July 2002
As of Tigress 4.6.2, the Tigress online manuals have been
distributed as PDF (Portable Document Format) files instead of the
previous FrameViewer files. The main reason for doing this is for
cross-platform support. The Adobe Acrobat Reader application used
for viewing PDF files is free and widely available for a variety of
platforms, including the latest platform of choice for Tigress
users: Linux.
There are other benefits in migrating to PDF. The PDF format has
become the defacto standard for publishing long content-rich
documents online, and its viewing engine - Acrobat Reader - is now
embedded in most web browsers, allowing you to use a web browser to
view the Tigress manuals.
Rich in features
The biggest challenge for the documentation team was to
implement the PDF version with no loss of features. Dave Hayes, the
senior technical author at PGS Tigress, says "I wanted to keep all
the existing navigational features and document links, especially
the split-level contents and our beloved column of navigational
buttons. These have been hallmarks of the Tigress manuals since we
first put them online back in 1996, and are crucial for finding
your way around large manuals. I'm pleased we were able to retain
them for the PDF version, and I think our readers will be,
too."
The new format also uses a simplified file structure. Each
manual consists of a single self-contained PDF file, with no
external graphics files. Even the fonts used in the PDF files are
embedded in the PDF files themselves, so no extra configuration is
required to view the Russian version of the manuals: just open the
PDF file and look.
See them on CD
To take cross-platform compatibility still further, the Tigress
Documentation CD now contains files in directly readable form,
instead of compressed Unix tar files. You can use Acrobat Reader on
any platform to view the manuals directly on the CD, without having
to install them first. In fact, if you have Acrobat Reader
installed on a Windows machine, inserting the Tigress Documentation
CD will auto start Acrobat Reader and display the manuals on the
screen.
Dave Hayes says, "Some of our users wanted to browse the Tigress
documentation on Windows, even though Tigress itself runs on Unix
and Linux. We've given them that ability to do that instantly,
without taking up disk space."
Taking time to save time
According to Dave, the only drawback to the PDF manuals is the
time it takes to generate them. "Once all the FrameMaker source
files are in place, I execute a script that takes only a view
seconds to launch, but 21 solid hours of machine time to run.
However, when you consider that it is generating the PDF files
involving about 50 manuals, 12,000 pages and 150,000 hypertext
links, in both English and Russian, I guess I shouldn't complain."
Indeed.
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