Using Framemaker 12.0.1.331 all publish operations crash if the document contains a UserString of 1 or more characters in a table element.  We use UserStrings in this way to hold metadata about tables such as database keys and effective dates.

The Mif looks like this:  [We would normally have an xml fragment here but this is enough to produce a crash]

<Tbl

  <TblID 10>

<UserString `A'>

  <TblTag `Format A'>

  <TblFormat

Incidently a zero length UserString doesn't result in a crash.

Looks like a bug to me.

regards,

    Colin

I'm using FrameMaker 12 to edit topics in DITA. Unfortunately when I add an image, FrameMaker re-sizes it. I want to stop it doing this, but I can't work out how. It looks like FrameMaker correctly reads the image size in pixels, but adds the width and height in pt not px. For example, I have a 602px by 265px image that gets added to a DITA topic as the following:

<image href = "adobe.png" height="265.000px" width="602.000px"  />

I am trying to publish a ditamap to pdf with FM11. Adobe seems to recommend to save as a FM book with components and then to PDF. Then the hierarchy was lost in the PDF even though it looks very good in the FM book structure.

Almost all topics are rendered as a  chapter;

the exception is when the chapter has a href to a dita file;

all sections are rendered as a section no matter where this section belong to and which layer its parent topic is on;

all the topic title use title.0 para tag, and sections use title.1 para tag, so they are all included in the TOC as chapters and sections, no matter which layer they are on in the ditamap;

the numbering of chapter/section are in a mess.

I have looked into the ditafm-output.ini and didn't find useful settings. Any suggestions or clue? or FrameMaker is only not capable for these issues? or can only publish a flat topic PDF?

Thanks!

I have templates with indents/tabs etc. originally defined in mm, but when I export the element catalog as EDD, indents/tabs etc. in the generated EDD are defined in inches. (This is in FM9)

The Display Units in View Options is set to mm, but even changing this to other settings has no effect.

In FM8, the units in the generated EDD are in mm as expected.

Is there a preference setting somewhere that i am missing?

Hi all,

I'm working on a Structured FM9 Document.

My problem is a little complicated to explain, so I hope I can be clear.

My document has some text added as an 'Element', the formating for which is in the EDD.

The instructions for formatting is(basically) if 'Element' is last, use format Key1Last.Otherwise use Key1.

The difference between Key1 (the regular format) and Key1Last is that Key1Last adds a line break after the element.

This year we are doing a USA version of the catalogue as well, which for regulatory reasons requires some of the text in the 'Element' tag to be made hidden. I have done this using Show/Hide conditions. The only problem is that when I 'hide' the elements I lose the assosicated formatting of a line break.

My co-worker has suggested that I add a 'blank' Element which I turn on as conditional text when I turn the other conditions off, but I'm hesitent to do this as I feel like it's 'string and sticky tape' approch, just fixing it for a short time, rather than creating a working solution.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Hello,

I am using FM9 but this issue has been hanging around since my company got FM 8.

We only import jpg files into framemaker, but when exporting to XML FM generates cgm and changes the reference in the xml to point to the cgm file it generates. But this only happens once or twice out of the 100s of images we import...i cannot find anything differnt about the files or the way they were imported...any thoughts as to why this happens?

This message is not a question, but a report of some unexpected behavior that some of you might find interesting.

When FrameMaker interprets an XML document, it assumes that some XML attributes represent FrameMaker properties, whether or not the XML attributes also map to FrameMaker attributes. In my experience, the XML attributes that most often correspond to both FrameMaker properties and FrameMaker attributes are the entity attribute of a graphic and the cross-reference id attribute of a cross-reference.

I have an application with a DTD that includes a cross-reference element named cross_reference. The EDD (and hence the import template) defines an IDReference attribute called idref.  There are no read/write rules pertaining to the cross_reference element or its attributes and no XSLT pre-process. When I open an XML document using this application, the expected behavior occurs. In particular, input such as:

<cross_reference format="fmt" idref="xyz"/>

imports correctly, creating a cross-reference element named cross_reference that uses cross-reference format fmt. The idref attribute of the FrameMaker element is set to xyz and the cross-reference source is the element with a UniqueID attribute set to xyz.

