FrameMaker for SRS Specs?

[Seriously_Frustrated]

Hi,

I'm a tech writer working for a company that's just purchased the Technical Communications Suite.  It's my job now to learn the software and use it where appropriate on our IEEE Documentation (I've never used or seen it before now).

I was wondering if anyone could tell me; is it primarily used for user manuals, procedures, etc or should/can it also be used for technical papers such as Software Requirements Specs, Design Documents, etc.  Our SRS docs contains item references, etc and are currently done in Word, however, we are breaking down to modules where there is a lot of cross over and re-use between modules, so the single sourcing in FrameMaker may work better?

Your advice would be appreciated....  I need to get some SRS docs done urgently, but can't afford to spend the time to learn FrameMaker just yet, if that's not the right solution.  However, if it is the right way to go, it's worth the time spent in the interim to get it right first up.

Thanks in advance for your advice & assistance.....

Kristi

[AxialInfo]

Welcome to FM-land, Kristi -- as the saying goes, please adjust your seatbelt ....

The answer to your question(s) is yes, FM would be suitable for both manuals and for requirements spec/design documents. FM is very flexible and often has multiple ways to achieve the same end result, there's almost never a single "only" way to do anything -- the trick is to choose the best method to suit your specific workflow.

Single-sourcing could be a great way to go, but it would take some indepth analysis of your workflow before even an expert FM consultant could advise you on how best to set up your documents and workflow.

There are some good online tutorials that go through some of the main considerations for single-sourcing. Another source would be the STC and the TechWhirlr's site.

http://techwhirl.com/content/single-sourcing-framemaker-live-online-training

Sheila

[Seriously_Frustrated]

Hi Sheila, and thanks for your feedback.

Sorry for the delay in reply, I was hoping to see a few more responses or opinions.

Is it a difficult program to learn?  I'm very familiar with other adobe apps (Photoshop, Lightroom, InDesign, etc), but this seems to freak me out a little!  I've printed off the user guide pdf, short of being able to find any books on the subject.

There are loads of books on Framemaker 9, but I havent been able to find anything on v10.

My concern is that even though I can go through the manual, per se, will it make me sufficient enough to write something real straight off the bat?

Thanks again

Kristi