Re: What is conditional text?

[Alexia Prendergast <alexiap -at- SEAGATESOFTWARE -dot- COM>]

I'm an enthusiastic proponent of conditional text!
FrameMaker's implemented it very well. I've used
all three of the other products, but don't think
any of them have the same feature.

Conditional text is text that only is displayed when
you decide you want to display it.

For example, one of my products has a regular version
and a "lite" version (a subset of the features). By
"conditionalizing" the information specific to the souped-up
version, I can turn it off for the lite version or display it
for the regular version of the product. Therefore, I
don't have to maintain two copies of the documentation.

I also use conditional text for OS-specific information
in my docs (UNIX vs. NT), reminder notes to myself (instead
of a kazillion sticky notes that get lost), information that
is either specific to help or docs, etc. Oh, yes,
and conditional text is great for Reviewer questions in
the body of the document--hidden with the flick of a virtual
switch (and no worrying about whether or not I managed to ferret
out all the Reviewer questions before I ship the doc to the
printer).

Feel free to e-mail me if you have any more questions about it.
As you can see, conditional text is one of my favorite FrameMaker
features. :)

A.

--
Alexia Prendergast
Senior Technical Writer
Seagate Software
mailto:alexiap -at- sems -dot- com

>----------
>From:  Paul or Bonnie Bobbitt[SMTP:bbobbitt -at- iAmerica -dot- net]
>Sent:  Wednesday, July 30, 1997 1:42 PM
>To:    TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject:       What is conditional text?
>
>I haven't started using Framemaker yet. Will someone out there whirling
>around tell me what conditional text is? Does Pagemaker, WordPerfect 7,
>or Word 6 have something similar that I might be familiar with?
>
>Thanks in advance. If you wish, you may direct replies to my address
>below.
>--
>Paul or Bonnie Bobbitt
>
>mailto:bbobbitt -at- iamerica -dot- net
>
>Time is relative; its only worth depends
>upon what we do as it is passing.  (Albert Einstein)
>
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