October/November 2004

Volume 45, Number 2

Solutions, Inc.

by Ron Arner

Some recent tips, how-to's, and advice from the Rocky Mountain Chapter Listserve:

Thread #1: Dropdown, drop down, or drop-down menu?

dropdown

drop-down menu

I have also seen it as dropdown for a dropdown list - in some pretty notable publications. Why a list would be different than a menu then...

It's kinda' like cancelled vs. canceled - as long as you're consistent, it's a matter of personal style and preference, and that's what a vote is - personal preference!

dropdown

Hyphenate when used as a unit modifier (e.g., drop-down list)

Use 2 words as a verb, i.e., drop down

Use 1 word when used as a noun (though I can't think of any noun usages for this one)

Consistency is the most important thing, but hyphenation helps with translation and localization. Most software translators know this term. What is the vote of the MS Style Guide?

MS Style says:

"Use only if necessary to describe how an item such as a menu works or what it looks like. Acceptable in technical documentation if necessary to describe the type of item, as in drop-down arrow, drop-down combo box, or drop-down list box."

MS hyphenates dropdown when used as a unit modifier.

I agree completely with...the overriding editorial principle that there's no need to reinvent the wheel when a perfectly good standard solution fits ("if it ain't broke...").

Thread #2: Software for Rapid Prototyping of GUI Screens

...check into the latest, most expensive version of Visio. I believe it comes with stencils including the Windows "controls" (UI widgets). ...try surfing the Web for free Windows UI stencils.

The trainer at my company just attended an e-learning conference in San Francisco and was telling me on Friday about a tool he learned about there that might be similar to what you are looking for.

The product...is called FireFly at www.kimpact.com

The primary purpose of this product is creating training content for e-learning classes. It works by taking sequenced screenshots of windows as you work through a task in the program you want to train. The nice part about it is that it captures the data layers of the buttons. Once you have the series captured, you are able to open them in a story-board type editor. The feature Kathryn may be able to use is this editor. In addition to adding training pieces to the screens, you can add additional buttons, and map those buttons to other screens you have captured. The software the can act as a feedback tool or a prototyping tool allowing you do add or delete buttons from a window you have captured, then send back a functioning Java demo to your developers.

It's relatively inexpensive. I don't remember the price but it's under $1000.

My recommendation would be to go find a version of VB and utilize it for creating new apps.

MS Access forms are fine for mockups, but don't expect a lot out of them. If mockups are all she wants, she's heading down the right path.

Thread #3: MS Word XP - Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Conversion

The Current Situation:
My client's source documents (90 pages each, completely styled) is in MS Word XP. It is converted to a .pdf then posted on my client's website. Users like the Adobe Bookmark features for quick navigation, and the web folk like the security features.

The Problems:

• The document is frequently updated, and b/c of the length of the source doc, takes about 10-15 minutes to convert
• The Bookmarks need to be re-organized
• The MS Word source doc has a hyperlink in the footer, which Acrobat does not maintain, and must be manually re-applied, 180 times
• Many users print the .pdf as a reference, and would be reluctant to re-print every time an update is applied, and therefore run the risk of using the wrong document
• There is no good system to announce updates, for many users are inconsistent e-mail users, and reprinting / distributing two 90 page documents is too costly

I know this seems ridiculously obvious, but: suggest to the client they change their header/footer and remove the hyperlink (or move it somewhere else). A 90-page document should NOT take 10-15 minutes to convert to PDF--it should be more on the order of 1 minute MAX. Thus, the ROI (return on investment) from this one simple change could be tremendous!!

I am not aware of a technology-based solution that will prevent people from printing (and using) out-of-date documents. It's something our 3rd-party ISO auditor checks for every time they come to Boulder to perform an ISO audit on our operations. In other words, it's a process issue, not a technology issue.

If you can't get rid of Word as source, which you probably can't, I say invest in FrontPage and publish these things on the web. Email is a horrible way to promulgate information (I know, I've been dealing with a group that does just that for the last year.)

FrontPage also comes with a software 'enhancement' called SharePoint, which makes it easy to publish updated information on the web (in HTML or in source or in whatever format they wish). The customer must have a web-hosting server, though, and the size of the server will depend on the amount of information. But it sounds like they already have a web site and therefore some kind of service.

