RE: Real value (was implementing single-source) - demonstrated!
Well, the semantic debate continues. What you define as "single source" is
in fact "content management" or to borrow from the latest buzzword
"knowledge management."
Single source means all outputs from one source. There are several limited,
practical real world attempts at this in the market now. (Doc To Help,
Framemaker/Webworks, ForeHelp, RoboHelp, Vignette StoryServer,
Astoria/Canterbury, to name a few.)
===================================================
So, If I use conditional text in a FrameMaker document file is it "content
management when I use Show/Hide to select which Conditional Text is used
to produce different deliverables, or is it single-sourcing?
The distinction is meaningless and the definition shouldn't change simply
because the information is stored in databases rather that
proprietary-format document files.
And if the FrameMaker source document is updated,
is there any sort of guaranteed trigger which notifies the publications
manager that all of the derivatives of the source, plus language
translations, must be regenerated or updated to reflect that change?
That's a configuration management issue, not a content issue.
Configuration management is a fundamental requirement for
effective single-sourcing, and the only assured way of managing
this problem is to put the information into a database, where
revision tracking down to the individual component (e.g., paragraph)
is possible.
The advantage of converting proprietary-format documents to tagged XML
or SGML (both are non-proprietary formats) into a database simply
provides a much more powerful and flexible method of single sourcing,
because metadata, in the form of element names, attribute values,
and Reference Description Frameworks (RDFs) in the tagged XML or SGML
allows a much more powerful and flexible way to retrieve
structure, and formattf the information delivered to the
user. In other words, it permits the user rather than publications group to
decide when, what, and how the information is delivered.
Your narrow definition of single-sourcing reflects an old-technology
view requiring the publications group to make all decisions about
how information is delivered. In the old technology approach, the
only way the information can be kept up-to-date is re-generate
all the deliverable formats (e.g., HTML, PDF, etc.) after each
edit of the source document, else the derivative formats will not be
current. The new-technology approach simply requires that the
edited source document be checked back into the database,
ready for delivery on demand to all users, thus there cannot
be any discrepancy between the source document and the
deliverables, no matter how often the source document is
revised.
We all know that, when we query a conventional corporate
database, we're guaranteed we'll receive the most current
and valid information available, up to, and including a
data entry that was completed seconds before the query was
made. And, the end user, by specifying the desired report
format, gets the information in exactly the form (s)he needs it.
Now, tagged XML or SGML text makes the same
thing possible for entire documents, or any portion thereof.
It's still single-sourcing, but it exploits the enormous advantages
of using databases as the information source, namely that
the database is the sole reliable source of the most current
and accurate information
Your solution as you describe it means putting multiple sources into one
management database and then using the control system to output just what is
needed in whatever form, on demand. That's content (or more commonly
"knowledge") management.
Call it what you want. The important thing is that's what users need and
want. When you add middleware such as XSL to a new technology database
system for single-sourcing, the requested information extracted from the database
can be transformed to the specific structure and formatting required by the
end user. What could be better than that?
====================
| Nullius in Verba |
====================
Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory -at- primenet -dot- com
10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
---Subscribe to the "Free Framers" list by sending a message to
majordomo -at- omsys -dot- com with "subscribe framers" (no quotes) in the body.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY.
http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Sponsored by SOLUTIONS, Conferences and Seminars for Communicators Publications Management Clinic, TECH*COMM 2001 Conference, and more http://www.SolutionsEvents.com or 800-448-4230
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
Previous by Author:
Re: language and communication
Next by Author:
Software Bugs and Complexity
Previous by Thread:
RE: Real value (was implementing single-source) - demonstrated!
Next by Thread:
Newbies
Search our Technical Writing Archives & Magazine
Visit TechWhirl's Other Sites
Sponsored Ads