MSDN Publishing
September
2003
Before You Start
Contents
Introduction
The
Handoff Process for Offline
Products
Publishing
Schedule: Quarterly MSDN Subscriptions Library
Releases
What
We Need for Offline
Publishing
Handing
Off Content for the Quarterly MSDN Subscriptions Library
CD/DVD Product
Reviewing
Content for QA After It Is
Built
Content
Maintenance Over Time
The
Handoff Process for the MSDN Online
Library
Schedule:
MSDN Online Library
What
We Need for Online
Publishing
Handing
Off Content for the MSDN Online
Library
Reviewing
Content for QA After It Is
Built
Content
Maintenance Over Time
Drop
Locations for Offline and Online
Products
Things
To Remember
Further
Reading
Introduction
The MSDN Library is built to several different
products. We have the MSDN Online Library, the quarterly
MSDN Subscriptions Library CD/DVD product, an MSDN
Library included with Visual Studio, and other
iterations of our product. Because of the different
products we maintain, we have slightly different
requirements and drop locations for each product.
There is a specific handoff
process for offline products because offline content
will generally appear as it does in standalone builds
and does not need to be modified in any way. Please note
that the MSDN Subscriptions Library offline product is
produced on a quarterly
time schedule. Also, there is a handoff
process for the MSDN Online Library because the
online content must be modified to fit the MSDN online
template. The online and offline cycles are often
divergent from each other; therefore, contributors will
often receive bugs that refer specifically to either the
online or the offline products.
Often contributors will request that their content
only appear in either the online or offline product.
Therefore we request that contributors create unique
Product Studio tracking bugs for each destination. This
will ensure that content will be built to the
appropriate products. This also means that content
dropped for an offline product will not automatically be
picked up for the online product, and vice versa. If you
wish to have your documentation converted and published
in both the offline products and the MSDN Online
Library, you must open separate tracking bugs.
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The Handoff
Process for Offline Products
The offline product in this case refers to the
quarterly MSDN Subscriptions Library CD/DVD product. For
information regarding Visual Studio builds, please
e-mail the MSDN
build team (msdnbt@microsoft.com) for specific
information.
Before handing off content, please make sure the content
submission standards have been met and that you have
noted the quarterly
offline publishing schedule.
A "Call for Content" e-mail is sent out each
quarter.
Figure 1 shows the handoff process for the MSDN
Subscriptions Library.
Figure 1. The handoff process for the
MSDN Subscriptions Library
Publishing
Schedule: Quarterly MSDN Subscriptions Library
Releases
Jan04 Release
Third week of Sept: Call for
Content
Third week of Oct: Content Lockdown
Fourth
week of Oct – First week of Nov: QA Review
Second
week of Nov: Zero Active Bugs
Apr04 Release
Third week of Dec: Call for
Content
Third week of Jan: Content Lockdown
Fourth
week of Jan – First week of Feb: QA Review
Second
week of Feb: Zero Active Bugs
Jul04 Release
Third week of Mar: Call for
Content
Third week of Apr: Content Lockdown
Fourth
week of Apr – First week of May: QA Review
Second
week of May: Zero Active Bugs
Oct04 Release
Third week of June: Call for
Content
Third week of July: Content
Lockdown
Fourth week of July – First week of Aug: QA
Review
Second week of Aug: Zero Active Bugs
Please also look up the current time
schedule for publishing offline content
(\\msdnfs\MSDNUsers\Library\).
What We
Need for Offline Publishing
- For contributors to consult the offline
publishing schedule (\\msdnfs\MSDNUsers\Library\)
- For contributors to properly prepare their
content so that it meets all MSDN
submission standards
- For contributors to open a Product
Studio tracking bug to initiate the process,
assigning it to their Content
Manager
- For contributors to drop content to file://ppgbuild01/dropoff
(for the quarterly MSDN Subscriptions Library CD/DVD
product)
- If \\ppgbuild01\dropoff is closed (it is closed
for submissions during that phase of the Quarterly
cycle when necessary to guarantee the stability of the
Quarterly builds), contributors must create their own
public share, drop the content to that location, and
note the location in their Product Studio bug
- For contributors to watch for ongoing bugs
assigned to them and attend to them promptly
- For contributors to be responsible for maintaining
their content over time
Handing Off
Content for the Quarterly MSDN Subscriptions Library
CD/DVD Product
Before handing off content, please make sure the content
submission standards have been met and that you have
noted the quarterly
offline publishing schedule
(\\msdnfs\MSDNUsers\Library\).