However, when I add an XSLT pre-process, import of this element fails. The log file contains an error message for each cross_reference to the effect that no ID reference has been specified. The resulting FrameMaker document has values for the idref attributes, but they don't seem to have been used to set the cross-reference source. Adding a read/write rule:

element "cross_reference" {

  is fm cross-reference element;

  attribute "idref" {

     is fm property cross-reference id;

     is fm attribute;

     }

  }

solves the problem. The format attribute was processed correctly without a r/w rule. I do not understand why the use of XSLT affects FrameMaker's default processing, but it does.

I have confirmed this behavior in FM8 and FM9 but have not tested in earlier versions.

Hi All,

I'm working with Structured FrameMaker to author XML and I'm facing a problem that I've never had with FM 7.2: if I have a non-breaking space in a variable definition, when FM saves the file, it replaces the non-breaking space with the character code 0x11. I get the error message that states the file contains invalid characters. Worst of all, I can't reopen this file any longer with FM...

Is there any solution or workaround? For me it's a crucial issue as it just doesn't allow me to continue using FM for XML.

I'll appreciate any advice. Many thanks in advance,

Alex

I have an sgm file which contains special characters in different languages.

<!DOCTYPE MANUAL PUBLIC "-//SWE-XXX//DTD XXX MANUAL-DTD 2.0//EN">
<MANUAL LANG="CS">
<TITEL>
Polish characters: &oacute;&ecirc;&iquest;&ntilde;&aelig;&Ntilde;&AElig;&Ecirc;&yen;&Oacute;&pound;
Czech characters: &eacute;&igrave;&oacute;&iuml;&aacute;&oslash;&egrave;&iacute;&ugrave;&ograve;&uacute;&Og rave;&Igrave;&Eacute;&Oacute;&Uacute;&Ugrave;&Egrave;&Oslash;&Iacute;&Aacute;&Iuml; aacute: &aacute;</TITEL>
</MANUAL>

Is there any way to insert special character directly in sgm file, so that it won't have to be interpreted by isoents mapping rules?

isoent.rwr interpretes oacute as:

entity "oacute" is fm char 0x00F3;

But I would like to use 0x00F3 directly in fm file, so that if any additional character is needed - I won't have to update isoent files

I've tested already:

&#x00F3;

&x00F3;

&0x00F3;

but with no luck

Is there anyone who could help me with it?

I will really appreciate your help

/Joanna

I'm authoring in structured FM 10 using a DITA 1.2 application on Windows 7, but working with FM documents rather than XML files. I was having problems updating cross-references in my existing (structured FM 7.2) files after upgrading to FM 10 -- FM was changing all xref formats to DITA Default Format, which blew away all of my defined formats. So I opened one of the standard structured templates included with FM 10 (DITA_1.2/app/technicalContent/template/topic.template.fm), thinking that I set up my structured application incorrectly.

I know I must be missing something simple, but this is what happens when I create and update a cross-reference:

1. Using the unmodified structured  template and the unmodified DITA 1.2 application that comes with FM 10, add an fm-xref element.
2. Using the DITA-Cross-Reference dialog box, create the xref (doesn't  matter if it's an internal or external xref).
3. Select See_Title_and_Page xref format. Xref looks fine in the source document.
4. Select Edit > Update Reference, and select All Cross-References.
   

When I click Update, FM updates the xref but changes the xref format to DITA Default Format. I can see that the See_Title_and_Page format included in the template uses the <$paratext> building block instead of <$elemtext>, but  I can't delete or modify this format and I can't create a new xref format, either, since the DITA  Cross-Reference dialog box doesn't give me those options.

However, if I create a new FM book and add this file to it, and then  select Edit > Update Book, and select All Cross-References, FM  updates the xref and maintains the xref format I chose.

