PureText
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Font Issues - Unavaiilable Fonts and Font Information Changed - Recap

[Andy Kass]

Another solution to avoid pasting random fonts and formats into Frame is set 
your ClipboardFormatsPriorities in maker.ini (either the user copy or the 
system copy). I believe the following setting will do the the trick:

ClipboardFormatsPriorities=UNICODE TEXT, TEXT, FILE, OLE 2, EMF, META, DIB, 
BMP, MIFW, MIF, RTF

Although I personally removed OLE2 from this list because I never want to have 
to deal with it--there are probably others as well, but I'm not sure about all 
the formats listed.

But I like the idea of PureText, it sounds like it will solve the issue of 
FrameMaker's internal paste buffer retaining paragraph formatting that I don't 
want in the destination paragraph. Like Paste Special > Text, but faster. 
Here's a link to a previous thread on this list:

  http://lists.frameusers.com/pipermail/framers/2007-March/007038.html

Karen Robbins wrote: "Also working on ways to get co-users to use character 
styles (more) correctly."

My solution to the "rogue formatting" was to customize the menus and toolbars 
(and command shortcut definitions) to remove the ability to do so. Instead, I 
have many ways to access the catalog of character and paragraph tags, ensuring 
that only formats from my templates can be applied. As a side benefit, my 
FrameMaker menus are now decluttered.

Hope that helps,

  Andy

akass at jaspersoft.com

--
From: Stuart Rogers 
Subject: Re: Font Issues - Unavaiilable Fonts and Font Information Changed - 
Recap

> Oran Petersen wrote:
> >
> > Following the two recent threads on the list concerning fonts, I did
> > not see a comprehensive recap of these issues for cause and cure.
> >
> > CAUSE-Unavailable fonts
> >
> > 1. Most postscript printers come loaded with a set of Postscript
> > fonts.
> >
> > 2. If you set a postscript printer as your default, Windows will
> > "see" these fonts and allow you to use them in your documents. Also,
> > if you copy/paste text from another document that uses them you can
> > also inject them into your documents.
>
>
> Good summary, Oran, thank you.
> 
> Two further points:
> 
> Some printer drivers can be set so that Windows *doesn't* see the
> printer's fonts.  The driver for our Lexmark of a few years ago had a
> checkbox labelled "Do not report printer fonts to applications" (or
> similar wording), which I always kept checked.  Unfortunately, our
> current printer does not offer the same choice.  No big deal, since I
> use SetPrint anyway, but this info may help others.
> 
> I also advocate the use of PureText for pasting content from other
> applications.  After installation, Ctrl+v continues to work normally,
> but Windows+v pastes the clipboard contents with formatting removed.
> It's free:
> http://stevemiller.net/PureText

RE: Procedure How to Write a Manual!

[Andy Kass]

I've enjoyed reading all the input on this thread, and I had a few more 
thoughts.

Unfortunately, the way Reid writes it below, it looks like anyone can have the 
writer role. I would've written:

4. Technical Writer who knows enough to understand the SME, learns about the 
audience and its lingo, distills all the essentials out of these to make an 
easy to absorb document, and knows the tools and formats well enough to do it 
all quickly.

In any job, I think people need their core skills but also an understanding and 
certain competency in the skills of those around them. To that extent, I'm sure 
engineers can and do write decent docs sometimes, but they're probably more 
efficient at their engineering tasks.

I'm pretty sure we all know this, but it is exactly this that is important to 
communicate in the case of this pointy-haired boss. Nor does the boss seem to 
understand how a good writer can save money and improve customer satisfaction. 
To be a good writer, you also have to understand where management is coming 
from...

BTW, I actually don't think it's productive for writers to use big words for 
the sake of using big words. Writers must use whatever words speak to their 
audience.

  Andy

ak...@jaspersoft.com

 Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 14:51:39 -0400
 From: Reid Gray rg...@interactivesupercomputing.com
 Subject: RE: Procedure How to Write a Manual!
 
 I think the list agrees that not just anybody can write a
 good manual.  And No, writers cannot be just anybody.
 They must be committed, they need to love language, and
 as Annie Dillard says ...you really need to like words...
 words such as 'transmogrify'  
 
 Or, if you will extend the metaphor to IT, endianess.
 
