MIL-STD 38784

[KKCCarter]

Does anyone out there in FrameMaker Land know of templates for the standard AF tech orders based on MIL-STD 38784? We are a small shop of 3 writers trying to establish a stable writing platform and Arbortext has been a monster to try to set up - so we are now looking at FM. Any suggestions as to setting up a small TO writing/managment system using FM?

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools · Accepted solution]

I'm currently helping a client configure MIL-STD 5096G.

Do what you can to identify folks that can provide to you or sell you a 38784 structured application and template, but in my experience these things are mostly developed and held in-house to retain a competitive advantage.

I (and others here) can help with general questions, but you'll likely want to engage someone to develop this for you if you haven't previously set up a MIL-STD structapp.

-Matt

[KKCCarter]

We have definitiely NOT set up a structapp. When researching Arbortext we got a quote for $13K to setup/basic orientation of the system. That seemed high...was it? If we go with FM, what type of consultant would we look for? Document development?

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

It's certainly not a prohibitive quote. There's a lot of custom work that goes into setup.

However, with AT, that's likely the "hook" and will be followed by work to produce your FOSI (Formatting Output Specification Instance) or other custom work.

Message me if you'd like to chat for a few minutes about options.

-Matt