Re: ANN: DocFrame 1.0 for FrameMaker 7

[DW Emory <danemory@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I'm intrigued (perhaps a better word is puzzled) by Sriptorium's new 
offering of its DocFrame structured document license package. I took a look 
at the sample document (PDF) on the Scriptorium website, which was 
purportedly created from the DocFrame EDD. If that sample document is 
intended to show the EDD's full structured capabilities, then the documents 
producible by using it would have a distinctly bland, plain-vanilla flavor 
that lacks the kind of robust structure needed for complex technical 
documentation.

In fact, although Scriptorium's description of DocFrame does not explicitly 
state that its main purpose is to produce HTML and HTML help from XML 
output, that does appear to be its only useful capability. And if that's 
all it's good for, why does Scriptorium think anyone would be willing to 
shell out $3125 for a 5-pack (a Developer's license plus 5 "Author" 
licenses) when you could buy the same capability for much less by sticking 
with unstructured Frame documents and using one copy of MIF2GO to produce 
the desired outputs of XML, HTML, and HTML help, and much more?

What I think DocFrame was actually intended to be was a very simple 
structured document application suitable mainly for classroom training, as 
evidenced by the inclusion in the license package of Scriptorium's 
"complete FrameMaker Workbook series," plus the DocFrame Author's and 
Developer's Guides. For training purposes, I think Scriptorium has a great 
package, but its usefulness for actual production of real technical 
documents would seem to be extremely limited. For a comparison, take a look 
at my robust Procbook structured document application, which you can 
download for free from Shlomo Perets's www.microtype.com website (you'll 
find it under Dan Emory's articles).

For the reasons cited above, I'm also puzzled by Scriptorium's DocFrame 
licensing approach. Clearly, any company which intended to use DocFrame for 
producing its technical documentation would have to make major changes to 
the delivered license package to make the product fit real-world 
requirements. These changes would impact the EDD, the DTD, the formatting 
template, the XML import/export application, the XSL transformations, and 
the DocFrame Author's and Developer's Guides. Consequently, there would 
never ba a need to purchase DocFrame author's licenses. Instead, such a 
company would purchase (at the exorbitant price of $1495) a single copy of 
the DocFrame Developer's License, make the necessary improvements and 
changes that fit its needs, and deliver the resulting modified versions of 
the structured template and the application files to all of its authors.


====================
| Nullius in Verba |
====================
Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory@globalcrossing.net
177 Riverside Ave., STE F, #1151, Newport Beach, CA 92663
---Subscribe to the "Free Framers" list by sending a message to
majordomo@omsys.com with "subscribe framers" (no quotes) in the body.



** To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@omsys.com **
** with "unsubscribe framers" (no quotes) in the body.   **