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Subject:Re: single source print+html From:"Eric J. Ray" <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 5 Oct 1998 05:18:41 -0600
At 06:13 PM 10/4/98 -0700, Ned Bedinger wrote:
>I rooted thru the archive using search engine
>(http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/archives.htm) looking for this subject
>but nothing surfaced. Sorry but let's do it again!
It's there--repeatedly--but here goes. (In the archives
single and source and print and html
at the documentation.com site yields 46 matches.
>I'm canvassing for rumors/experiences/opinions/truths about single-source
>formatted documents and html. This like some search for the holy grail,
>where the grail is WYSIWYG print/html single source authoring environment.
>I don't want to limit my search to Windows platform--my research must
>include Unix.
HTML is not WYSIWYG. With enough hacking, it can be close,
but not WYSIWYG--that's just not the purpose, design, or
implementation of HTML.
Assuming, then, you're looking for some way to edit in
Word (as opposed to a code-based editor or a visually
oriented editor like FrontPage) and output to HTML.
WebWorks Publisher is regularly recommended on the list.
I have had consistently very good results with
HTMLTransit from InfoAccess.
>My shop uses WinWord to create documents, but the HTML that WinWord
>produces is flabby and hard to maintain (in my humble experience/opinion).
Yes.
Keep in mind that for most purposes, all trips to HTML are
one-way. I've never had much luck moving stuff out of
HTML and into something else, making changes, then
putting it back into HTML. Think of the conversion to
HTML as analagous to printing: You keep your source documents
in Word and maintain those, and do whatever you need
to do to your printer/HTML converter to get the results
you need. When it's time to revise, start with the source
in Word, don't try to scan hardcopy or import HTML.
Eric
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Eric J. Ray RayComm, Inc. http://www.raycomm.com/ ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com
*Award-winning author of several popular computer books
*Syndicated columnist: Rays on Computing
*Technology Department Editor, _Technical Communication_
