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Subject:Re: Question: graphic file naming From:Rebecca Phillips <rebecca -at- QRONUS -dot- CO -dot- IL> Date:Sun, 25 Aug 1996 12:02:32 +-300
Anyone have a graphic naming technique they can lend me? Here's the scenario:
We are creating large manuals (700+ pages) in MS Word 6.0. They have many screen
captures (approx. 1 capture per 2 pages) that are saved from a UNIX system in
either gif or tif format and transferred to a PC.
I find it easiest to give logical screen names (editmenu.tif, display.tif, etc.). Make sure the "logic" of the figure names corresponds to what is written in the figure caption or the menu bar of the screen captured. In cases where I really have *a lot* of screens and even logical screen names seem unwieldy, I have considered using chapter number plus logical name (01editmn.tif, 07disply.tif, etc.). This has the advantage of allowing you to list the figures sequentially by chapter number. It has the same disadvantage as numbered figure names, which is that chapter numbers, too, may change.
Incidentally, when I used Word I *always* named my chapters with the first two characters representing the chapter numbers. (01intro.doc, 02install.doc, etc.)
If you are using Word, I strongly suggest that when you import the screens, you retain the pointer to the original file. (Keep the bitmaps in a sub-directory of the chapter file directory; use relative pathnames.) Word allows you to "Edit Links". This gives you a convenient list of all the graphics listed in a particular file. (If someone knows a way I can do this in Frame, I would be ever so grateful.)
In Word, cross-referencing the figures presents the same problem. Some people find it useful to call bookmarks of figures f_FigureName and bookmarks to table t_TableName in order to differentiate them from bookmarks to a section name or other kinds of cross-references.
In some cases, it was still useful to keep a database of filenames. This was particularly true when the application changed at the last minute and we had to re-capture screens and remember what we called them the first time. Sometimes I just print out the contents of the figures directory and use that as my database. If the names are logically related to the screen being captured, this is usually a good enough list.
Rebecca M. Phillips
Documentation Manager
Qronus Interactive Ltd.
rebecca -at- qronus -dot- co -dot- il
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