Author-it [was: Single Sourcing tools]

[Char James-Tanny]

Hi, Jan :-)

> Thanks for sharing your expertise.

You're welcome :-)

> In regards to first question, I did a little research and came across a
> review of Author-It
> (http://www.techcommpros.com/articles/CMS/ait_seasoned_review.shtml),
> written by Mike Tulloch, a tech writer in Florida.  Since I'm not sure when
> the article was written, I can't vouch for its applicability to the latest
> version of Author-It, but it does appear to be in-line with what you
> described. Given what he says and the implications to the ability to work
> across multiple releases, I'd probably have to agree with him, as I'd be
> concerned in a fast-paced environment where work is started on the next
> release before the prior release is put to bed.  That can happen if a
> document's lifecycle equates to, e.g., Channel Ready plus six months, where
> writing on the next release begins with Business Ready.  As such, I'd have
> to preclude Author-It as the single-sourcing tool of choice where multiple
> releases of a document are being concurrently worked on.  Otherwise, it
> might work well, depending on the needs and requirements of the writing
> group.

Several members of the Author-it Users Group use the XML export for
this functionality. (The article you referenced doesn't include this
information, and some of the information that it does include is
incorrect.) For example, you do not have to version the entire library
(unless that's what you really want to do)...you can export a book to
XML and then import it back in as new objects. Or you could duplicate
books and topics if you wanted to create new versions where all copies
were editable.

> Anyway, I won't torture you any further (today)--time to move on to a cold
> one (it's quitting time or me).  8^)

Nice :-) Not time for me to quit yet...

Char James-Tanny ~ JTF Associates, Inc. ~ http://www.helpstuff.com
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