So, why does updating a file remove the selected formats from all xrefs and replace them with DITA Default Format, while updating a book does what I'd expect (and what FM has always done)? And why can't I modify an xref format using the template/DITA 1.2 application that comes with FM10?

Thanks for any assistance.

  --Steve

Hi,

Using (still) Framemaker 8, Structured. I have documents that use the non-breaking hyphen. I would like to save these to XML, then use XSLT to translate the documents to a new form. When I encounter the non-breaking hyphen I would like to translate the non-break hyphen to a reagular hyphen.

What code(s) should I be looking for in the regular expression?

Thanks,

- m

Hi there,

is there any way to make the value of this attribute visible in my structure view window.

My cross references has to attributes "format" and "srcfile". I see the value of the attribute format because I defined it like this in my r/w rules

attribute "format"
{
is fm property cross-reference format;
is fm attribute "format";
}

I thought the same thing works with the srcfile attribute too. But it doesn't. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Greetings all,

Am working on a FM 7.2 structured document. The history of this file: a document that I deleted all the irrelvent content and then added the new content.

The setting for Pagination is Before Saving & Printing> Delete Empty Pages.

The content fills 56 pages and from then onwards to page 113 there are blank pages that I can't figure out how to delete.

(The computer is Windows XP Pro. SP3 )

Would greatly appreciate advice on how to deal with this issue.

Donna

I am new to structured FrameMaker (and FM as well).  I have been editing my colleague's DITA XML files in FrameMaker 10.  I

typically open a variables.xml file first, then I open the individual xml files to edit, using the Track Text Edits feature.  Now, I opened the ditamap for these files (for the first time).  Then I clicked one of the xml files in the ditamap to edit, and the Track Text Edits looks like it's analyzing the ditamap file for several minutes, then displays this message:  "Finished Enable Track Text Edit in Map."  It will not let me select the xml file to edit.  It works fine as long as I don't open the ditamap.  Does anyone know why?

Thanks.

hi,

how to convert pdf to docbook xml using framemaker 10.0 version.  i am new to the framemeker tool.

please explain step by step.

if there video tutorial send me the URL.

Thanks in advance.

Running Framemaker 10.0.2.419 on a Windows XP machine (I know). I have created a structured app to take our structured files (made with a custom EDD), process read/write rules for graphics, tables, etc. then run an XSLT to convert the source tree to XHTML. Everything works fine except for table cells that straddle.

I have the following R/W rules in place:

element "td"

{

  is fm table cell element "TableCell";

  attribute "colspan" is fm property horizontal straddle;

  attribute "rowspan" is fm property vertical straddle;

  attribute "align" is fm attribute;

  attribute "valign" is fm attribute;

  attribute "charoff" is fm attribute;

  attribute "char" is fm attribute;

}

I have tested this to see the output from Frame prior to applying the XSLT and the colspan and rowspan attributes do not appear. Our custom EDD does not have specific attributes for colspan and rowspan but I did add these to TableCell element in the DTD.

Is there anyway to get the colspan and rowspan attribute to appear in the results tree (with the proper values for table cells that straddle)?

Thanks in advance for any assistance,

Andre

Hello all,

A discussion started elsewhere on whether or not formatting should be done inside the EDD. I think that discussion should be held here, as there will be more people who have experience with this on this forum than on the other non-public discussion site. Of course most of the participants in the discussion on the closed forum are on this forum as, well, so we can maybe continue our discussion with a larger group.

On this particular topic, there seem to be two completely opposite views, and I would like to hear from people on this forum what they feel about this.

On one side are those who state that formatting should be done completely in the EDD, as this takes the ability to mess up the formatting away from authors - who should not have any control over formatting as they should just deliver content. If formatting is put in their hands the compatibility with existing standards or earlier revision processes would be breached. One message mentioned an 'enforcable controllable environment' as the goal of working with structured Frame in the first place - if I am getting that point correctly (and of not, there will be reactions from the ones on this forum who belong to that camp).