We use Product Studio to communicate with product
teams regarding their bugs. It is expected that all
product teams designate a contact person in their team
to whom MSDN can log bugs. That person is expected to
check Product Studio at least once a day during
production to make sure no urgent issues arise. We
recommend that users install PSAlert, Bugger, or another
Product Studio monitoring tool to use when attending to
issues that arise and when tracking the progress of
their bugs. You will be able to review your bug at any
time to find out where it currently is in the
process.
To handoff content for offline publishing:
- Drop your HxS/HxI files to the drop
location.
For the MSDN Quarterly Subscriptions
Library that location is file://ppgbuild01/dropoff.
Once content has been dropped to this location,
revisions should also be made to the same location.
If \\ppgbuild01\dropoff is closed (as it is during
the phase of the Quarterly cycle when it is closed to
submissions to guarantee the stability of the
Quarterly builds), contributors must create their own
public share, drop the content to that location, and
note the location in their Product Studio bug. The
MSDN Build team will pick up the files from that
location at the appropriate time.
- If you need to install Product Studio, go
to http://productstudio/.
- Open a Product Studio tracking bug and
assign it to your content manager if you are:
- Submitting a new file(s)
- Dropping a revised file(s)
- Deleting a file(s) from the Library (files
continue to ship in the Library until a contributor
requests them to be removed)
- You must use the Product Studio template to create
a Product Studio tracking bug for your content. Download
the Product Studio template (offline.pst)
(\\ppgbuild01\public\PSTemplates). (To use this
template, copy the .pst file to your local machine and
place it at C:\Documents and Settings\<your
alias>\My Documents\Product Studio Files).
- Use the following fields in Product
Studio:
Issue type: Production
Priority: 3
Severity: 3
Source: Other
How found:
contrib
MediaType: CD and DVD
Release: choose
the appropriate quarterly release
- In the body of the bug, please provide the
following information, which is listed in the Product
Studio template:
- File name: the name(s) of your document
set (HxS/HxI pair). You can list multiple docsets
here if they are part of a collection.
- Title of each .hxs in the set
- Total size of the doc set
- Content manager: the name of the MSDN
content manager who deals with your content
- Version number of the doc set (obtained
by right-clicking the hxs and getting the
properties). File versions must increment each time
a new file is dropped to MSDN (for example
7.0.1032.2322). For more file versioning info, see
Content
Submission Standards for Product Documentation
Sets.
- If content is an update to doc sets already
submitted to MSDN, provide a list of
content that has been added or removed
- Product team contact: name of a contact
to whom we should log Product Studio bugs. All bugs
will be assigned to this alias; this person can in
turn reassign bugs to others on their team, as
necessary.
- Requested quarterly build: your requested
live date or targeted quarterly date, if any
(for example MSDN Quarterly October 2003)
- Location from which docs can be obtained.
Indicate here that your files have been dropped to
the drop location.
- TOC placement: requested location
within the master TOC if this is new content or
if it needs to be moved within the Library.
- OTHER COMMENTS: Any special notes you
need to add go here.
Note Contributors
can log multiple HXSs in one Product Studio bug (for
example, multiple Windows CE or Exchange builds), but
they will have to log a bug for each release of
their product. This means that they will log a
different bug for the MSDN Online Library, the MSDN
Subscriptions Library, and the next release of Visual
Studio, if applicable.
