Path: utzoo!utgpu!mnetor!frank
From: frank@mnetor.UUCP (Frank Kolnick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: Book Format question?  What to use?
Keywords: PageMaker, Word, Nisus, DTP, Word Processing, FrameMaker, XPress
Message-ID: <5622@mnetor.UUCP>
Date: 8 Dec 90 04:45:40 GMT
References: <8521@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM> <1990Dec4.161128.27561@alias.uucp>
Reply-To: frank@mnetor.UUCP (Frank Kolnick)
Organization: Motorola Technical Systems Division, Toronto Design Centre
Lines: 37

In article <1990Dec4.161128.27561@alias.uucp> panders@alias.uucp (Pat Anderson) writes:
>In article <8521@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM>, larrym@sail.LABS.TEK.COM (Larry Morandi) writes:
>> We are trying to convert our product manual to something that we can do
>> entirely on the Mac (previous version was done with custom macros and
>> ditroff on Unix).  I've been looking mainly at PageMaker, Word, Nisus,
>> FullWrite, and a few other options, but they all seem to have major
>> problems with the format we used (and ideally would like to continue
>> using).  The items that seem to give problems are:
>>(...) 
>> 1.  Wide left margin that is used for headers of various sizes, which can
>>     wrap.  Something like what follows (of course it doesn't work very well
>>     without fonts and sizes...)
>There are better ways to create the two columns you want with microsoft
>word than by using tables. Here's how I do it:
> (... describes Word's 'position' feature...)

I'm in the process of converting a 400 page manual, formatted pretty much as
originally described, from Word to FrameMaker. Word makes the floating
header surprisingly easy to do. On the other hand, it's very weak at handling
large, multi-chapter documents. FrameMaker handles the headers (you can 
attach any sort of 'frame' at any point in the document -- a more general
method than Word's), and excels at handling 'books' (FM terminology for any
document consisting of multiple files). So far, its been a pleasure to use.
The facilities for page, paragraph, figure, etc. numbering are very flexible.
The documentation is excellent (and extensive -- about ten separate manuals).
I recommend taking a look. (Btw, I've previously done several manuals with
PageMaker -- not really its forte -- and more recently more manuals and a 
book with XPress. XPress is great, but lacks the book-handling capabilities;
e.g., no indexing. Quark officially targets it for 'magazine articles', or
at least that's what tech. support said when I asked when indexing would be
added. Word is pretty good for short stuff, but bogs down -- in speed as
well as ease of use -- beyond about 100 pages. I think FM may finally be the
*one* package I need.)
-- 
Frank Kolnick,
Basis Computer Systems Inc.
UUCP: {allegra, linus}!utzoo!mnetor!frank