first impression of Omni's MIF2RTF filter

Subject: first impression of Omni's MIF2RTF filter
From: Alexia Prendergast <alexiap -at- SEAGATESOFTWARE -dot- COM>
Date: Fri, 26 Sep 1997 11:15:23 -0400

Hi, all,

Sorry for the cross-post, but I got a lot of requests for info about
this and it's... gasp!... on topic. ;-)

Omni's MIF2RTF filter is looking pretty good so far. I finally had time
this morning to take a look at the filter and I wanted to post my first
impressions before I really start putting the filter through its paces.
(See http://www.omsys.com if you are wondering, "what the heck is she
talking about?")

Why I'm interested in the filter:
-----------------------------------
Currently we develop WinHelp, several online docs, and a few hardcopy
docs. We've used RoboHelp/Word to develop the WinHelp and Frame/Acrobat
to develop the docs. Essentially, help and docs have been two, separate
development efforts, which is not only inefficient, but also increases
the probability of errors in the docs or help. Plus, the costs of
translating two products that contain similar information are high. Omni
claims that their MIF2RTF filter will take me from Frame to WinHelp
without the need for a separate, parallel help development process (let
alone a separate HAT).

Note: While the filter will let you single-source, I am NOT talking
about single-sourcing here. I am talking about putting help-specific
information in the help file and doc-specific information in the doc
file, and managing the structured redundancy. Single-sourcing in the
sense of converted docs directly to help or help to docs does not work
for our customers.

Today's results:
------------------
Within 15 minutes, I had set up the filter, converted a Frame file, and
created a HLP file. In about another 5 minutes, I had figured out how to
control the paragraph style mapping. It took me a few more minutes to
figure out how to map the topic IDs (at least I think I have it down --
I have to test this.) I still have to work out a few things regarding
converting xrefs within text insets. The conversion process is FAST--a
few seconds for a fairly complex doc.

I think the Frame-to-help process probably might be a bit more confusing
for someone who wasn't very experienced with both Frame and WinHelp.
However, it seems fairly easy to learn. All the information I needed was
in the README and Omni help file-- it just took some patience to find
and translate what they were saying into what I needed to do. (Jeremy,
would it be terribly presumptuous of me if I sent you a few suggestions
regarding the documentation?)

Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised. I think this will save a great deal
of time and effort for the writers and translators and will also benefit
our customers.

My utopia (or, what I plan to try to test next):
----------------------------------------------------
1. Ready my Frame files (English and translated files) for help by
turning on/off the appropriate conditional text, etc.
2. Batch convert the Frame files I want to include in the help
(including modular text insets that are imported by reference) to MIF.
3. Batch convert all the MIF files to WinHelp-ready RTF files using the
Omni filter.
4. Add the RTF files to my help project file (using HCW.EXE) and
compile.
5. End up with ready-to-go help files.

Too good to be true? I'll let you know what happens as I continue
testing different scenarios. If you have any suggestions/questions, let
me know. Also, if you have experience with the filter, please let me
know (and let me know what version you used).

Thanks!
A.

PS. Platform details: Win NT 4.0, Frame 5.1.2
--
Alexia Prendergast
Tech Pubs Manager
Seagate Software
mailto:alexiap -at- seagatesoftware -dot- com

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