Reviewing
Content for QA After It Is Built
Verify that the proper content and TOC information
are showing up in the daily MSDN Library builds. The
daily builds are installed on a Terminal Server named
Spectre01. Use Remote Desktop to connect to this
machine. The MSDN QA team also makes a QA pass on the
content.
Once your content has been posted to
spectre01, it is the contributor's responsibility
to review the content and the TOC information to confirm
that it meets the following QA requirements:
- TOC check—verify that:
- All content is in correct location in the TOC
- Topic pages open correctly
- No pages contain File Not Found in the TOC page
where the article's title should be
- TOC and topic title are identical
- Content titles should not appear as double nodes
(title listed twice in descending levels). For
instance:
User Interface
Basics
Overview: User
Interface
Basics
Overview:
User Interface Basics
The repeated title,
"Overview: User Interface Basics," should only appear
once at the higher level in the TOC.
- Geopolitical check—verify the following:
- Check the fix recommendations for English
products in the English
Terms Reference Guide
(http://gpsweb/tools/policheck/DisplayTerms.asp?LCID=9)
on the GeoPolitical Strategy Web site and verify
that content does not include any of the "must fix"
terminology
- Also, check the GeoPolitical Strategy home page
for new geopolitical issues at Welcome to GPSweb
(http://gpsweb/).
- Functionality check
In addition to verifying
basic functionality for Library functions, also check
the following:
- Cursory link check: Check random links in
content to make sure nothing is wrong
- TOC sync check: Random check to make sure
that content syncs to TOC
- Script check: Verify that all functions
such as glossary look-ups and popups work as expected
- Formatting check—verify the following:
- That formatting within sections is uniform
- That the appropriate footer and CSS are inserted
- Basic Proofing—verify the following:
- High-profile dates and copyrights are current
- Check for common typos and errors (missing
graphics, common misspellings of Microsoft products
and so on)
- No gross formatting bugs or obvious errors (blank
pages, bad margins/frames, broken toolbars and so on)
Content
Maintenance Over Time
The content owner is responsible for making fixes
subsequent to publishing, such as updating product
naming, fixing broken links, making corrections in areas
such as geopolitical issues, and following any other
MSDN requirements that come into effect.
If new MSDN requirements come into effect, you will
be contacted by your content manager to ask you to make
the changes. We will always ask product teams to make
changes rather than have MSDN do them to ensure that the
changes appear in all future content drops. You may also
initiate changes in your content for any reason. If your
team is directing the redrop of content, please log a
new Product Studio bug as discussed below. If MSDN
directed your team to rebuild, please contact your
content manager, who will help to facilitate the rebuild
of your content.
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The Handoff
Process for the MSDN Online Library
Before handing off content, please refer to Content
Submission Standards for Product Documentation Sets
and be sure that these have been met.
Product Studio is our method for communicating with
product teams regarding their bugs. It is expected that
all product teams designate a contact person in their
team to whom MSDN can log bugs. That person is expected
to check Product Studio at least once a day to make sure
no urgent issues arise. We recommend that users install
PSAlert, Bugger, or another Product Studio monitoring
tool to use when attending to issues that arise and when
tracking the progress of their bugs. You will be able to
review your bug at any time to find out where it
currently is in the process.
Figure 2 shows the handoff process for the MSDN
Online Library.
Figure 2. The handoff process for the
MSDN Online Library
Schedule:
MSDN Online Library
There is a two-week period during the Quarterly
CD/DVD cycle when the QA team must concentrate fully on
the Quarterly CD. During these periods we will be
unable to prop content for MSDN Online Library.
Refer to the Quarterly CD/DVD
cycle schedule (\\msdnfs\MSDNUsers\Library\) to look
up these dates.
What We
Need for Online Publishing
Handing Off
Content for the MSDN Online Library
- Drop your HxS/HxI files to the drop
location.
For the MSDN Online Library that location
is file://ppgbuild01/webcollection.
Once
content has been dropped to this location, revisions
should be made to the same location.
- .If you need to install Product Studio, go to http://productstudio/.
