Re: Database Publishing with FrameMaker

[Bill Briggs <web@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Stability is the absolute first essential ingredient for successful database
>publishing, where very large files and books are the norm.

I find it's also essential if I'm going to keep my hair.  The instability
of newer Frame versions is a real aggravation after version 4 (that only
crashed once n me in two years of daily use, and that was when it tried to
import a corrupt .xwd file).

>It might interest you to know that, for database publishing, I'm still using
>FM+SGML V5.1.1 on a Windows 3.1 platform,

I still have a kind of perverse fondness for Windows 3.11.  You can still
tinker under the hood, something they made a more challenging in Win9x.

Is there a Mac version of UniMerge?  Or one that will run on Linux?  I'm
intrigued that it works without the need for the SGML package (although
like you, that's what I have).  We've looked at this, but have not acted
because there's never the time to properly address it and some people don't
understand how it might be of benefit.


>Win9x/NT, as well as Unix platforms. Although UniMerge can (theoretically at
>least) be used with structured documents

Is the database from which it would extract this information an SGML
elements database, or not?  If this is a stupid question I'm sorry.
Database publishing is not part of my area of expertise.


>The reason I haven't moved up to FM+SGML V5.5.x is that I tried, and found
>that the new version was meta-unstable for database publishing applications.
>I was a Beta test site for FM+SGML 5.5, and discovered during the Beta phase
>that it was unreliable. When the released version came out, the problems
>were still there, and have remained there through the first three bug
>releases.

Explains why bugs bug you.


>a Win3.1 platform for database publishing, but at this point, I have no
>choice. I can't move up to Win9x/NT until ...

I'm partly joking, but is 9x a move up from 3.11?  I'd bet 3.11 is really
fast on todays hardware.

- web



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