The other side (which, according to the impression given on the non-public site, is a rare minitory viewpoint) is taking ALL formatting out of the EDD and allowing clients to do their own paragraph and character designer based formatting without having to edit the EDD. In this case, the client is not dependent on the person who created the EDD to change the font, text alignment, hyphenation etc. The EDD assigns paragraph format tags and the client can - if they want to - change those paragraph formats to suit their needs. I am a strong advocate of this position and have been using this strategy for my clients with a lot of success.

I do want to answer to the comments about control, just to clarify that the choice between formatting inside or outside the EDD is not the same as a choice between keeping full control or having no control whatsoever. Control or no control is another matter, in my opinion. I can easily see methods to make the paragraph and character designer unavailable in Frame for those who have no authority to make any changes to the company's style sheerts. This would leave those who are in control of the styling the option to define or redefine paragraph and character styles without having to bring in the expensive consultant who created the EDD for them. Changes to the EDD would for example be required to support another font for a Bulgarian translation.

Frankly, I do not want to make my clients dependent on my services just to change the font to Arial CYR if they happen to sell a machine to Bulgaria. Also, I don't want to build full support for all the formatting quirks my customers might ever need into an EDD that will become an almost unmanageable beast (and require expensive consultants to make any changes that do not bring the system to a screaching halt). My customers can create different templates, using different sets of fonts, paragraph formats, character formats and table formats, without ever changing the underlying structure that is defined by the EDD. It is their responsibility to define the look and feel of their documents, and it is mine to make sure the structure is correct. They pay me to build a structured authoring system, not to define their style guide. And if they do want me to create their style guide as well, I will create a template that contains all the required paragraph, character and table formats separate from the EDD. To ensure that their authors cannot mess around with the formatting I will even give them a little script that makes the designer pods go away and stay away. Plenty control, but not at the cost of putting the formatting in the EDD - where I do not think it belongs in the first place.

OK - that was my first round. Let's hear it from the others on this forum...

Kind regards from drizzly Amsterdam

Jang

Hi all,

it is necessary to set one or more attribute values of a parent element automatically only by exist or not exist conditions of an spezified child element!

Please help!

Good morning,

I'm currently in the process of structuring a set of unstructured user manuals using FM10 and the DITA 1.2 standard. I have my conversion table and templates setup and everything has been going well so far, but I can't figure out how to structure equations or insert new equations into a structured doc.

FrameMaker flags equations as an unsupported element (see below) no matter where the equation appears in the map.

I've looked through my element catalogue, but I can't find anything that seems like it would support an equation.

In some of my research, I've stumbled across something called a mathML element, but that doesn't seem to be an available option for me. Is this something that's only available if you are using DITA specialization?

If anyone has any ideas for how I can insert equations into my doc while keeping it inline with the DITA 1.2 standards, it would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

D'Arcy

FrameMaker 10 and patched || Windows 7 64-bit

Our company is migrating from unstructured to structured DITA XML.  We had not encountered any "showstoppers" that would keep us from proceeding...until we tried producing FM Book files for our print offerings.  It's my understanding that to take advantage of FrameMaker's numbering and pagination features using DITA source content, one must create a DITA map and save it out as a FM Book file, first.  However, when we do this—and subsequently try to print it like a "normal" book—all of our DITA <title> elements remain at the highest heading level.  In other words, each topic, which lives in a hierarchical structure inside any one of the DITA sub-maps, will always take on the paragraph style of .  My topic titles don't nest; everything is at a "flat" level!   Interestingly enough, they nest correctly if I print directly from a DITA map and not from a hybrid DITA+FM book file.  But if I take that route, I forfeit FrameMaker's ability to create a table of contents, index, etc.—features I can't live without.

I've tried fixing this behavior over the course of an entire week, but I have not had any success.  I cannot find any resources that address this issue, nor can I find anyone with the same issue.  Left to my own devices, I've experimented with re-building the maps numerous times; I've built the maps as plain maps and as bookmaps; I've even tried strange things like conref-ing everything.

What am I missing?  Does anyone know what is going on here?  How can I get my <title> elements to nest?

Some background information:

We place chapters in submaps (one per).

We place those submaps in one, big map.

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

Sean