Also .. it wasn't clear to me (I may have missed it) if these
"structured" files are sourced as XML or FM binaries. If structured FM
binaries, local (non-EDD) formatting will generally stick around, but
can revert to the EDD-defined formats under certain situations.
Personally, I find that the structured FM binary route can cause more
problems than it solves (I know this is not a widely-held belief, so
take with a grain of salt). :o
If XML sourced (the "proper" way to do structured authoring in FM ..
IMHO), heed Chris' advice.
...scott
On 9/11/12 10:45 AM, Chris Despopoulos wrote:
I thought the idea was to format via the EDD, only. Users should
never just apply pgf formatting, because it will get lost (as you
describe). Structure demands template dictatorship on steroids... Or
rather, it imposes it. To add new pgf formats, and to set up users to
apply them, you would have to:
* Create the new formats
* Modify the EDD and the XML to include attribu.tes
* Use the attributes to set the current formatting for the given *element*
* Modify the EDD to set up format rules that map your formats to the
attribute vals
* Store all the above in the template
In theory, you could create an attribute that is a list of values, and
each value is the name of a pgf format. Then you set up format rules
for every pgf-level element to apply the format that matches the
attribute value. Then do the same for char, table, and other
formats??? But this kind of defeats the purpose of structure. The
idea with structure is (as has already been said) to separate
structure from display. You want a machine to make the display
decisions at the last minute. And FrameMaker is just one such
machine. By using that principle, then you can automate great things,
like if you move a section to become a sub-section, all the formatting
adjusts automatically.
I'm sure you know all this, but maybe you need to remind the customer.
Or maybe you need to interpret the customer request as a symptom that
the EDD/DTD is not sufficiently specified for their project. Maybe
it's time to address more fundamental issues?
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