Re: So this is why...!

[Itowsley -at- aol -dot- com]

I have been reading this debate for the past few days and am wondering why 
there is one.  Sometimes stringent processes are quite appropriate.  
Reference book publishing houses and big-name newspapershave used them since 
before the days of SGML.  

A small tech pubs unit in a large corporation may not have the manpower, 
time, or money to implement "structured documentation".  That's ok.  What 
they need to do is come up with consistency based on their audience and 
platforms.  This may sound heretical to some - but I, for one, think it is 
silly to create a complex DTD for something that may or may not have one page 
updated but once every two to three years!

By the same token, if we are talking about 1000s of books that need constant 
updates they darn well better be in an updateable database format.  (It is 
done constantly in publishing houses.)  Manually going through all of those 
books to make each errata is an invitation to a nervous breakdown. (INMNSHO).

Ok, does the tool make a difference in whether the writer is good or bad? NO, 
of course not!  Does the tool make a difference in how efficiently the writer 
can perform his or her job? OF COURSE!!!!  

An example: I am creating HTML files, my preferred methodology is 
Dreamweaver, the company I'm working with currently does not use Dreamweaver, 
and has not installed RoboHTML (yuck - for code and cross-platform reasons) 
or Visual InterDev, or any HTML editor on my PC yet.  I use Notepad.  In 6 
hours I create 4 files because I am HAND CODING EVERYTHING.  I work on my 
computer which has Dreamweaver and am able to use it's features - still 
creating STRAIGHT HTML CODE - to create 9 files in 6 hours.  

What is the difference?  The 9 files I created with my computer were longer 
and more complicated than the 4 I created in Notepad.  It is the tool.  I can 
do the job, and do it well in Notepad, but it will take a SIGNIFICANTLY 
longer time.  

Dreamweaver uses just the right mix of document control, on-the-fly 
development, and information chunking capabilities that I can write faster 
and get more done.  Notepad doesn't have any of that.

Sorry to all of you who love MS Word but Word is not an appropriate tool for 
complex web development.  Especially, if you want your stuff to work!  I 
think it is a perfectly fine tool for creating small print manuals, single 
chapters of long print manuals, etc. but for long complex documents 
(singular) I would choose FrameMaker.

If I am working on a multiplicity of books with repeating content, I would 
use EITHER SGML or a database solution.  And I would probably lean more 
heavily towards the database solution.  SGML is hard for some writers to 
learn.  If you just give them fields to enter into, a la data entry forms, 
they can concentrate on writing and fixing just that one piece of text.  Then 
I would have my programmers create the print to file jobs, export all of it 
using XML and print to PDF to go off to the printer. Voila.

Do tools make a difference? Yes they do.  Is one solution appropriate for 
every job? OF COURSE NOT!!!! Think of a carpenter who only had a hammer...

Regards,

Melissa L. Owsley

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