Re: Topic changes heading levels
I'm in Unstructured Frame and doubt I'll be moving to structured any time soon. I'll contemplate a different template for the quckstarts. It may be the best solution in spite of the still unconventional outline structure. (My 3rd grade language arts teacher wouldn't approve of a level 2 Heading w/ only 1 level 3 child! ;-p ) thanks! Matt Sullivan wrote: Hi Jenny, Interesting predicament... I believe this nesting will be more for print purposes than Help, if I read your post correctly. If you are using structured Frame, the concept of conditionalizing your extra layers of structure will be pretty straightforward. The context formatting in the EDD could adjust on the fly when structure is conditionalized If using structured Frame is not an option, you might explore having a QuickStart template and a Full Manual Template that make the headings appear correct without actually changing the para tags. -Matt Matt Sullivan GRAFIX Training m...@roundpeg.com www.roundpeg.com Office 714 960-6840 Cell text 714 585-2335 SMS message 7145852...@vtext.com skype: mattatroundpeg LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grafixtraining facebook| plaxo Click to tell me the social media sites you belong to -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Judy Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 9:26 AM To: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Topic changes heading levels I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well as CHM Help files. (Windows XP SP3 if it matters.) The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? Judy Bragg Technical Writer Hypack, Inc. j...@hypack,com ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as m...@grafixtraining.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/matt%40grafixtraining.co m Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: Topic changes heading levels
Looking back at this again, I believe I'd go with putting the topic info in a file by itself and then importing it as necessary under the appropriate head. Art Art Campbell art.campb...@gmail.com ... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl. -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 12:25 PM, Judy j...@hypack.com wrote: I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well as CHM Help files. (Windows XP SP3 if it matters.) The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? Judy Bragg Technical Writer Hypack, Inc. j...@hypack,com ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as art.campb...@gmail.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/art.campbell%40gmail.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: Topic changes heading levels
Judy wrote: The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? By all means, put the headings in the container and only the body text in the text inset source. Even in the absence of your heading-level conflict, this is a pretty good idea. Cross-references to pgfs inside a text inset are a pain. Keeping the section headings in the container doc lets you point xrefs to those headings. I prefer to have the section headings in the container doc and only the content under them in the text inset source. Haven't seen a downside. YMMV, of course... Richard Richard G. Combs Senior Technical Writer Polycom, Inc. richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 303-223-5111 -- rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 303-777-0436 -- ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: Topic changes heading levels
Art and Richard both recommended the idea of insetting topic body text between the headings in a container doc. My biggest qualm about using container docs with all of the headings then insetting the body text is the sheer number of insets. I recently tried breaking my doc set into topic-sized fm docs, then building the different outputs with the topic fm's as insets to a chapter container. It worked great w/ 1 chapter, but when I tested it with the first 3 chapters, FM couldn't handle it. (50% CPU usage on a 2 Ghz CPU w/ 2Gb RAM and only FM was open. Plenty of hard drive space too.) I may be able to compromise, in this case, and inset only those whose headings change though. Ted also suggested a tool by Silicon Prairie Software that uses mapping tables to convert 1 para style to another. It sounds like I could keep a book of those topics whose headings need to shift levels and use this tool to set the correct heading level before generating the final output. That sounds easy enough. Does anyone see any gotchas with that approach? Thank you all for your thoughts on this question. I always learn so much from you on this list and I appreciate the time you take to make it what it is. I hope someday, I'll have gained enough experience and wisdom to return the favor. Judy Combs, Richard wrote: Judy wrote: The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? By all means, put the headings in the container and only the body text in the text inset source. Even in the absence of your heading-level conflict, this is a pretty good idea. Cross-references to pgfs inside a text inset are a pain. Keeping the section headings in the container doc lets you point xrefs to those headings. I prefer to have the section headings in the container doc and only the content under them in the text inset source. Haven't seen a downside. YMMV, of course... Richard Richard G. Combs Senior Technical Writer Polycom, Inc. richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 303-223-5111 -- rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 303-777-0436 -- ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: Topic changes heading levels
