Hi,

Has anyone used Issue 2.3 or 3.0 schemas with Frame 10? 

I understand  the basics of what needs to be done and that I can download  older schemas and DTDs from s1000d.org, but I'm specifically looking for instructions on using Issue 2.3 or 3.0 schemas with FM10 or the feasibility of doing so.

Thanks!

Matt

My office recently upgraded from Structured FrameMaker 8 | Win XP to  Structured FrameMaker 11 | Win 7. We also upgraded some fonts, including Zapf Dingbats. We have replaced Zapf Dingbats with ITC Zapf Dingbats Std Medium.

We use an automated process to create the formatted FrameMaker files that involves importing xml feeds into FrameMaker templates. The  Zapf Dingbats font was used to create stars and to create square bullet. In order to create the stars, in the xml code we used the letter “H”. The code looked like this:
<row>
<tabletext><emphasis role="stars">HHH</emphasis></tabletext>
<tabletext><emphasis role="stars">HHH</emphasis></tabletext>
<tabletext><emphasis role="stars">HHHHH</emphasis></tabletext>
</row>

After the imported was completed, the xml “H” displayed as a solid star.

After replacing Zapf Dingbats with ITC Zapf Dingbats Std Medium, the imported data displayed with “?” marks instead of stars. I replaced the “H”s with the following tag: &#x2605;:

<row>
<tabletext><emphasis role="stars">&#x2605;&#x2605;&#x2605;</emphasis></tabletext>
<tabletext><emphasis role="stars">&#x2605;&#x2605;&#x2605;</emphasis></tabletext>
<tabletext><emphasis role="stars">&#x2605;&#x2605;&#x2605;&#x2605;&#x2605;</emphasis></tabletext>
</row>

This code displays the solid star.

Is it possible to generate the solid star using the “H” or is it necessary to use the &#x2605;?

I encountered a similar issue with the square bullet. In order to generate the solid squares, I needed to replace the Autonumber Format code In FrameMaker 11 paragraph designer from:
\n\t

To:
■\t

I also changed the code in the EDD from:
Autonumber format: \n[\t]

To:
Autonumber format: ■[\t]

Is it possible to generate the solid square using the “\n” or is it necessary to use ■?

I am evaluating Structured Framemaker 12 using DITA. I have placed a cross reference to several tables in my topics and want to reference them from the paragraph text e.g. Table 1, Table 2, etc. The Format Options I see are for DITA Default Format or for Figures (Figure, See_Figure, See_Title_and_Page, Title_and_Page) - none of which work. Any suggestions on what I'm doing wrong or missing?

Hi All,

Using structured FM 11 on Windows 7.

I need a way to round-trip paragraph format tags. I know it is easy to assign them on import with the EDD, but I'm not sure how to save them on export.

I was hoping the read/write rules could contain something along the lines of:

attribute "paraFormat" is fm property paragraph format tag;

I figure it can probably be done with ExtendScript or a custom API, but I would rather avoid these if possible.

Thanks!
Trevor

When converting a structured FM 11 file to RTF, FM freezes for a while, and when it's working again, the output is either a corrupted .rtf file, or FM crashes. The file we are trying to convert is over 200 pages long and has several images linked.

Is there a way to convert the FM file to RTF and maintain some formatting? We have tried saving the file by extracting it from the PDF, but the output does not have any formatting to it.

I've been working with FM for a little while now and have gradually picked up how to manipulate EDDs and such to do what I want. I've also learned a bit about output templates and how to work with them. But here's the thing that's driving me crazy:

I make changes to a template; I make sure to import the EDD into it; I can test that EDD formatting within the template and it works. I then attempt to create output from a DITA map, and the EDD formatting does not appear.

I have seen similar topics in this forum, but in those cases it seems to be a case of the OP forgetting to import the EDD into their templates. I know I have done this, and repeatedly at that. I also know that FM is looking at the template I created, because I can see other changes I've been making to the paragraph formats n the template.

I've imported the same EDD into every output template I can find (I have backups of the originals), and the formatting still does not seem to take.

Oh, and the EDDs used to import with errors, so I fixed those. They now import cleanly.

I also want to reiterate this: My EDD formatting works in the template itself.

In case it's relevant, the formatting I'm particularly interested in at this point adds a small graphic frame from the template reference page before each note tag; the graphic varies depending on the note tag's attribute. I'd like to figure out how to get that graphic into the side head, but that's another topic. First things first.

What am I doing wrong?

In the office where I work, we are upgrading from Structured FrameMaker 8 in Win XP to Structured FrameMaker 11 in Win 7. Part of the work that I do involves importing xml feeds into Structured FrameMaker templates using an automated process. As I am testing the importing into FM 11 I am noticing that the special character code used for a horizontal tab - &#09; - is not translating into a tab after the xml feed has been imported into the FM 11 template. It does translate into a horizontal tab when imported into FM 8. What special character code should be used for horizontal tabs in FM11?

I'm trying to upgrade from FrameMaker 9 to FrameMaker 11. My files are set up using structured FrameMaker and DITA. The ditamap is comprised of both FM files and XML files. I'm attempting to use the ditabase template and DTD and DITA 1.2.

