Word or Adobe Framemaker?

A

Andrew Mazin

Guest
Currently we are choosing the way to write our Specification - Design
Specification, Test Plan etc.
As far as I know, Adobe Framemaker was preferable approach before.
Now, some companies still work with Adobe, and some use MS Word. I am
looking for any recommendations or advices which tool to choose.

regards,
-Andrew
 
Rudolf Usselmann wrote:
andrew119@canada.com (Andrew Mazin) wrote in message news:<725b2b95.0307090908.12bb9e36@posting.google.com>...

Currently we are choosing the way to write our Specification - Design
Specification, Test Plan etc.
As far as I know, Adobe Framemaker was preferable approach before.
Now, some companies still work with Adobe, and some use MS Word. I am
looking for any recommendations or advices which tool to choose.

regards,
-Andrew



My personal favorite was always FrameMaker. Clearly structured
and extremely powerful tool. Everything from great layout to
simple graphics.

I could never get Word to create a decent looking document.
I have spend many, many hours trying, but it never looked
professional.
Click to expand...
I confirm 100% what Rudolf says. FrameMaker is much more stable, fast
and productive in our kind of work. In my company, the designers
forced to switch to Word still complain after years how much
easier and productive it was to do technical documents with FrameMaker
and switch back to it whenever they can.

The designers who knew Word, but were patient enough to learn
Framemaker all agree after the first two/three weeks.

A minority of colleagues just refuse on principle to use anything
that is not Microsoft, even when it makes them slower. When proposed
to use FrameMaker they object, among other things, that it is a "niche
product". Even if it were true, so what? We are talking of a niche kind
of documents: the professional thing to do is to use what is better for
your job, not what people with other needs find better.

As far as OOo, is concerned, remember it was meant to replace MS Office.
Hence, while better, free, etc... it has the same limitations of Word
when it comes to write complex technical documents with lots of tables,
cross references, embedded diagrams, etc...
FrameMaker!!!!

Ciao,
Marco
 
Rudolf,
Marco,
Thank you for your great feedbacks.

Myself, I also prefer FrameMaker.
However, I still have the following concerns:

1. Almost all of our documents now are written under Windows.
For example, we use Adobe Framemaker, but Windows (not Unix) version.
I think that the main reason to use Windows is reach set of another
applications (graphical editors etc) which can be embedded into Spec.

2. Recent discussions in this group show the value of Excel for direct
document-to-code extraction. So it is possible to do the same with
Word tables, and I am not sure about Adobe.

3. For me, it sounds a bit risky to use "free" and new products like
Open Office: we may spend more time debugging the tool rather than
writing specification.

Any comments?
-Regards,
Andrew Mazin
 
andrew119@canada.com (Andrew Mazin) wrote in message news:<725b2b95.0307100517.42f01d8e@posting.google.com>...
Rudolf,
Marco,
Thank you for your great feedbacks.

Myself, I also prefer FrameMaker.
However, I still have the following concerns:

1. Almost all of our documents now are written under Windows.
For example, we use Adobe Framemaker, but Windows (not Unix) version.
I think that the main reason to use Windows is reach set of another
applications (graphical editors etc) which can be embedded into Spec.
Click to expand...
Traditionally I have used FrameMaker on SUNs. After switching to
Linux, I tried to maintain a Windows box for FrameMaker. However,
under Windows, I could never get the WYSIWG working. My printed
documents alway looked missaligned. For a while I maintained a Mac
just for running FrameMaker, but that became a problem as well, as
Apples strategies seemed to make transitions between their own OSes
very painful and time intensive.

I am a happy camper now with OpenOffice, even though it is not
perfect (yet ?) as well, I will wait and see what the future will
bring. At least I don't have to shell out the big $$$ anymore ...

At one point Adobe teased us with a "beta/trial" version of FM for
Linux, but I guess we (the Linux users) don't matter to them ...

2. Recent discussions in this group show the value of Excel for direct
document-to-code extraction. So it is possible to do the same with
Word tables, and I am not sure about Adobe.
Click to expand...
FrameMaker supports a MIF (Maker Interchange Format). Which is
purely ascii text and contains all formatting information.
At one point I wrote a perl script to extract module interconnects
from tables in large specifications and create verilog top level
from that. I was a consultant at CISCO at that point so they own
that script now ...