The other thing you have to do is train users (and clients) that the web itself, not PDF, is the best source for the latest and greatest - and to discourage printing at all costs. FrameMaker and Web Works publisher do a bang-up job in converting things to the web and to PDF; Word is much more cumbersome. But the main thing is, I think, to discourage printing altogether if something gets updated frequently. Forcing users to use the web as source is the only way to ensure they get the latest information, in my opinion.

Another option might be AuthorIT. It publishes stuff to the web and PDF, I think, and takes input from Word and other sources.

Re: Hyperlink in the footer
Check w/ Adobe - this is a bug and maybe they've got a solution now. Adobe used to maintain hyperlinks really well between doc and pdf. I've had the same problem but I'm still on 5.0 so maybe its been fixed in a more current version.

Re: Re-org of the bookmarks
Be sure to pdf via the PDFMaker rather than the Distiller. Bookmarks can be automatically created based on the structure (heading, styles, or both) of the Word doc if you pdf via the PDFMaker. (In Word, PDFMaker is the Adobe icon/ menu usually found on the toolbar/ menubar. Options for PDFMaker are in the Acrobat menu under "Change Conversion Options". Distiller is found in the list of printers when printing the doc and does NOT generate bookmarks automatically - at least I haven't found the option to allow this.)

If your client understands how the use of styles / headers in Word will affect the bookmarked PDF output, then the re-org can be easily maintained - especially if a style Bookmark is created and applied to only the headings that must appear in the PDF. 1st person who forgets can recreate each bookmark manually! (They'll remember after that!) Quick Tip: In Adobe, highlight the text and press CTRL+B to insert bookmarks quickly if you receive a poorly structured Word doc and don't have time to re-structure it.

Re: Version control, updates, etc
Can you re-examine the kind of information that changes frequently and perhaps pull that out of the more static info? Could the info that changes frequently appear on the web site with links to the pdfs and the pdf'd content could point back to the web for the "changing" info? (Are there parallels you can draw to this example: Things like hardware requirements, installation instructions, and troubleshooting tips would point to the web - more static info like process flows, procedures, and field definitions would appear in the pdfs.)

Another option - can you break down the 90 page doc into pdf'd individual chapters/ modules and the pdf'd TOC/ Index? All modules could be downloaded from the web if needed or users could download only the sections that apply to their job duties. The website could have a Revision History with links to the relevant pdf containing the change. When changes occur, users only need to download, reprint, and replace a small section rather than all 90 pages. You would also be able to keep the TOC/Index up to date.

Beyond your control/ scope

The other part of this is to recommend that internal Employees/ Customer Support people start referencing the web as the ONE place to go for current info. Sounds like the customer base needs a little re-training and that requires the efforts of everyone internally.

Haven't had time to test - potential solutions:

1. From Adobe Support: If the document contains hyperlinks, make sure that the page margins are .8 inch or larger and re-pdf (also seems to be the solution if hyperlinks appear in the wrong place in the pdf) http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/326009.html
http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/323141.html

2. According to someone on the Adobe forums: http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?50@254.9Am2cW4Gbce.1@.3bb5dada

The following solution worked for me:

• Uninstall software
• Turn the clock on the computer back a yea
• Re-install software
• Ensure the clock is correct (current date and year)

Once you have an open document in Word, although it is already saved, you are prompted to save it again once you click on the ADOBE icon. Close this screen. Click on your Word Save Icon. Now click on the ADOBE icon again and it works just like it used to.

For version control, I have a page following the TOC that lists dates & briefly what changes were made in the document. I list the most current edit on the Web page. e.g. 9-28-2005 Update table on page 18, and add "How do I access the Configurator" topic on page 53.

One of my documents is sometimes changed several times a month, and this update system seems to work well. (We're starting the third page of changes) We have taught (hopefully) our users to check the Website for updates before they undertake any major project. I do send out an email notification to the Super Users only. They are the ones who answer questions when the users mess something up when they didn't check the document. This would not help with clients unfortunately.

There probably *is* a technology solution for your client, but it's a software solution, not one you can implement. If, for example, you use McAfee for virus protection, you can subscribe to their automatic update service. This service automatically updates the virus definition file on your computer. Similar software could notify your client's customers when updated docs were available. But as I said, this is a solution that requires software development. And it has a number of potential downsides.

Depending on what your client's line of business is, writing and delivering such a piece of software for their customers may be feasible. Unless anyone knows of an off-the-shelf product that can accomplish this...