- Open a Product Studio tracking bug,
assigned to your content manager, if you are:
- submitting a new file(s)
- dropping a revised file(s)
- deleting a file(s) from the Library (Files
continue to ship in the Library until a contributor
requests them to be removed)
- You must use the Product Studio template to create
a Product Studio tracking bug for your content.
Download the Product Studio template (online.pst) from
\\ppgbuild01\public\PSTemplates. (To use this
template, copy the .pst file to your local machine and
place it at C:\Documents and Settings\<your
alias>\My Documents\Product Studio Files).
- Use the following fields in Product Studio:
Issue type: Production
Priority: 3
Severity:
3
Source: Other
How found: contrib
MediaType:
online
Release: choose the appropriate FY Quarter
- In the body of the bug, please provide the
following information, which is listed in the Product
Studio template:
- File name: the name(s) of your document
set (HxS/HxI pair). You can list multiple docsets
here if they are part of a collection.
- Title of each .hxs in the set
- Total size of the doc set
- Content manager: the name of the MSDN
content manager who deals with your content
- Version number of the doc set (obtained
by right-clicking the hxs and getting the
properties). File versions must increment each time
a new file is dropped to MSDN (for example
7.0.1032.2322). For more file versioning info For
more file versioning info, see Content
Submission Standards for Product Documentation
Sets.
- If content is an update to doc sets already
submitted to MSDN, provide a list of
content that has been added or removed
- Product team contact: name of a contact
to whom we should log Product Studio bugs. All bugs
will be assigned to this alias; this person can in
turn reassign bugs to others on their team, as
necessary.
- Live date requested for this content
- Location from which docs can be obtained.
For online, that location is file://ppgbuild01/webcollection.
Just indicate here that your files have been dropped
to the drop location.
- Location requested in the master TOC, if
this is new content or it needs to be moved within
the Library
- Other comments: record any special notes
or comments here
Note Contributors
can log multiple HXSs in one Product Studio bug (for
example, multiple Windows CE or Exchange builds),
but they will have to log a bug for each
release of their product. This means that they
will log a different bug for the MSDN Online
Library, the MSDN Subscriptions Library, and the
next release of Visual Studio, if applicable.
Reviewing
Content for QA After It Is Built
Once content has been built, contributors must
review content for Quality Assurance on file://MSDNPROD/library.
Verify what is showing up according to the list below.
The MSDN QA team also makes a QA pass on the
content.
Your content must meet the following QA requirements:
Content
Maintenance Over Time
The content owner is responsible for making fixes
subsequent to publishing, such as updating product
naming, fixing broken links, making corrections in areas
such as geopolitical issues, and following any other
MSDN requirements that come into effect.
If new MSDN requirements come into effect, you will
be contacted by your content manager to ask you to make
the changes. We will always ask product teams to make
changes rather than have MSDN do them to ensure that the
changes appear in all future content drops. You may also
make changes in your content for any reason. If your
team is directing the redrop of content, please log a
new Product Studio bug as discussed earlier. If MSDN
directed your team to rebuild, please contact your
content manager, who will help to facilitate the rebuild
of your content.
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Drop
Locations for Offline and Online Products
Because the MSDN Library is a family of different
products, each product has unique handoff requirements.
- For the quarterly MSDN Subscriptions Library
CD/DVD product, drop to file://ppgbuild01/dropoff.
If \\ppgbuild01\dropoff is closed (it is closed for
submissions during that phase of the Quarterly cycle
when necessary to guarantee the stability of the
Quarterly builds), contributors must create their own
public share, drop the content to that location, and
note the location in their Product Studio bug.
- For the MSDN Online Library, drop to file://ppgbuild01/webcollection.
Things to
Remember
- Be sure to log the drop location you have used in
the appropriate Product Studio bug.
- Remember to drop copies of files to multiple
locations if it is to appear in several different
products.
- Once content has been dropped to any of the above
locations, additional drops should be made to the same
location.
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Further
Reading
For further detailed information about preparing your
product documentation sets, please continue on to the
following resources:
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