When I open my XML files in Framemaker 11, any cross references to other chapters in the book and gone. The fm-xref tag that is there is empty. I know there are some changes to cross references between DITA 1.1 and DITA 1.2, but I'm wondering if there is a way to retain the cross references when I open the file in FM11 even if the cross reference does actually link to the referenced location. Or do I have to manually go through my document and re-enter all the cross references?

I'm also having trouble getting the cross references to use the correct font format. After searching through all the various edd files that are referenced, I found the section that applies to cross references and it seems to indicate that the font format is set in the cross reference format in FrameMaker, but I can't figure out how to change the cross reference format.

Then instructions in the Framemaker help say:

1. Choose Special > cross-reference.
2. Click Edit Format.
3. ....
   

But I can't find anything that says "Edit Format".

Thanks for the help,

Sharon

Hi,

I've read the forum discussions/solutions on setting PDF bookmarks, but I'm afraid the various solutions appear to only work if you are consistently working in .fm book files, not if your source files are in structured .fm format.

For example, I have to constantly reset the bookmark settings in FrameMaker when I follow our PDF process of saving the structured FM files via the File -> Save Ditamap As -> Book 11.0 with fm components (*.book) route. I can set the bookmarks in the first file of the book, and/or set them using the Format -> Document -> PDF Setup menu options. But an hour later, if I discover I need to make a change in our source material (.ditamap/.xml) and create a new PDF again, I must make the same exact bookmark settings at the .fm level in this process (i.e. creating new .fm files from the .ditamap/xml files overwrites the previous .fm files, requiring bookmark setting, again).

I think the only possible solution for a short-cut in this situation is to write a script to set those bookmarks each time we go from .xml to .fm. Does anyone see another way around this?

Thanks!

Diana

Hi Frame users and DITA enthusiasts

I would like to ask for your opinions when publishing DITA content to PDF, either with DITA-OT or Adobe PDF.

This is my first DITA Project and I been testing and playing around with both options but feeling stuck as I can't decide which option to go with.

Both the DITA-OT or Save as PDF will require some modifications, so I rather do things the hard way, then having to go back and create a new publishing template later.

Thanks and best regards

Hi,

I'm very new to DITA, I understand XML but am looking to create more documents using it and DITA/Framemaker seems the way to go.

Is it possible to create a document that looks through all of the topics in a folder then creates a new topic from those (essentially a summary), pulling out certain elements?

I'm looking at a timesaving mechanism, so that I can have lots of folders with subjects in each (ie - several topics) then be able to quickly create either summary sheets or note sheets from that content

Many thanks

John.

Hi,

Still finding my way around Framemaker! I'm trying to save as a pdf but exclude some XML elements

I have used DITA for the files (chapters) but seem to have ended up with a framemaker TOC and book format (.fm), but if that will work, that's k for now.

BUT I have cone to save as PDF, then under tags excluded 'note' and 'related links' but they still appear in the pdf output.

Can anyone give me some advice?

Many thanks

John

I use Framemaker 7.2 structured to generate software user guides.

Currently I am trying out Framemaker 10. In the Structure folder of the Framemaker installation folder there are many different types of structures available. The XML - UserGuide structure looks nice, but does not have elements for note or warning boxes.

In general, which of these out of the box structures (found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\AdobeFrameMaker10\Structure) are advisable to take for user guides? and why? what advantages does each structure (Book, DITA, xdocbook, Online, etc.) bring?

I would be grateful for any help you can provide.

I'm gearing up to write a bunch of new docs and am considering switching to XML, probably DocBook. Since we already own FrameMaker, I'll use that if there's no good reason to switch.

Can anyone point me to some introductory material on creating a DocBook project in FrameMaker and maybe some better sample projects than come with the product?

I just upgraded to Framemaker 10. I am encountering a number of problems when I try to work with my Dita XML help topics, which were last saved in Framemaker 9 format.

1. Using the Default Dita Template

When I open one of my documents in Framemaker 10, the Dita 1.2 template ditabase.fm is automatically applied. Everything seems fine. But then when I convert the XML to Eclipse help (which is essentially html, so we're going from XML to HTML) using Dita Open Toolkit ant scripts, I see this message:

[pipeline] [DOTJ013E][ERROR] Failed to parse the referenced file 'html\c_licensing.xml' due to below exception. Please correct the reference base on the exception message.
[pipeline] c_licensing.xml Line 25:Attribute "xmlns:ditaarch" must be declared for element type "dita".

I then opened the xml  file in a text editor, and I saw this on line 25:

<dita xmlns:ditaarch = "http://dita.oasis-open.org/architecture/2005/">

Line 25 looks fine to me. Am I missing something? 

2. Switching to a 1.1 Dita Template

I tried to work around the above problem. In Framemaker, I tried to set a different structured application as the default one. I closed all files and chose the default Dita 1.1 structured application (it defaults to the Dita 1.1. Composite app.)

Then I tried to open my file: I got this message inside Framemaker:

"Validation of XML failed. Continue?
Error at [FILE PATH], line 25, char 72, Message: Attribute '{http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/}ditaarch' is not declared for element 'dita'

Sounds familiar, doesn't it?

