LasX Industries’ LightGuide laser control software provides a fully-featured application for the management of laser manufacturing production jobs. Each time I revised a software manual, I saw much more restructuring needed that simply couldn’t be accommodated in basic FrameMaker book and chapter files. This challenge wasn’t helped by user interfaces that differed between two hardware platforms.
Similar to the LasX laser system hardware guides, authoring XML-based topic files in the DITA architecture permitted me to take advantage of the efficiencies of content reuse. By using attribute values intelligently, I could create the structure to support two different outlines for the graphical interfaces without adding overhead. And by generating online HTML help directly through the DITA-OT expanded delivery options from simple print and PDF for more direct, on-point user access.
Developed with FrameMaker 9.0 running the DITA-OT plug-in. Delivered in print, .PDF, and HTML Help.