Judy, so how many insets is that? Tens, or hundreds, or thousands? To me, 50% utilization isn't much and I wouldn't be concerned... but when you start juggling hundreds of files, there's a corresponding hit on the operating system and network traffic; it's larger than just in FM. Within FM, you can also pick up some speed if you toggle automatic updating of the insets to Off, if you can -- probably depends on how often the content of the insets changes. Art Art Campbell art.campb...@gmail.com ... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl. -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 12:31 PM, Judy j...@hypack.com wrote: Art and Richard both recommended the idea of insetting topic body text between the headings in a container doc. My biggest qualm about using container docs with all of the headings then insetting the body text is the sheer number of insets. I recently tried breaking my doc set into topic-sized fm docs, then building the different outputs with the topic fm's as insets to a chapter container. It worked great w/ 1 chapter, but when I tested it with the first 3 chapters, FM couldn't handle it. (50% CPU usage on a 2 Ghz CPU w/ 2Gb RAM and only FM was open. Plenty of hard drive space too.) I may be able to compromise, in this case, and inset only those whose headings change though. Ted also suggested a tool by Silicon Prairie Software that uses mapping tables to convert 1 para style to another. It sounds like I could keep a book of those topics whose headings need to shift levels and use this tool to set the correct heading level before generating the final output. That sounds easy enough. Does anyone see any gotchas with that approach? Thank you all for your thoughts on this question. I always learn so much from you on this list and I appreciate the time you take to make it what it is. I hope someday, I'll have gained enough experience and wisdom to return the favor. Judy Combs, Richard wrote: Judy wrote: The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? By all means, put the headings in the container and only the body text in the text inset source. Even in the absence of your heading-level conflict, this is a pretty good idea. Cross-references to pgfs inside a text inset are a pain. Keeping the section headings in the container doc lets you point xrefs to those headings. I prefer to have the section headings in the container doc and only the content under them in the text inset source. Haven't seen a downside. YMMV, of course... Richard Richard G. Combs Senior Technical Writer Polycom, Inc. richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 303-223-5111 -- rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 303-777-0436 -- ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: Topic changes heading levels
Judy wrote: I recently tried breaking my doc set into topic-sized fm docs, then building the different outputs with the topic fm's as insets to a chapter container. It worked great w/ 1 chapter, but when I tested it with the first 3 chapters, FM couldn't handle it. (50% CPU usage on a 2 Ghz CPU w/ 2Gb RAM and only FM was open. Plenty of hard drive space too.) I may be able to compromise, in this case, and inset only those whose headings change though. I've never used text insets for _all_ the content, only for some percentage (typically, 20-40%) that was being reused. If you want to completely chunk everything, that's probably best done by putting all your content chunks into a database, and assembling the FM docs from that. But regarding lots of text insets -- are you putting each in a separate file? A text inset is just a named flow, and a single FM file can contain any number of text insets (when you want to import one, you point to the file, and then FM presents a dialog in which you can specify which flow of that file you want). Opening one file that contains 20 or 30 text insets presents much less of a burden than opening 20 or 30 files. That said, if you're running Vista, 2 Gb RAM is marginal for this kind of resource-intensive work. More memory would certainly help. Richard Richard G. Combs Senior Technical Writer Polycom, Inc. richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 303-223-5111 -- rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 303-777-0436 -- ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: Topic changes heading levels
If I did every topic separately and added more for chunks smaller than a topic, I'd be around 1000. I'm the lone writer so I don't work on the network. My current work is always local (regular backups made to other locations of course!) so that's not part of the speed problem. All I know is when I built a book with 3 chapter files that had a total of about 300 insets, everything slowed *way* down and FM was all I had running! Richard has suggested that I keep fewer fm files, each with multiple insets in different flows. That would simplify opening/closing files as well as organizing so many files so that I can find them easily. I've also begun putting some of these topics back together because, at least for now, they all appear together in all outputs. There's no real reason to keep them all individually. I think I have to assimilate all of these ideas and give those first 3 chapters another try! Thanks so much! Judy Art Campbell wrote: Judy, so how many insets is that? Tens, or hundreds, or thousands? To me, 50% utilization isn't much and I wouldn't be concerned... but when you start juggling hundreds of files, there's a corresponding hit on the operating system and network traffic; it's larger than just in FM. Within FM, you can also pick up some speed if you toggle automatic updating of the insets to Off, if you can -- probably depends on how often the content of the insets changes. Art Art Campbell art.campb...@gmail.com ... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl. -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 12:31 PM, Judy j...