 The best writing happens as a collective effort with the
 writer at the center. So, for example, take manuals. To
 write a good manual, one needs:
 1. Subject matter experts for authoritative content
 2. Enthusiastic reviewers who know the audience and have
  exposure to the subject matter
 3. Editors who know the language
 4. The technical writer
 
 Trying as a single individual to serve in roles 1 through
 4 is possible, but the more 'eyes' you have scanning the
 pages the better the expected outcome.  This is especially
 true if you are writing complete books, manuals, and
 periodicals, from scratch.
 
 There is also an equally beneficial flip side to this postulate.
 If you find either transmogrify or endianess to be ugly,
 and if you think anybody in particular can plant a garden,
 repair an automobile, or write a technical manual, you might
 be management material.
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Motivating end users to read the manual

[Andy Kass]

Hi all,

I thought this was an interesting topic, and I wanted to jump in as well.

I see three possible issues, listed from easiest to hardest to solve:

1.  Despite your efforts, the doc doesn't meet the needs of the field engineers.

As others have pointed out, your text can be verbose. Are these files and 
emails to the point, with clear instructions in their simplest form? I'm 
talking about bulleted or numbered lists with short one or two line items. Or 
maybe it's a timing issue: they don't have the info once they make it to the 
customer site. Is the file easy to find in the installed updates? Can you give 
them the information in a popup somehow (either when they obtain the update or 
when they install it)? Could you put it on a website (internal or external, 
depending on the need) that everyone learns to use as the central source of 
info? Ask the engineers in question what would help them.

2. There is a lack of cooperation, not due to the docs themselves.

Different groups competing internally for the attention of others is a 
universal problem. I've see notices posted above the microwave/coffee machine 
in the break room. I've seen teams offer food at meetings, and $10 or $20 gift 
cards to people who contribute to a cross-team project. It's sad that this sort 
of incentive is necessary, but that's what some people respond to.

3. There is a mismatch in the corporate culture.

You seem victimized by their "barbs" yet you don't say if management is 
involved. If I thought I was providing the information to someone, and they 
pretend not to have it and then blame me for not providing it, I would bring it 
up with my manager. You have to take the emotion out of it and try to resolve 
the issue, appealing to the good of the company if necessary. Perhaps with 
managers as facilitators, you can communicate better with the engineers to 
reach a solution though 1 or 2 above.

It seems you're located in India, and I don't know how office politics are 
different from the US, but I know I'd be frustrated with and stand up to 
uncooperative co-workers. I don't know what the job market is like their 
either, but people have changed companies for situations like this as well. You 
just have to be sure it's not something you can fix yourself first, otherwise 
the problem might show up again somewhere else.

Best of luck,

  Andy

akass at jaspersoft.com

- Original Message -
> Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 14:02:29 +0530 (IST)
> From: Garnier Garnier 
> Subject: Re: Motivating end users to read the manual
> 
> Hello to all who responded to my query,
> 
> Thanks for the responses. It is sincerely appreciated. I will sincerely
> explore the suggestions.
> 
> Our documentation (User and Reference Manuals) are made available as
> part of the installation in html (Webworks help) and pdf format. No
> print format. The User/Reference Manuals include ?What?s New in the
> Release? section with the relevant hyper links to User/Reference
> Manuals for details. The ?Requirements? are part of the Installation
> Guide which is made available as an external file as well as part of
> the installation. The readme.txt that accompanies the installer
> lists all the book names and its contents in brief.
> 
> The training materials are made available to the customers at a cost
> (who buy the tool). This includes the labs with screen shots (step
> wise instructions) plus presentations plus videos. The changes made
> in the training material is provided as ?Readme, I?m new.txt?. I
> also send mails to the field engineers about the changes and asking
> them to exercise the new features. But unfortunately they never
> respond. For all the major changes the engineers are given training
> through Webinars, which again most of the time is poorly attended.
> As mentioned earlier, they are familiar with the tool so ignore the
> trainings and the documentation. But there are certain details that
> they need to know before going to the client site for training. At
> that time their only focus is to train and ensure that everything
> is running fine. When they are stuck with the new/modified features
> they aim the barbsJ. It is probably the lack of time and the
> confidence that ?they know everything so do not need to read? is
> causing this issue. Not sure.
> 
> As already mentioned the new comers are anyway made to go through
> the training to get hands on experience of the product before they
> actually get down to coding.
> 
> As someone suggested ?how about bribing and violence?. Fortunately
> or unfortunately its not my cup of tea. I was hired to work so let
> me continue to do so.
> 
> We are a very small company so almost everybody is busy with their
> respective projects. It is not always possible to have training
> sessions. Never thought about inserting offers.
> 
> B/R,
> Garnier

Procedure How to Write a Manual!

