Hi Hedley, I gather from your email that you are trying to get the benefits of DITA?creating reusable, modular topics?using FrameMaker?s text inset feature. This approach makes sense, because you would eliminate the need for an expensive, XML-based content management system, which is really what you need to deliver on all the hype surrounding DITA.
This is an area of interest of mine as well, and I think I have a novel solution. Using the FrameScript language, I can easily encode a section/topic element from a FrameMaker document in XML and store that XML in an open-source, freely available database such as MySQL. I can then insert a section/topic element in a different FrameMaker document and have the option of importing one of the topics stored in the database. The script fetches the XML from the database and reconstructs all of the elements and text from the original root element (topic, section, etc.), preserving any elements, attributes, tables, equations, referenced graphics, and index markers. I have already used this approach for an embedded help authoring system that stores XML encoded content in a relational database. I will soon be releasing a freely available script for storing and retrieving topics in a database and will make the scripts and sample files available for download on my web site. I will also offer a commercial version that allows everyone in a work group to store and retrieve topics in a database at a reasonable cost. If this workflow is of interest to you, I would be happy to provide you with beta versions of the script in exchange for your input. Full disclosure: I am a FrameMaker internals developer and consultant and run a web site at http://www.golehtek.com that offers free and commercial applications for Adobe FrameMaker based on the FrameScript programming language. Please reply with an email if you are interested. I would like to learn more about what you are trying to achieve. Best regards, Martin Martin R. Smith President: GolehTek, LLC 703-889-0845 www.golehtek.com Quoting Hedley Finger <hfinger at handholding.com.au>: > > Lynne Price, Kay Whatley and others: > > The DITA DTDs are modularised to allow ready re-use, specialisation > and maintenance. > > Is there any way to create a modularised EDD, with a skeleton host > file and modules imported as text insets? I have been studying the > Adobe documentation for developing structured applications but cannot > find any reference to using text insets in this way. I read > somewhere a couple of years ago that EDD fragments always require a > root element that matches an element in the main host EDD skeleton, > which would rather undermine this idea. But perhaps there is a > special root element that can map onto ANY element in the host EDD -- > a new feature in FM8? > > It seems to me that both the Adobe and Leximation EDDs could benefit > from modularisation that exactly maps onto the *.dtd and *.mod files > of the DITA schemas/DTDs. > > Regards, > Hedley > > > -- > Hedley Stewart Finger > 28 Regent Street Camberwell VIC 3124 Australia > Tel. +61 3 9809 1229 Mobile +61 412 461 558, > E-mail <mailto:hfinger at handholding.com.au> > > > _______________________________________________ > > > You are currently subscribed to Framers as martin.smith at golehtek.com. > > Send list messages to framers at lists.frameusers.com. > > To unsubscribe send a blank email to > framers-unsubscribe at lists.frameusers.com > or visit > http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/martin.smith%40golehtek.com > > Send administrative questions to listadmin at frameusers.com. Visit > http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. >