@hypack.com wrote: Art and Richard both recommended the idea of insetting topic body text between the headings in a container doc. My biggest qualm about using container docs with all of the headings then insetting the body text is the sheer number of insets. I recently tried breaking my doc set into topic-sized fm docs, then building the different outputs with the topic fm's as insets to a chapter container. It worked great w/ 1 chapter, but when I tested it with the first 3 chapters, FM couldn't handle it. (50% CPU usage on a 2 Ghz CPU w/ 2Gb RAM and only FM was open. Plenty of hard drive space too.) I may be able to compromise, in this case, and inset only those whose headings change though. Ted also suggested a tool by Silicon Prairie Software that uses mapping tables to convert 1 para style to another. It sounds like I could keep a book of those topics whose headings need to shift levels and use this tool to set the correct heading level before generating the final output. That sounds easy enough. Does anyone see any gotchas with that approach? Thank you all for your thoughts on this question. I always learn so much from you on this list and I appreciate the time you take to make it what it is. I hope someday, I'll have gained enough experience and wisdom to return the favor. Judy Combs, Richard wrote: Judy wrote: The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? By all means, put the headings in the container and only the body text in the text inset source. Even in the absence of your heading-level conflict, this is a pretty good idea. Cross-references to pgfs inside a text inset are a pain. Keeping the section headings in the container doc lets you point xrefs to those headings. I prefer to have the section headings in the container doc and only the content under them in the text inset source. Haven't seen a downside. YMMV, of course... Richard Richard G. Combs Senior Technical Writer Polycom, Inc. richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 303-223-5111 -- rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 303-777-0436 -- ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Topic changes heading levels
I'm in Unstructured Frame and doubt I'll be moving to structured any time soon. I'll contemplate a different template for the quckstarts. It may be the best solution in spite of the still unconventional outline structure. (My 3rd grade language arts teacher wouldn't approve of a level 2 Heading w/ only 1 level 3 child! ;-p ) thanks! Matt Sullivan wrote: > Hi Jenny, > > Interesting predicament... > > I believe this nesting will be more for print purposes than Help, if I read > your post correctly. > > If you are using structured Frame, the concept of conditionalizing your > extra layers of structure will be pretty straightforward. The context > formatting in the EDD could adjust on the fly when structure is > conditionalized > > If using structured Frame is not an option, you might explore having a > QuickStart template and a Full Manual Template that make the headings appear > correct without actually changing the para tags. > > > -Matt > > Matt Sullivan > GRAFIX Training > > matt at roundpeg.com > www.roundpeg.com > Office 714 960-6840 > Cell & text 714 585-2335 > SMS message 7145852335 at vtext.com > > skype: mattatroundpeg > LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grafixtraining > facebook| plaxo > > Click to tell me the social media sites you belong to > > > -Original Message- > From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com > [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Judy > Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 9:26 AM > To: framers at lists.frameusers.com > Subject: Topic changes heading levels > > I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 & RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to > generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well as > CHM Help files. (Windows XP SP3 if it matters.) > > The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 > output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full > manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. > > I've thought about: > - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. > - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered > directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not > sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? > > Judy Bragg > Technical Writer > Hypack, Inc. > judy at hypack,com > > > > ___ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as matt at grafixtraining.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/matt%40grafixtraining.co > m > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > > > >
Topic changes heading levels
Looking back at this again, I believe I'd go with putting the topic info in a file by itself and then importing it as necessary under the appropriate head. Art Art Campbell art.campbell at gmail.com "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Mon, Jun 1, 2009 at 12:25 PM, Judy wrote: > I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 & RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to > generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well > as CHM Help files. ?(Windows XP SP3 if it matters.) > > The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more > than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in > the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. > > I've thought about: > ?- Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. > ?- Building a container doc for each output where the headings are > entered directly but topic content inset by reference. ?This may work, > but I'm not sure it's the best answer. ?Does anyone else have any ideas? > > Judy Bragg > Technical Writer > Hypack, Inc. > judy at hypack,com > > > > ___ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as art.campbell at gmail.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/art.campbell%40gmail.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. >