[Andy Kass]

I've enjoyed reading all the input on this thread, and I had a few more 
thoughts.

Unfortunately, the way Reid writes it below, it looks like anyone can have the 
writer role. I would've written:

4. Technical Writer who knows enough to understand the SME, learns about the 
audience and its lingo, distills all the essentials out of these to make an 
easy to absorb document, and knows the tools and formats well enough to do it 
all quickly.

In any job, I think people need their core skills but also an understanding and 
certain competency in the skills of those around them. To that extent, I'm sure 
engineers can and do write decent docs sometimes, but they're probably more 
efficient at their engineering tasks.

I'm pretty sure we all know this, but it is exactly this that is important to 
communicate in the case of this pointy-haired boss. Nor does the boss seem to 
understand how a good writer can save money and improve customer satisfaction. 
To be a good writer, you also have to understand where management is coming 
from...

BTW, I actually don't think it's productive for writers to use big words for 
the sake of using big words. Writers must use whatever words speak to their 
audience.

  Andy

akass at jaspersoft.com

> Date: Wed, 20 May 2009 14:51:39 -0400
> From: "Reid Gray" 
> Subject: RE: Procedure How to Write a Manual!
> 
> I think the list agrees that not just anybody can write a
> good manual.  And "No," writers cannot be just "anybody."
> They must be committed, they need to love language, and
> as Annie Dillard says "...you really need to like words...
> words such as 'transmogrify'"  
> 
> Or, if you will extend the metaphor to IT, "endianess."
> 
> The best writing happens as a collective effort with the
> writer at the center. So, for example, take manuals. To
> write a good manual, one needs:
> 1. Subject matter experts for authoritative content
> 2. Enthusiastic reviewers who know the audience and have
>  exposure to the subject matter
> 3. Editors who know the language
> 4. The technical writer
> 
> Trying as a single individual to serve in roles 1 through
> 4 is possible, but the more 'eyes' you have scanning the
> pages the better the expected outcome.  This is especially
> true if you are writing complete books, manuals, and
> periodicals, from scratch.
> 
> There is also an equally beneficial flip side to this postulate.
> If you find either "transmogrify" or "endianess" to be ugly,
> and if you think anybody in particular can plant a garden,
> repair an automobile, or write a technical manual, you might
> be management material.

RE: Screen captures and sizing

[Andy Kass]

Hi all,

[from a lurker on daily digest, sorry if this is late]

 Here is the current comment from a client: Generally, I would like
 to keep high quality of screen captures.

 The comment that I have from the client is what I have - nothing
 specific about fuzziness, or anything else.

Tammy, if that is the only comment you have about graphics from the customer, 
when taken literally, it is a compliment. You don't say whether you're new to 
this customer's documentation, so I can't tell if it's a reflection of your 
past work or a veiled request on your future work.

Either way, you have what I would consider a solid process for getting sharp 
screen shots into the docs. As others have pointed out, there are probably some 
things that can happen after that, but it's just a matter of a few settings.

For reference, my screen-shot process is generally similar, but I have a few 
refinements I haven't seen mentioned here. I'm running FM 8 on Vista.

I use the MS Snipping Tool that comes with Vista, and save directly to PNG. I 
always draw and clip a rectangle box and give myself about 10 pixels around the 
actual GUI item I want. From there, I open the image in Gimp, a free photo 
editor that has some handy features for working with PNGs. For example, I 
mostly work at 150 dpi in Frame, so I have that set up as my default save 
option. Once the dpi is in the PNG, FM automatically takes that as the default 
(I learned that on this list a few months ago). I like to zoom to 400% and see 
every pixel in my screenshot, so I can crop it just right. Cropping is easy 
because you can draw the box and then move each border independently to get 
what you want.

In my docs, I generally try to have screenshots at only 3 different DPIs:
- 96 for small icons and such that usually go inline (this makes easy to see
  because they are about the same size as in the GUI when viewed at 100% in PDF)
- 150 for most dialogs and screens, which keeps all text easily readable.
- 200 or 300 if I have to present a full screen layout.

