Modular documentation

["Sarah Bouchier" <Sarah -dot- Bouchier -at- exony -dot- com>]

Hi guys,

 

I'd +love+ some advice on documentation tools for producing modular
documentation.

 

As of next month, my company are moving over to using a single code base
to produce all their products, so they can produce plain X, X with Y, X
with Z, X with client A branding etc without having to work on four
different versions of the code.

 

Obviously, I'd like to do the same with the documentation.  I can't use
the simple expedient of having a document for X plus add-on documents
for Y and Z, as adding Y and Z change a raft of things (providing
additional options and the like) within the main product.

 

What I'm going to need, therefore, is a source user manual with +all+
the information in it, from which I can select whether to output any of
the above combinations.

 

I'm aware that this can be done with RoboHelp (being both lazy and
apparently psychic, I already set it up to do this with our online
help), but a) most of our manuals are currently in Word, and I've been
given to understand that the conversion is a pig and b) if there's a
better tool to use, since I'm going to be having to convert almost all
our docset anyway, this is the time to change to it.

 

The company is almost certain to go with whatever I suggest - after this
week, I'll be the only technical author here, and I report directly to
both the VP of Engineering and the COO - so I want to make the +right+
decision, as I and anyone else we take on in the future will be stuck
with it :-)

 

S.

----------------------------------------- 
Sarah Bouchier 
Technical Author 

exony 

 

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