Understanding the database implementation of Author-it

Author-it uses a SQL Server database to house all of the source material that make up your deliverables. You can export that database content to XML and publish to Word or HTML and other outputs, but the source is stored in a database.

For locally-run databases (meaning that Author-it and the database are on the same computer), you can use a Jet database (also known as Jet, or MSDE, or SQL Express) to store your content. Updated to add: With a Jet database, your content cannot 2 GB and the upper limit for users is 5.

For server database installations, where the content is stored on a separate database server, you can use SQL Server 7.0, SQL Server 2000, or SQL Server 2005. You can use a pre-existing SQL Server database such as one that your company uses already by simply asking for a database to be created with certain permissions already set. That configuration is what we do at ASI.

You can also install and run your own SQL Server database using SQL Express which is relatively painless to set up and the installation instructions from both Author-it and Microsoft are detailed and thorough. The limitation for this configuration is that your Author-it library cannot exceed 4 GBMB.

Here are some helpful links for researching the database aspect of Author-it:

Installing Author-it

System Requirements for Author-it

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Find your user’s vocabulary and use his or her key terms as keywords

I just used this “trick” to find out what job titles are relevant for some of the task analysis we’re doing while writing new materials. I think it helps you get into your user’s shoes and also realize the value that your software or hardware product brings to those who decide to become an expert user with it. Here is an example - plug in your keywords and see what you find out about your users.

1. Go to Indeed.com, a job search aggregator site.
2. Type in the name of the main product you’re documenting. In my case, it’s a software product called iMIS.
3. Fill in a location that you think would have a lot of interest or activity around your software product. For my product, that location is Washington, DC.

Voila - look through the search results and pick out 5 keywords to use either as index entries, as role or persona names the next time you do task analysis, or sprinkle the terms liberally in the headings of your online documentation to aid in findability.

Example job titles from my scenario: database administrator, project leader, project coordinator, manager, accountant, administrative assistant, and a sprinkling of director.

If I were to subscribe to the RSS feed for this search, I’d call it yet another use for RSS feeds. For me, though, it’s a nice one-time check on the types of jobs people are trying to do with the software product I document.

Try it and let us know what you find, especially if any of it is surprising to you.

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