I'd buy it! -bob
Robert Kern President, TIPS Technical Publishing, Inc. 108 E. Main Street, Suite 4 Carrboro, NC 27510 www.technicalpublishing.com bob at technicalpublishing.com 919-933-2629 phone and fax John Sgammato wrote: >Does anyone know if there is a single procedure-oriented book that describes >how to migrate a typical Unstructured FrameMaker manual (book file, chapters, >Toc, etc) to Structured FrameMaker using DocBook and FrameMaker 7.2? >I have a whole slew of assorted docs with a ton of information on background >and why this or that is important, and how to build a DTD and EDD and lots of >other stuff. >Surely someone somewhere has assembled the relevant information into something >more directly usable? >I would love to find some doc that says: "You need these files in this >directory structure, and you will generate this and that, and in the end it >should look like so. Now to customize it to your needs, do this..." > >john > >________________________________ > >From: framers-bounces+jsgammato=imprivata.com at lists.frameusers.com on >behalf of Bernard Aschwanden >Sent: Thu 1/5/2006 9:45 AM >To: 'John Pitt'; framers at lists.frameusers.com >Subject: RE: Docbook and Frame 7.2 > > > >A quick response is to ask if you have already printed and reviewed the >structure developers guide PDF that ships with FM. It's in the OnlineManuals >folder of the installation directory and is called Structure_Dev_Guide.pdf > >That's a pretty good start. As for some of the others... Depending on the time >you have available I can suggest that you get Kay Ethiers book "XML and >FrameMaker". > >In either case, look up the following: > >cols >widths >colsep >rowsep >frame >tabstyle > >A sample of some of the table rules that you need to consider are in the >Structure_Dev_Guide.pdf file in the CALS table model. The big warning on >working with tables (thanks to Lynne Price for this one when it drove me nuts) >is to ensure that the DTD you are referencing also contains the attributes >required for properties such as the number of columns, their width, span >properties and so on. If not, then you don't get the right output. That drove >me crazy since I thought I had all of FM working right (and I did) but I >failed to get the table coded in the DTD correctly. > >If you are dealing with docbook then I strongly suggest starting with >read/write rules that knock out the 8317 elements you don't need and keeps the >stuff you find useful. I also found a ton of the attributes to be overkill and >dropped them as well. > >Hopefully this gets you started. If it's not enough and you are at the DITA >conference in March in North Carolina, look me up and we can run a test or two >(assuming it's not too late). Finally, there are enough consultants (myself >included) on this list that someone can always be hired to pitch in on the >project. > >All the best, > >Bernard > > > >Bernard Aschwanden >Publishing Technologies Expert >Publishing Smarter > >bernard at publishingsmarter.com > >www.publishingsmarter.com > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: framers-bounces+bernard=publishingsmarter.com at lists.frameusers.com >[mailto:framers-bounces+bernard=publishingsmarter.com at lists.frameusers.com] >On Behalf Of John Pitt >Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 5:34 AM >To: framers at lists.frameusers.com >Subject: Docbook and Frame 7.2 > >After successfully avoiding structured Frame for the last 14 or 15 years, I >now have a client who wants me to get DocBook xml produced from his product's >code into Frame. The end result is to be used for a number of manuals and >pushed through WebWorks ePublisher Pro. > >While my reservations about structured Frame were not *totally* unjustified -- >it is a very steep learning curve -- and many of the elements in my client's >xml are not accepted by Frame, I am making headway. > >But there are still many gaps in my knowledge; the most worrying being tables >that refuse to behave, and whitespace throughout. The latter "should" >(according to the Frame doco) be removed automagically, but they are not. What >does seem to work, paradoxically, is to remove all of the spaces in the xml >code! > >My questions. How do I: > >@ control column widths in tables? > >@ control the total width of tables? > >@ prevent the last column in multi-column tables appearing as the first column? > >@ remove whitespace elegantly? > >@ get Frame to accept the schema in the first two lines of the xml file? >(I have tried many different versions, most of which should work, but Frame >invariably chokes). > >@ find an easily understandable guide to using DocBook/Frame? I have tried the >online doco that somes with 7.2 and got some benefits from the Steve Whitlatch >stuff on the net (and accelerated learning from Bernard Aschwanden's tutorial >-- thx again Bernard!) > >Not much is it? :) > >jjj > > >-- >_________________________ >John Pitt, technical writer >47 Gottenham St >Glebe NSW 2037 >Ph: 02 9692 8096 >Mob: 0438 92 8096 >john at pitt.net.au >www.pitt.net.au > >_______________________________________________ > > >You are currently subscribed to Framers as bernard at publishingsmarter.com. > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to >framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com >or visit >http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/bernard%40publishingsmarter.com > >Send administrative questions to lisa at frameusers.com. Visit >http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > >_______________________________________________ > > >You are currently subscribed to Framers as jsgammato at imprivata.com. > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to >framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com >or visit >http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/jsgammato%40imprivata.com > >Send administrative questions to lisa at frameusers.com. Visit >http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > > >_______________________________________________ > > >You are currently subscribed to Framers as bob at technicalpublishing.com. > >To unsubscribe send a blank email to >framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com >or visit >http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/bob%40technicalpublishing.com > >Send administrative questions to lisa at frameusers.com. Visit >http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. > > > -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.