3. For me, it sounds a bit risky to use "free" and new products like
Open Office: we may spend more time debugging the tool rather than
writing specification.
Click to expand...
Well, I for one feel better take care of by the "free" community
than by someone like MiroSoft or Adobe. Look at it: Bugs and issues
are discussed openly; I always know where I stand with them; If there
is an issue I feel very strongly about - I can take the source code
and extend/modify it (or pay somebody to do it for me).

Are any of you doing multi language docs ? It's a pain with Windows
and MacOS. With OO all I had to do is to install the additional spell
checker.

It is obvious that Adobe does not consider us "important" customers.
Thats OK - in 10 years when 99% of computers are running Linux, I will
not consider Adobe important as well and will continue using OO !


Any comments?
-Regards,
Andrew Mazin
Click to expand...
Best Regards,
rudi
--------------------------------------------------------
www.asics.ws --- Solutions for your ASIC/FPGA needs ---
----------------- FPGAs * Full Custom ICs * IP Cores ---
FREE IP Cores --> http://www.asics.ws/ <-- FREE IP Cores
 
andrew119@canada.com (Andrew Mazin) wrote in message news:<725b2b95.0307100517.42f01d8e@posting.google.com>...
Rudolf,
Marco,
Thank you for your great feedbacks.

Myself, I also prefer FrameMaker.
However, I still have the following concerns:

1. Almost all of our documents now are written under Windows.
For example, we use Adobe Framemaker, but Windows (not Unix) version.
I think that the main reason to use Windows is reach set of another
applications (graphical editors etc) which can be embedded into Spec.
Click to expand...
Sorry, after reading what I just posted I want to make one
more point:

OpenOffice DOES have the equivalent of Excell and Illustrator
and a Paint/Draw program. Again take a look at our product
briefs. They are written with OpenOffice under RH 8.0. PDF
generation and printing is very easy and straight forward.
And we didn't have to spend a single penny on it !!!

Cheers,
rudi
--------------------------------------------------------
www.asics.ws --- Solutions for your ASIC/FPGA needs ---
----------------- FPGAs * Full Custom ICs * IP Cores ---
FREE IP Cores --> http://www.asics.ws/ <-- FREE IP Cores



2. Recent discussions in this group show the value of Excel for direct
document-to-code extraction. So it is possible to do the same with
Word tables, and I am not sure about Adobe.

3. For me, it sounds a bit risky to use "free" and new products like
Open Office: we may spend more time debugging the tool rather than
writing specification.

Any comments?
-Regards,
Andrew Mazin
Click to expand...
 
On Thu, 10 Jul 2003 22:46:03 -0700, Rudolf Usselmann wrote:

andrew119@canada.com (Andrew Mazin) wrote in message
news:<725b2b95.0307100517.42f01d8e@posting.google.com>...
Rudolf,
Marco,
Thank you for your great feedbacks.

Myself, I also prefer FrameMaker.
However, I still have the following concerns:

1. Almost all of our documents now are written under Windows. For
example, we use Adobe Framemaker, but Windows (not Unix) version. I
think that the main reason to use Windows is reach set of another
applications (graphical editors etc) which can be embedded into Spec.

Sorry, after reading what I just posted I want to make one more point:

OpenOffice DOES have the equivalent of Excell and Illustrator and a
Paint/Draw program. Again take a look at our product briefs. They are
written with OpenOffice under RH 8.0. PDF generation and printing is
very easy and straight forward. And we didn't have to spend a single
penny on it !!!

Cheers,
rudi
-------------------------------------------------------- www.asics.ws
--- Solutions for your ASIC/FPGA needs --- ----------------- FPGAs *
Full Custom ICs * IP Cores --- FREE IP Cores --> http://www.asics.ws/
-- FREE IP Cores



2. Recent discussions in this group show the value of Excel for direct
document-to-code extraction. So it is possible to do the same with Word
tables, and I am not sure about Adobe.

3. For me, it sounds a bit risky to use "free" and new products like
Open Office: we may spend more time debugging the tool rather than
writing specification.

