Re: Simultaneous Author Access to files

["David M. Brown" <dmbrown -at- brown-inc -dot- com>]

John Fleming wrote:
> 
> have you explored Word's Master Document feature?

I'd avoid the "master document" feature at all costs.  I've never heard anyone say anything nice about it.  :)

With a little work, though, you may be able to achieve the same effect and enjoy the benefits Mr. Fleming described...

Start by breaking the book into chapter files, so different people can work on them.  Don't worry about page numbers during the development stage.

When it's time to print, set the starting page number in each chapter file, and create a single "container" file that looks something like this:

  title page
  page break
  copyright page
  page break
  TOC field
  section break
  RD field (chapter 1)
  section break
  RD field (chapter 2)
  section break
  RD field (chapter 3)
  section break
  INDEX field

In the container file, select the entire document and press F9 to update fields.  Then print all the files and collate.

You'll have to reset starting page numbers when the content changes.  But it works better than any other method I've heard about over the last several years.

Note:  Multifile book construction is an area in which FrameMaker clearly surpasses Word.  I've had a few problems with FrameMaker--not picking up the page number from a preceding chapter, for example--but it ususally does book construction very well, and much more easily than in Word.  On the other hand, I typically work on an entire book in a single file, so Word's shortcomings here don't have much impact on most of my projects.

--David

=============================
 David M. Brown - Brown Inc.
    dmbrown -at- brown-inc -dot- com
=============================

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