Topic changes heading levels
Judy wrote: > The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more > than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in > the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. > > I've thought about: > - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. > - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are > entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, > but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? By all means, put the headings in the container and only the body text in the text inset source. Even in the absence of your heading-level conflict, this is a pretty good idea. Cross-references to pgfs inside a text inset are a pain. Keeping the section headings in the container doc lets you point xrefs to those headings. I prefer to have the section headings in the container doc and only the content under them in the text inset source. Haven't seen a downside. YMMV, of course... Richard Richard G. Combs Senior Technical Writer Polycom, Inc. richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 303-223-5111 -- rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 303-777-0436 --
Topic changes heading levels
Art and Richard both recommended the idea of insetting topic body text between the headings in a container doc. My biggest qualm about using container docs with all of the headings then insetting the body text is the sheer number of insets. I recently tried breaking my doc set into topic-sized fm docs, then building the different outputs with the topic fm's as insets to a chapter container. It worked great w/ 1 chapter, but when I tested it with the first 3 chapters, FM couldn't handle it. (50% CPU usage on a 2 Ghz CPU w/ 2Gb RAM and only FM was open. Plenty of hard drive space too.) I may be able to compromise, in this case, and inset only those whose headings change though. Ted also suggested a tool by Silicon Prairie Software that uses mapping tables to convert 1 para style to another. It sounds like I could keep a book of those topics whose headings need to shift levels and use this tool to set the correct heading level before generating the final output. That sounds easy enough. Does anyone see any "gotchas" with that approach? Thank you all for your thoughts on this question. I always learn so much from you on this list and I appreciate the time you take to make it what it is. I hope someday, I'll have gained enough experience and wisdom to return the favor. Judy Combs, Richard wrote: > Judy wrote: > > >> The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more >> than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in >> the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. >> >> I've thought about: >> - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref >> > issues. > >> - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are >> entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, >> but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any >> > ideas? > > By all means, put the headings in the container and only the body text > in the text inset source. Even in the absence of your heading-level > conflict, this is a pretty good idea. Cross-references to pgfs inside a > text inset are a pain. Keeping the section headings in the container doc > lets you point xrefs to those headings. > > I prefer to have the section headings in the container doc and only the > content under them in the text inset source. Haven't seen a downside. > YMMV, of course... > > Richard > > > Richard G. Combs > Senior Technical Writer > Polycom, Inc. > richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom > 303-223-5111 > -- > rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom > 303-777-0436 > -- > > > > > > > >
Topic changes heading levels
Judy, so how many insets is that? Tens, or hundreds, or thousands? To me, 50% utilization isn't much and I wouldn't be concerned... but when you start juggling hundreds of files, there's a corresponding hit on the operating system and network traffic; it's larger than just in FM. Within FM, you can also pick up some speed if you toggle automatic updating of the insets to Off, if you can -- probably depends on how often the content of the insets changes. Art Art Campbell art.campbell at gmail.com "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson No disclaimers apply. DoD 358 On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 12:31 PM, Judy wrote: > Art and Richard both recommended the idea of insetting topic body text > between the headings in a container doc. ?My biggest qualm about using > container docs with all of the headings then insetting the body text is the > sheer number of insets. > I recently tried breaking my doc set into topic-sized fm docs, then building > the different outputs with the topic fm's as insets to a chapter container. > ?It worked great w/ 1 chapter, but when I tested it with the first 3 > chapters, FM couldn't handle it. ?