Any comments?
-Regards,
Andrew Mazin
Click to expand...
I've been using both Word and Framemaker under Win4Lin on Linux and
frankly I've found them both adequate. I have a slight preference for
Framemaker but I don't mind using Word. With the release of Gnome2
(specifically the Ximian version, Ximian Desktop2), OpenOffice has finally
crossed the threshold of usability. Prior to Gnome2 the font rendering on
Linux was so awful that OpenOffice/StarOffice was a complete non-starter.
The font rendering problem is now fixed so OpenOffice is in the running.

I have a question for the OpenOffice users. When generating PDF files can
it create bookmarks? As far as I know there is no version of Acrobat for
Linux, just Acrobat Reader. There is something called xPDF but I haven't
tried it. One of my pet peeves are PDF documents that don't have
bookmarks. If OpenOffice can generate a PDF file with bookmarks then I'd say
it's ready for serious documentation work, if it can't then I'd stick with
Framemaker or Word.
 
"B. Joshua Rosen" <bjrosen@polybus.com> wrote in message news:<pan.2003.07.11.19.05.33.979531@polybus.com>...
I've been using both Word and Framemaker under Win4Lin on Linux and
frankly I've found them both adequate. I have a slight preference for
Framemaker but I don't mind using Word. With the release of Gnome2
(specifically the Ximian version, Ximian Desktop2), OpenOffice has finally
crossed the threshold of usability. Prior to Gnome2 the font rendering on
Linux was so awful that OpenOffice/StarOffice was a complete non-starter.
The font rendering problem is now fixed so OpenOffice is in the running.

I have a question for the OpenOffice users. When generating PDF files can
it create bookmarks? As far as I know there is no version of Acrobat for
Linux, just Acrobat Reader. There is something called xPDF but I haven't
tried it. One of my pet peeves are PDF documents that don't have
bookmarks. If OpenOffice can generate a PDF file with bookmarks then I'd say
it's ready for serious documentation work, if it can't then I'd stick with
Framemaker or Word.
Click to expand...


Unfortunately at this time I believe OpenOffice can not
generate bookmarks. This is a big drawback. However the
choice for me is still set. I rather support OpenOffice
and Linux than MicroSoft and Adobe. I'm sure that support
will come sooner or later ...

Regards,
rudi
--------------------------------------------------------
www.asics.ws --- Solutions for your ASIC/FPGA needs ---
----------------- FPGAs * Full Custom ICs * IP Cores ---
FREE IP Cores --> http://www.asics.ws/ <-- FREE IP Cores
 
In article <d44097f5.0307120551.ec076ea@posting.google.com>,
russelmann@hotmail.com says...
"B. Joshua Rosen" <bjrosen@polybus.com> wrote in message news:<pan.2003.07.11.19.05.33.979531@polybus.com>...


I've been using both Word and Framemaker under Win4Lin on Linux and
frankly I've found them both adequate. I have a slight preference for
Framemaker but I don't mind using Word. With the release of Gnome2
(specifically the Ximian version, Ximian Desktop2), OpenOffice has finally
crossed the threshold of usability. Prior to Gnome2 the font rendering on
Linux was so awful that OpenOffice/StarOffice was a complete non-starter.
The font rendering problem is now fixed so OpenOffice is in the running.

I have a question for the OpenOffice users. When generating PDF files can
it create bookmarks? As far as I know there is no version of Acrobat for
Linux, just Acrobat Reader. There is something called xPDF but I haven't
tried it. One of my pet peeves are PDF documents that don't have
bookmarks. If OpenOffice can generate a PDF file with bookmarks then I'd say
it's ready for serious documentation work, if it can't then I'd stick with
Framemaker or Word.



Unfortunately at this time I believe OpenOffice can not
generate bookmarks. This is a big drawback. However the
choice for me is still set. I rather support OpenOffice
and Linux than MicroSoft and Adobe. I'm sure that support
will come sooner or later ...

I do not have actually used it, but there is scribus
Click to expand...
at http://web2.altmuehlnet.de/fschmid/
according to it's website
Scribus is a desktop page layout program in the tradition
of Corel Ventura, Quark Xpress, Pagemaker and InDesign.

it can export PDF and according to it's documentation
at http://home.comcast.net/~scribusdocs/pdfexport.html#ss3.11
it supports Annotations, Thumbnails, Bookmarks.

Klaus Leiss
 
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