RE: Real value (was implementing single-source) - demonstrated!

["Glenn Emerson" <gemerso1 -at- rochester -dot- rr -dot- com>]

Tim Altom wrote:
>>Second, it's possible to embed movies in PDF, in HTML, in XML, in SGML, in
WinHelp, and in other file formats.<<

Duh.

But that's not "Single Source." You're mixing "Single Source," which was the
original point of the argument, with "Content Management."

Tim Altom wrote:
>> Movies aren't needed in print, but print
is rapidly becoming a fallback format, not a primary one.<<

Movies can't be single-sourced. That's my point. Again, you're using
examples of content management to make your case for a single source system.
There are endless ways to manage content. If I write a textual procedure in
SGML, there is no way your system is going to shoot the digital video
footage, generate the vector graphic animations, and create the voice over
to make a movie. That's single source. It doesn't exist. It's a myth.

You're talking content management.

Tim Altom wrote:
>> By keeping
information in SGML/XML, it's entirely feasible to have much more
information than you momentarily need stored in documents or a database,
then extract only what you need at the moment.<<

This makes sense: let's spend lots of money developing content we don't
"momentarily need." Sorry, but you don't understand the business of
technical documentation.

Tim Altom wrote:
>>Properly designed, the document structure does NOT change from product to
product. It has no need to.<<

Yes, it can. Again, you don't understand the business of technical
communication. Let's say you build a DTD for a Mager-based training course.
That has a very specific structure. Now let's say you're faced with a budget
cut that doesn't allow a Mager style course at all, and instead uses Flash
for interactive tutorials. Completely unrelated.

Put your money where your mouth is. Write a DTD that will convert a Mager
training course into a Carroll-style minimalist, layered Help file, complete
with popups that are linked to the UI header file. Then convert that to a
Flash file.

If you are unaware of who Mager or Carroll are, go ask one of those
coworkers you have so much contempt for.

Tim Altom wrote:
>>A good DTD essentially defines a documentation warehouse, which can be
searched for anything you want: marketing descriptions, stepwise
instructions, reference tables, graphics, movies. A transformational
document or script does all the assembly work.<<

Again, you're mixing content management with single source. Your graphics
and movies were not created in your structured DTD. They're just stored in a
database and referenced by it.

Now let's go to the next step. Let's deliver an entirely multimedia
document. Any text is contained within as vector data, in a separate layer
from bitmap graphics. Why would I want to invest in your proprietary system
when commercial solutions such as Allaire Spectra and Macromedia Generator
or Visual Source Safe exist to do exactly what I want.

Bottom line: single source is a myth unless all you are publishing is text
(let's see your single source system read an engineering CAD drawing and
extract just the part needed for a particular bitmap). And one-size-fits-all
content management systems are overkill. Yes, you can build them (we can
build moon rockets and hydrogen bombs too). But I don't save anything having
to pay a staff to maintain them. I could fire the IT staff and use the
savings to hire editors--that's how we used to manage content, and we
ensured quality documentation at the same time.

Regards,
Glenn Emerson


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