Referring to the name of a system (aka FrameMaker Variables vs. Conditional Text)

Wed Oct 17 11:56:51 MDT 2007

Beverly Robinson wrote: I use a template document to control the
definitions for the variables....

Thanx, Beverly. 

Actually, that is probably the way to go, Caroline; I've just recently
begun to use a "dummy" document as a template for importing special
tags, variables, etc when I need them. I didn't even think about
mentioning that. It may be too late (or too much trouble) to reverse
engineer the current set of books, but you should definitely consider
Beverly's suggestion for the next batch. Having a mix of variables and
conditions for the same information may present its' own problems when
it comes to updating a document, but that may not be an issue for you.

I have had to "look under the hood" of other framers documents and
templates; I guess I still have nightmares about that. 8^@

As I illustrated off-list, as long as you orient the reader as to which
"unit" you're talking about, I think it's more natural to use
abbreviations and generic terms. You can use the proper nomenclature
only when it seems appropriate.

Blessings,

Darren

****************************************

Darren J. Butler

Sr. Technical Writer-Editor, Template Wrangler, Mil-Spec Pharisee

Integrated Data for Maintenance

NG Corp

-----Original Message-----
From: beverly_robinson at datacard.com
[mailto:beverly_robinson at datacard.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:51 AM
To: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Cc: caroline.tabach at gmail.com; Butler, Darren J Ctr 584 CBSS/GBHAC
Subject: RE: Referring to the name of a system (aka FrameMaker Variables
vs. Conditional Text)

In TECHWR-L Digest, Vol 24, Issue 16 Caroline Tabach asked: "What is the

difference between using a variable

and using a condition...."

And Darren Butler recommended using conditional text for the application

she described.

I guess my mileage varies. I always use variables to change product
names.

I reserve conditional text for larger chunks of text (sentence,
paragraph,

or heading phrase). Our localization vendor explained long ago that it's

easier for translators to work with complete sentences, so even if only
one

word is added for the "Toyshop System," I copy the entire sentence, add
the

Toyshop System-only word, and apply conditions to both sentences. If you

don't localize your documents that may not be an issue.

I use a template document to control the definitions for the variables
I've

defined, so it's easy to see exactly what variables have been created.
No

need to "look under the hood" of each one--they're all plainly visible.
The

template document also facilitates importing variable definitions and

conditional text settings into all files in a book.

Having said that, you (Caroline) may be right that changing the entire
file

set from conditional text to variables may not be worth the effort if
all

those instances of "AB1000 CD7000 MN2000" don't bother you.

But maybe they do bother you. Maybe that's why you ask whether it would
be

acceptable to "refer to it every time as 'the unit'." I didn't see an

answer to that part of your question so I'll offer my opinion:
Generally, I

think a mix of specific names (AB1000, etc.) and generic references (the

unit) is more natural than all specific names or all generic references.
If

you currently have a mix and decide to change the conditional text
product

names to a variable, I'm sure someone on this list will be able to guide

you in using global replace to make the change as painless as possible.

Hope this helps,

Beverly

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