(50% CPU usage ?on a 2 Ghz CPU w/ 2Gb RAM > and only FM was open. Plenty of hard drive space too.) I may be able to > compromise, in this case, and inset only those whose headings change though. > > Ted also suggested a tool by Silicon Prairie Software that uses mapping > tables to convert 1 para style to another. ?It sounds like I could keep a > book of those topics whose headings need to shift levels and use this tool > to set the correct heading level before generating the final output. ?That > sounds easy enough. Does anyone see any "gotchas" with that approach? > > Thank you all for your thoughts on this question. I always learn so much > from you on this list and I appreciate the time you take to make it what it > is. ?I hope someday, I'll have gained enough experience and wisdom to return > the favor. > Judy > > Combs, Richard wrote: >> >> Judy wrote: >>> >>> The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more >>> than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in >>> the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. >>> >>> I've thought about: >>> ?- Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref >>> >> >> issues. >> >>> >>> ?- Building a container doc for each output where the headings are >>> entered directly but topic content inset by reference. ?This may work, >>> but I'm not sure it's the best answer. ?Does anyone else have any >>> >> >> ideas? >> >> By all means, put the headings in the container and only the body text >> in the text inset source. Even in the absence of your heading-level >> conflict, this is a pretty good idea. Cross-references to pgfs inside a >> text inset are a pain. Keeping the section headings in the container doc >> lets you point xrefs to those headings. >> I prefer to have the section headings in the container doc and only the >> content under them in the text inset source. Haven't seen a downside. >> YMMV, of course... >> Richard >> >> >> Richard G. Combs >> Senior Technical Writer >> Polycom, Inc. >> richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom >> 303-223-5111 >> -- >> rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom >> 303-777-0436 >> -- >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > >
Topic changes heading levels
Judy wrote: > I recently tried breaking my doc set into topic-sized fm docs, then > building the different outputs with the topic fm's as insets to a > chapter container. It worked great w/ 1 chapter, but when I tested it > with the first 3 chapters, FM couldn't handle it. (50% CPU usage on a > 2 Ghz CPU w/ 2Gb RAM and only FM was open. Plenty of hard drive space > too.) I may be able to compromise, in this case, and inset only those > whose headings change though. I've never used text insets for _all_ the content, only for some percentage (typically, 20-40%) that was being reused. If you want to completely chunk everything, that's probably best done by putting all your content chunks into a database, and assembling the FM docs from that. But regarding lots of text insets -- are you putting each in a separate file? A text inset is just a named flow, and a single FM file can contain any number of text insets (when you want to import one, you point to the file, and then FM presents a dialog in which you can specify which flow of that file you want). Opening one file that contains 20 or 30 text insets presents much less of a burden than opening 20 or 30 files. That said, if you're running Vista, 2 Gb RAM is marginal for this kind of resource-intensive work. More memory would certainly help. Richard Richard G. Combs Senior Technical Writer Polycom, Inc. richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom 303-223-5111 -- rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom 303-777-0436 --
Topic changes heading levels
If I did every topic separately and added more for chunks smaller than a topic, I'd be around 1000. I'm the lone writer so I don't work on the network. My current work is always local (regular backups made to other locations of course!) so that's not part of the speed problem. All I know is when I built a book with 3 chapter files that had a total of about 300 insets, everything slowed *way* down and FM was all I had running! Richard has suggested that I keep fewer fm files, each with multiple insets in different flows. That would simplify opening/closing files as well as organizing so many files so that I can find them easily. I've also begun putting some of these topics back together because, at least for now, they all appear together in all outputs. There's no real reason to keep them all individually. I think I have to assimilate all of these ideas and give those first 3 chapters another try! Thanks so much! Judy Art Campbell wrote: > Judy, so how many insets is that? Tens, or hundreds, or thousands? > > To me, 50% utilization isn't much and I wouldn't be concerned... but > when you start juggling hundreds of files, there's a corresponding hit > on the operating system and network traffic; it's larger than just in > FM. Within FM, you can also pick up some speed if you toggle automatic > updating of the insets to Off, if you can -- probably depends on how > often the content of the insets changes. > > Art > > Art Campbell >art.campbell at gmail.com > "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 > Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson > No disclaimers apply. >DoD 358 > > > > On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 12:31 PM, Judy wrote: > >> Art and Richard both recommended the idea of insetting topic body text >> between the headings in a container doc. My biggest qualm about using >> container docs with all of the headings then insetting the body text is the >> sheer number of insets. >> I recently tried breaking my doc set into topic-sized fm docs, then building >> the different outputs with the topic fm's as insets to a chapter container. >> It worked great w/ 1 chapter, but when I tested it with the first 3 >> chapters, FM couldn't handle it. (50% CPU usage on a 2 Ghz CPU w/ 2Gb RAM >> and only FM was open. Plenty of hard drive space too.) I may be able to >> compromise, in this case, and inset only those whose headings change though. >> >> Ted also suggested a tool by Silicon Prairie Software that uses mapping >> tables to convert 