Re: Online with IBM's BookManger

Subject: Re: Online with IBM's BookManger
From: Marilynne Smith <mrsmith -at- CTS -dot- COM>
Date: Wed, 20 Mar 1996 22:03:00 PST

I believe both PDR and Frame have a product that allows you to create
BookMaster source files on the PC. PDR's product also allows you to manage
your BookManager online books from the PC.

One possibility would be to just call PDR and get them to convert your
documents for you. That's one of their specialties.

This is all I know about it. You can reach PDR in Lexington, KY, by dialing
1-800-826-2032. If you call, tell them I sent you. <grin>

Marilynne Smith
mrsmith -at- cts -dot- com
(I work for PDR, but I'm not in sales. )

At 04:22 PM 3/17/96 -0800, Kris Olberg wrote:
>At 09:31 AM 3/14/96 CST, Carl Rudorf wrote:
>>Hello:
>>
>>Management just got a great idea: let's put hardcopy online. "Carl, see to it;
>>here, use BookManager."
>>Specifically, the goal is to create softcopy books on the AS/400, using
>>BookManager -- which is incorprated into the 400 OS V3R1.
>>I've successfullty ported a legacy WordPerfect doc into BookManager, but this
>>stuff looks ugly! Has anybody else the dubious honor of having to work with
>this
>>stuff? Any tips?

>BookManager was IBM's implementation of an idea for an online book product
>with super versatility.

>The BookManager product line consists of READ and BUILD applications that
>run on various platforms: OS/2, VM, MVS/TSO, CICS, AS/400, DOS, and possibly
>even Windows. As far as I know, they have created a BUILD application, which
>is the software that compiles your tagged source, that runs under OS/2, VM,
>and MVS. The READ products cover almost every platform. What makes
>BookManager an attractive product for some applications is that regardless
>of the platform on which you BUILD the book (BOO) file, you can read that
>file on any of the other platforms. For example, if you use BUILD/2 (runs
>under OS/2) to create the BOO file, you can READ that same BOO file on OS/2,
>on DOS, on the AS/400, on VM, etc.

>To use BookManager, you create a flat, ASCII file containing your text
>tagged with BookMaster tags. (BTW, if you need to create hardcopy from the
>same source files, you can use BookMaster to compile and print the
>document.) These tags are very similar to SGML. Then you BUILD (compile) the
>document using one of the BUILD products. This process creates a BOO file,
>which you can read using any of the READ products.

>One of the drawbacks of BookManager is that the products running on
>mainframes are (or at least used to be) very expensive. And books tagged in
>BookMaster cannot be compiled using a BUILD product running on a PC. IBM has
>always made it very clear that they do not want to give up their mainframe
>business and will provide no filter to convert BookMaster tagged files into
>Word or WordPerfect for use in the PC BUILD products, which are much
>cheaper. Another drawback is that the need to tag and compile a flat file
>can be daunting to the writer who is used to WYSIWYG.

>Good luck!

>Regards...Kris
>--------------------------------
>kjolberg -at- ix -dot- netcom -dot- com (preferred)
>kjolberg -at- aol -dot- com
>102031 -dot- 3556 -at- compuserve -dot- com


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Marilynne Smith
mrsmith -at- cts -dot- com
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