Re: WordPerfect to ANYTHING - long

[Joyce Flaherty <flahertj -at- SMTPGW -dot- LIEBERT -dot- COM>]

On 8/8/96 Leonie (leonie -dot- casey -at- ASPECT -dot- COM -dot- AU) wrote:

<snip>
Well, seeiing that the rest of the world has foolishly abandoned
WordPerfect for DOS in favour of these newfangled WYSIWYG things, it
seems like I have to move my manual to something else - otherwise
there just isn't going to be anyone else who can maintain it.
     >> My gut instinct says, leave it alone. *You* can maintain
     it. But, read on.
Word was the first option - but we're talking 35 chapters, of 50 -
100 pages and frankly I can't see Word handling it.  If I have to
spend ages to convert it from WP5.1 - I want to GAIN some
functionality.
     >> I don't understand, 35 chapters, 50-100 pp? Me thinks
     these are very small chapters. If you are talking 50-100
     total pages, Word can handle it.
     >> If you convert to gain functionality, I don't think so.
     WP5.1 is about as powerful as a word processor gets. The
     more you used the master doc, auto-gen TOC and index,
     internal refs, conditional logic, and so forth, the less
     happy you are going to be in your new environment. OTOH,
     if you plan to use some of the newer add-ons, such as,
     SGML, HTML, and the like, you are going to have to convert
     to something, even if it's a newer WP. Read on.

FrameMaker was my next option - based on the discussions I've been
following on the list.  Because I would want it to be  an authoring
tool and because I the cross referencing, indexing tools sound like
they are more suited to a document of the size of mine.  I figure a
desktop publishing application has to be able to cope with any
formatting I could do in WordPerfect.  Is this a rash assumption?
     >> No, this is not a rash assumption. Frame will get the
     job done for you. BUT, Frame doesn't come cheap, the
     conversion is NOT clean, you don't learn it on it week-
     end, and so forth and so on.
     >> For those who are no doubt going to argue that the
     conversion is clean, forget it. Hell, WP to WP isn't
     clean. WP5.1 with an HPIII PS driver to WP5.1 with an
     HPIV PS driver isn't clean.

BUT at the user group meeting yesterday, the user's said that if
we're going to change to something else - they'd rather have it
on-line.

Finally, the  question.

Which option is  going to be less work for me?  Do either Framemaker
or Acrobat understand anything that  WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS can
produce without losing absolutely all my formatting?  Should I be
considering some other package altogether?
     >> Your choice is not Frame or Acrobat. Frame (or Word if
     that is your decision) is the replacement for your word
     processor. Frame, and Word to a lesser extent, provide
     your online doc as well.
     >> Acrobat is online only. It reads your PostScript file
     and writes a PDF. It doesn't need to understand WP, it
     needs only to understand the PostScript that WP generates
     for you. This is your cheap solution. After you purchase
     the package, your expenses are about zero. You can learn
     the package in hours. You have no conversion problems
     whatsoever, because you really aren't converting anything.
     You are using the same info to create the PDF that you
     use to send the file to the printer.

     >> Finally, the answer, sort of:
     If you really have only 100 pp of doc, go ahead and
     convert. Don't compare Word to Frame. Word is a word
     processor. Frame is a powerful authoring tool that can
     work for you as a word processor, DTP, online authoring
     tool, and other things. Don't compare Word/Frame to
     Acrobat. Acrobat is your remote printing tool, or as
     many on the list will argue (myself excluded), your
     first, best choice for online doc.

     hope this helps,
     joyce flaherty
     flahertj -at- liebert -dot- com

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