I switched from the default Dita 1.1. Composite structured application to the Dita 1.1. Topic structured application. Then I dirtied the source file and saved it. The messages I got in FrameMaker log window included the one above, plus I got a variety of Unknown Element messages, things like this:

Unknown element dita,

unknown element concept,

various attributes are not declared for concept,

unknown element conbody.

If I switch back to the Dita 1.1 Composite application all of these messages diappear except for this one:

Attribute '{http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/}ditaarch' is not declared for element 'dita'

My ant conversion scripts from the Dita Open Toolkit are still unable to process this file. They give the same message as is listed in (1) above and the file is not converted to HTML.

Can anyone help me with this problem? I've also posted this question to the Dita Users Group on Yahoo Groups. If I get an answer in one place, I'll post it in the other.

Thanks,

Nina P.

Hello,

I have been using FrameMaker 10 to convert fm files into DITA XML format. Some of my <title> elements contain "conkeyref" variables as the same topic is used in many different products.

When I cross-reference these topics, FrameMaker automatically adds the literal text in the title (including the placeholder text that my variable element uses) after the <xref> tag in my XML. When I generate the output using the DITA OpenToolkit, the cross-references do not update using the variable value, but instead use the literal text that Frame is adding.

For example, this is a line taken from the XML file:

<p><xref  type = "fm:" href = "dp_about.xml#id11CKI0FK0BI">Documentation Procedures in prodName</xref></p>

prodName is simply the placeholder text used to identify where a variable has been placed. When this is processed by the DITA OpenToolkit, Documentation Procedures in prodName displays in the output.

If I manually remove the automatically added text (as below), the output is generated properly using the defined variable value.

<p><xref  type = "fm:" href = "dp_about.xml#id11CKI0FK0BI"></xref></p>

Once I open the same XML file in FrameMaker, the cross-reference updates and the over-riding text is added back into the XML. I know that I can turn off the Auto-Load Xrefs On File Open option, but this does not help when adding a new cross-reference. This additional text is very troublesome and manually removing it from every XML file using a text editor is not an option (I currently have over 900 files in the document).

This problem also occurs if I change the title of one topic. The existing cross-references do not update to include the new title name when they are processed by the OpenToolkit.

How can I force FrameMaker to not add this text when a cross-reference is added to the XML?

Thanks

Hi all,

I am a technical writer and I am new to structured authoring.

I have a structured CMM for a component with ATA number 11-22-33 (example). Taking Source files of this CMM, i have to create a new CMM whose ATA number is 11-22-34. Contents of both CMMs are similar except some minor changes.

I have made all the required changes and now I am facing a problem with MTOSS Numbering.

I have to update ATA Number as 11-22-34 for TASK and Subtask level, but there is no Element Attributes for chapno, subno, secno. for TASK and Subtask

I have updated Book level attributes as chapno=11, subno=22, secno=34, but it is not reflecting throughout CMM pageblocks.

How can I change the attributes as chapno=11, subno=22, secno=34 for TASK and Subtask.

Please help me in this..

I've never done more than just briefly mess around with the xDocBook structure application in FM. Seemed to work fine, but never used it for real work so didn't get into it too deeply.

I was asked about using FM and DocBook specifically around indexing, so took a look at the indexterm element. If I create a very basic document .. title, para, and index entry, then save .. I get an error about mismatched tags. Looking at the resulting file I see this for the indexterm ..

<indexterm/><primary>level one</primary><secondary>level two</secondary></indexterm>

Notice the initial indexterm element, is EMPTY. This obviously hoses the entire document.

The same thing happens in FM8 through FM11.

When I try the SGML DocBook app, it works fine, which creates the correct structure of ..

<indexterm><primary>level one</primary><secondary>level two</secondary></indexterm>

Am I missing something very obvious here? Is there some setting that properly creates this structure? Or has no one tried to use DocBook (XML) in Frame for many years?

Cheers,

...scott

I've just started working with FM 11. I'd like to try out the new ability to convert Word docs to DITA, but I can't.

As I understand it, you copy part of a Word document (or an HTML document) to the clipboard. Then in Frame, you place the cursor in an element in a DITA topic, concept, reference, or task, and from the context menu, select "Smart paste."

I've tried this multiple ways, but the "Smart paste" item on the menu is always disabled.

I have installed DITA-FMx -- could that be the issue?

I am attempting to build an IETP from the sample S1000D bike data provided with TCS 4.  I have opened the S1000D bike sample Publication Module (PM) in Framemaker 11.  I followed  the help file instructions but have encountered a couple of issues.  First, when I attempted to set global applicability for the book, there are no applicability values available (see help file instructions below).

To implement applicability (Global) at a book level,

1. When the book file is in focus, select S1000D > Common Source Data.The S1000D Common Source Data dialog appears.
2. In the Common Source Data dialog, select the Applicability tab and then PCT.
3. In the list of products, select the applicable product and click Apply.

I am beginning to think that the Book/PM is not properly set up with applicability values.

Second, the "Publish IETP" menu item is grayed out and not available.

Any ideas on what I am doing wrong?

Mike