Question: Do you have experiences from some structured writing tools/environments?
Yes, nearly all of them. I've been working in dynamic publishing environments for over a decade, as has most of our team.
And we're out here, we've just not traditionally been on the forums at PTC or PlanetPTC. The Arbortext product goes back to 1996, so the user forums are elsewhere...
Question:What are your opinions about installation/configuring PTC environment compared to other environments?
We were an independent consultancy on dynamic publishing environments until about 3 years ago. We became an PTC reseller partner focused solely on Arbortext because we've had such great experience with the product and we see the strategy behind the integration of all the pieces. We've built these systems from scratch, in the DIY model, and we've delivered full-Arbortext suite solutions. If you couldn't tell by looking at us (http://www.single-sourcing.com) you'd see where we come down on the question. We're not just another partner who has Arbortext on their contract from PTC. We're qualified, experienced, and know the products inside and out.
Question: Is there much implementation/configuration issues to take care of?
As far as software, all of the Arbortext products (editing, publishing, illustrations and Component Content Management) are all integrated. So there's no issues to take care of. Implementation/configuration issues depends on what you must have to start. That decision is about balancing what you must have now versus the cost to achieve it.
Question: How about the writing/editing/illustrating/publishing jobs in the environment?
These are all different roles, they all exist in the traditional world and in the dynamic publishing world. The roles remain the same (in terms of responsibility, process, and function). The tools change and in some cases the jobs become easier -- writers can WRITE, not format -- and in some cases the jobs become automated -- publishing jobs are queued and run overnight, black box. Does that begin to answer your question? Is there something specific you want to know?
Question: How the working in PTC environment differs from other "more writing oriented" environments?
Actually, I'd say the PTC environment is more "writing oriented" than traditional environments. In Word, say, you spend >50% of your time formatting the text. That's not writing: that's wasted, unproductive, tweaking time.
In the PTC environment, ALL your time is spent writing. Zero time is spent formatting because that process becomes automated.
Question: Is it easy to manage independent modules (for example module versions in publication versions, translations)?
Are you a Pro/E user or a software developer? In dynamic publishing environments, you develop a body of content that you can assemble and publish. Translations are just another part.
Keywords to google: "modular writing", "structured authoring"
It sounds like you've got questions that go well beyond email. Feel free to reach out to us offline. We're happy to help. Contact details here: http://communities.ptc.com/blogs/lizfraley/2010/08/07/information-not-a-personal-diary
Question: Have you integrated IsoDraw to the environment and does the "automatic updating" to publication when original drawing is updated work well?
PTC integrated IsoDraw into the Arbortext environment. If the illustration changes, the publication will automatically include those changes.