(Although I've been basing that on the 600 dpi of most laser printers; I like 
Ian's suggestion to optimize for PDF viewing in Acrobat.)

90% of my screenshots are at the 150 dpi setting, which I like to think keeps 
the perspective consistent for the reader. However, when editing the capture, I 
take some liberties with the actual screen contents. I always make my window as 
small as possible before the screenshot, but the GUI is still often too large. 
For example, if a dialog box has a lot of white-space somewhere, especially 
vertically, I copy-paste the border to cover up some of the extra space, then 
recrop the box. Or if the screen is too wide, I move some of the fields and 
elements closer together.
The idea is that the reader needs to see something that looks like the product, 
not the exact pixels.

With the image editor, I can also fix bugs in the GUI, even typos in the 
labels, so I don't have to wait for engineering to generate the fix and I dont' 
have to set up the screenshot again. It's a bit of an art, and sometimes a bit 
complicated to move the dialog elements, especially if they're on a gradient 
background, but as long as the end result keeps the general relative dimensions 
of the actual GUI, the reader gets the needed info in a clearer way.

Anyways, thanks to all who contribute regularly here, I've learned a lot 
reading this list.

  Andy

ak...@jaspersoft.com
___


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Screen captures and sizing

[Andy Kass]

Hi all,

[from a lurker on daily digest, sorry if this is late]

> Here is the current comment from a client: Generally, I would like
> to keep high quality of screen captures.

> The comment that I have from the client is what I have - nothing
> specific about fuzziness, or anything else.

Tammy, if that is the only comment you have about graphics from the customer, 
when taken literally, it is a compliment. You don't say whether you're new to 
this customer's documentation, so I can't tell if it's a reflection of your 
past work or a veiled request on your future work.

Either way, you have what I would consider a solid process for getting sharp 
screen shots into the docs. As others have pointed out, there are probably some 
things that can happen after that, but it's just a matter of a few settings.

For reference, my screen-shot process is generally similar, but I have a few 
refinements I haven't seen mentioned here. I'm running FM 8 on Vista.

I use the MS Snipping Tool that comes with Vista, and save directly to PNG. I 
always draw and clip a rectangle box and give myself about 10 pixels around the 
actual GUI item I want. From there, I open the image in Gimp, a free photo 
editor that has some handy features for working with PNGs. For example, I 
mostly work at 150 dpi in Frame, so I have that set up as my default save 
option. Once the dpi is in the PNG, FM automatically takes that as the default 
(I learned that on this list a few months ago). I like to zoom to 400% and see 
every pixel in my screenshot, so I can crop it just right. Cropping is easy 
because you can draw the box and then move each border independently to get 
what you want.

In my docs, I generally try to have screenshots at only 3 different DPIs:
- 96 for small icons and such that usually go inline (this makes easy to see
  because they are about the same size as in the GUI when viewed at 100% in PDF)
- 150 for most dialogs and screens, which keeps all text easily readable.
- 200 or 300 if I have to present a full screen layout.

(Although I've been basing that on the 600 dpi of most laser printers; I like 
Ian's suggestion to optimize for PDF viewing in Acrobat.)

90% of my screenshots are at the 150 dpi setting, which I like to think keeps 
the perspective consistent for the reader. However, when editing the capture, I 
take some liberties with the actual screen contents. I always make my window as 
small as possible before the screenshot, but the GUI is still often too large. 
For example, if a dialog box has a lot of white-space somewhere, especially 
vertically, I copy-paste the border to cover up some of the extra space, then 
recrop the box. Or if the screen is too wide, I move some of the fields and 
elements closer together.
The idea is that the reader needs to see something that looks like the product, 
not the exact pixels.

With the image editor, I can also fix bugs in the GUI, even typos in the 
labels, so I don't have to wait for engineering to generate the fix and I dont' 
have to set up the screenshot again. It's a bit of an art, and sometimes a bit 
complicated to move the dialog elements, especially if they're on a gradient 
background, but as long as the end result keeps the general relative dimensions 
of the actual GUI, the reader gets the needed info in a clearer way.

Anyways, thanks to all who contribute regularly here, I've learned a lot 
reading this list.

  Andy

akass at jaspersoft.com