Do you suffer from Compulsive Obsessive Pagination Syndrome (C0PS)?
Reproduced from an email from Barry Halford, ActivECM, to the Yahoo! AuthorIT Users Group, in response to Gretchen Rogers' TIP OF THE WEEK: Pagination and Dealing with Unwanted Page Breaks.
Gretchen,
Thanks for the very clear explanation. It has made me realise that it is time to reveal the results of some research that I have been conducting, which might bring comfort and hope to fellow documentation practitioners around the world.
This research has identified a fundamental hazard of being a professional documenter. Probably because of its pernicious nature, it appears to be little-recognised but is much more dangerous than mere physical hazards such as RSI or being scalded by the coffee machine. The hazard is that, as a group, documenters tend to develop an obsessional attention to pagination. This manifests itself in the compulsive need habitually to squeeze just one more line on to a page, however pointless and unnecessary it may be. I have decided to call this Compulsive Obsessive Pagination Syndrome (COPS), and to do my best to publicise its existence and promote effective cures.
Sufferers will go to any lengths, deploy any methods, devote any amount of time to achieve their goal of 'perfect pagination', while others (who merely read documents) look on pityingly and uncomprehendingly before drifting off to enjoy spare time, contact with their families, leisure activities - all things that sufferers eventually forget ever existed.
Unfortunately, the condition is progressive - the more time sufferers spend creating paper documents the more severe the symptoms tend to become - but it is reversible. As with quitting smoking, it's never too late to gain benefit from kicking the habit. I know, because I am a former sufferer. Former because I was fortunate enough to stumble across what is undoubtedly the most effective current cure, which is also often referred to by the acronym AIT, or AuthorIT to give it its full name.
It took a while for me to accept the alternative life model offered by AIT, whereby not only is pagination put into true perspective (incredibly, I now realise that thermo-nuclear war can actually do more damage than a less-than-perfect page break), but also that I could be released altogether from having to do it. I had, after all, been developing my obsession for close on 20 years, and so was not easily going to be persuaded. Nevertheless, I was. After publishing my first few user guides in a mood of deep suspicion that a mere piece of software could do pagination (preposterous notion) and having the end results accepted by clients without a single mention of page breaks, I saw the light. Not only did most of the world not share my obsession, but also AIT (used in the appropriate dosage and as part of a healthier documentation lifestyle), provided an almost 100% cure for me and for other former sufferers.
Occasionally, people using AIT still backslide and resort to former habits such as adjusting graphic sizes, inserting special paragraphs - even afterpublish macros. Sometimes, such measures are even justified. But AIT users are generally much more aware of the dangers of COPS and the futility of chasing 'perfect pagination'. A bit of extra white space no longer provokes nightmares or terror attacks, and the soothing effect of colleagues' admiration for delivering yet another finished document only a few minutes after being asked to make 'just a small change' on page 12 of 873 is enough to restore their calm equilibrium.
So, if you know of someone exhibiting the symptoms of COPS, please help them. Encourage them to visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/authorit-users/ or www.authorit.com, where they will find understanding coupled with solid, practical assistance that could change their life forever.
Incidentally, as you are probably aware, AIT is highly effective in treating many other documentation-related conditions - in particular, those deriving from over-exposure to MS Word. Most of these are too distressing to describe here, but there is much evidence of their effects on sufferers to be found in the harrowing tales posted on the aforementioned user group.
Regards,
Barry Halford