1 para style to another. It sounds like I could keep a >> book of those topics whose headings need to shift levels and use this tool >> to set the correct heading level before generating the final output. That >> sounds easy enough. Does anyone see any "gotchas" with that approach? >> >> Thank you all for your thoughts on this question. I always learn so much >> from you on this list and I appreciate the time you take to make it what it >> is. I hope someday, I'll have gained enough experience and wisdom to return >> the favor. >> Judy >> >> Combs, Richard wrote: >> >>> Judy wrote: >>> The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref >>> issues. >>> >>> - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any >>> ideas? >>> >>> By all means, put the headings in the container and only the body text >>> in the text inset source. Even in the absence of your heading-level >>> conflict, this is a pretty good idea. Cross-references to pgfs inside a >>> text inset are a pain. Keeping the section headings in the container doc >>> lets you point xrefs to those headings. >>> I prefer to have the section headings in the container doc and only the >>> content under them in the text inset source. Haven't seen a downside. >>> YMMV, of course... >>> Richard >>> >>> >>> Richard G. Combs >>> Senior Technical Writer >>> Polycom, Inc. >>> richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom >>> 303-223-5111 >>> -- >>> rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom >>> 303-777-0436 >>> -- >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >> > > >
Topic changes heading levels
I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well as CHM Help files. (Windows XP SP3 if it matters.) The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? Judy Bragg Technical Writer Hypack, Inc. j...@hypack,com ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: Topic changes heading levels
Hi Jenny, Interesting predicament... I believe this nesting will be more for print purposes than Help, if I read your post correctly. If you are using structured Frame, the concept of conditionalizing your extra layers of structure will be pretty straightforward. The context formatting in the EDD could adjust on the fly when structure is conditionalized If using structured Frame is not an option, you might explore having a QuickStart template and a Full Manual Template that make the headings appear correct without actually changing the para tags. -Matt Matt Sullivan GRAFIX Training m...@roundpeg.com www.roundpeg.com Office 714 960-6840 Cell text 714 585-2335 SMS message 7145852...@vtext.com skype: mattatroundpeg LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grafixtraining facebook| plaxo Click to tell me the social media sites you belong to -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Judy Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 9:26 AM To: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Topic changes heading levels I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well as CHM Help files. (Windows XP SP3 if it matters.) The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? Judy Bragg Technical Writer Hypack, Inc. j...@hypack,com ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as m...@grafixtraining.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/matt%40grafixtraining.co m Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to fram...@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Topic changes heading levels
I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 & RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well as CHM Help files. (Windows XP SP3 if it matters.) The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? Judy Bragg Technical Writer Hypack, Inc. judy at hypack,com
Topic changes heading levels
Hi Jenny, Interesting predicament... I believe this nesting will be more for print purposes than Help, if I read your post correctly. If you are using structured Frame, the concept of conditionalizing your extra layers of structure will be pretty straightforward. The context formatting in the EDD could adjust on the fly when structure is conditionalized If using structured Frame is not an option, you might explore having a QuickStart template and a Full Manual Template that make the headings appear correct without actually changing the para tags. -Matt Matt Sullivan GRAFIX Training matt at roundpeg.com www.roundpeg.com Office 714 960-6840 Cell & text 714 585-2335 SMS message 7145852335 at vtext.com skype: mattatroundpeg LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/grafixtraining facebook| plaxo Click to tell me the social media sites you belong to -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of Judy Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 9:26 AM To: framers at lists.frameusers.com Subject: Topic changes heading levels I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 & RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well as CHM Help files. (Windows XP SP3 if it matters.) The challenge is how to best handle those topics that appear in more than 1 output, but at different heading levels--most commonly an H3 in the full manual becomes an H2 in the quickstarts. I've thought about: - Multiple conditionalized headings, but that would cause xref issues. - Building a container doc for each output where the headings are entered directly but topic content inset by reference. This may work, but I'm not sure it's the best answer. Does anyone else have any ideas? Judy Bragg Technical Writer Hypack, Inc. judy at hypack,com ___ You are currently subscribed to Framers as matt at grafixtraining.com. Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/matt%40grafixtraining.co m Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
