Re: greenfield and new structure
Hi John Nadine has already given you a good description of how to proceed. This is how you could generate a FrameMaker book from a ditamap with DITA-FMx: 1. Create your DITA topics. 2. Create a bookmap, in which each chapter is a ditamap. The bookmap also contains bookmeta, which contains information which will be converted to Fm variables. 3. Create a ditaval file, for example: ?xml version=1.0 encoding=UTF-8? val prop att=platform val=pdf action=exclude / prop att=platform val=help action=include / prop att=platform val=chm action=exclude / prop att=platform val=mac action=include / prop att=product val=productA action=include / prop att=product val=productB action=exclude / prop att=audience val=novice_user action=include / prop att=audience val=expert action=exclude / prop att=otherprops val=snow action=exclude / prop img=_graphics/warning.png alt=Warning! att=rev val=2.0 action=flag / /val 4. Check the following folders: - C:\Program Files\Adobe\AdobeFrameMaker11\Structure\xml\DITA-FMx_1.1\Book\component-templates. Here, you will find DITA-FMx component templates, which you can use to generate the Fm book from the bookmap. - C:\Program Files\Adobe\AdobeFrameMaker11\DITA-FMx. Here, you will find the ditafmx-bookbuild.ini file. 5. Copy the component-templates folder and the ditafmx-bookbuild.ini file to a new output folder, for example a subfolder of your project folder, i.e. the folder in which you have your DITA files, for example: my_project_folder output ditafmx-bookbuild.ini component-templates 6. Open the ditafmx-bookbuild.ini file and check the BookTemplatesDir=. This refers to the folder where the component templates are. 7. Choose DITA-FMx Generate Book From Map. 8. Select the bookmap and specify the output folder and enter a name for your Fm book. stepresultDITA-FMx will generate an Fm book, using the component templates. Now that you have an Fm book with some contents, you can customize it. This is how I do it: 1. Open my legacy unstructured Fm files. 2. Import the formats from my legacy unstructured Fm files into my generated Fm book. 3. Customize the formatting of the styles in the generated Fm files. The Global Update Options in the Paragraph and Character Designers can help here. TIP: Do not rename the formats which come from the component templates, for example title.0, title.1, step.continue etc. because these are also used in the EDD, for example: Element (Container): cmd If context is: step steps, use paragraph format: step.continue. 4. Import the formats from the generated Fm files into the component templates. TIP: I usually put my component templates in an Fm book, which makes it a bit easier to import formats. This video also gives you an idea of how the process goes: http://goo.gl/xGTpD Kind regards Yves Barbion www.scripto.nu ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
Thank you! This looks like exactly the guidance I need? On Saturday, December 1, 2012, Writer wrote: But surely somehow the para tags get mapped to elements for PDF output? Forget about formatting while you author. Learn to separate creating content from formatting. When I publish a procedure to PDF, suppose I want the steps to have 0pt above, 6pt after, etc - the stuff I usually set up in the paragraph designer. How do the elements get that information en route to becoming a PDF? I want to know how to set that up, too. And then I want to publish the same content to HTML, with different presentation. Now that I separate the presentation form the structure, I have misplaced where the presentation layer went... still scratching head One approach (described at a very general level): 1. Create your DITA topics. 2. Create a ditamap for your book/PDF. 3. Create a ditaval file, if you need one. 4. Save your ditamap as an FM book with FM components (or however it works in FM11). I think you mentioned that you're using DITA FMx? That should help you build your FM book. 5. Go through your FM book and format the tags that are applied to paragraphs and characters. Set up your master pages, reference pages, TOC file, index file, front/backmatter etc. 6. Once you're satisfied with the results, save your formatting as a template. 7. Next time you update your DITA files and recreate your FM book, apply those templates to the generated FM book files. Does that make sense? As for generating HTML, that's going to depend on what processor you use. This LinkedIn thread mentions several e-books about DITA (not FM). If you're not familiar with DITA in general, you might find something useful to give you a basis for using FM as a tool for authoring DITA. http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=gid=112571type=memberitem=181151686trk=group_search_item_list-0-b-ttlgoback=%2Egna_112571 Nadine -- *John Sgammato * Documentation Architect *e* john.sgamm...@actifio.com *w* +1-781.890.2950 x7652 *Recover anything instantly for up to 90% less than you're paying now.* ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
Fm11/TCS4 with DITA-FMx Sent from my Kindle Fire _ From: Writer generic...@yahoo.ca Sent: Sat Dec 01 22:53:53 EST 2012 To: John Sgammato john.sgamm...@actifio.com Cc: Rick Quatro r...@rickquatro.com, framers@lists.frameusers.com framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: greenfield and new structure John, what version of FM are you using? Nadine ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: greenfield and new structure
John, If you can get the money to do it, hire Suite Solutions (http://www.suite-sol.com/) to write the EDDs and style sheets (xsl-fo and xslt) for you. Instead of struggling with it, pulling your hair out, and getting freustated, let the pros do it. Your manuals and help files will look great. -Gillian From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of John Sgammato Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2012 6:26 PM To: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: greenfield and new structure I just started a new job at a software startup. I have basically a carte blanche to build an awesome doc system. The existing doc is mostly in DITA xml, but not yet in FM. I have TCS4 and DITA-FMx. I plan to go Structured. First deliverables will be PDFs, but I have flexibility after that. I would love to find some EDDs for basic DITA-compliant user manuals, and I'd love some war stories about getting Structured, tales of heroism and tragedy, etc. Please feel free to reply to me directly with comments not suitable for the broader community. This is going to be fun! -- John Sgammato Documentation Architect e john.sgamm...@actifio.commailto:john.sgamm...@actifio.com w +1-781.890.2950 x7652tel:%2B1-781.890.2950%20x7652 Recover anything instantly for up to 90% less than you're paying now. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
What other tools did you consider? If I had carte blanche, I'd probably use Confluence or MindTouch TCS. Have you done DITA with FrameMaker before? On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 6:25 PM, John Sgammato john.sgamm...@actifio.com wrote: I just started a new job at a software startup. I have basically a carte blanche to build an awesome doc system. The existing doc is mostly in DITA xml, but not yet in FM. I have TCS4 and DITA-FMx. I plan to go Structured. First deliverables will be PDFs, but I have flexibility after that. I would love to find some EDDs for basic DITA-compliant user manuals, and I'd love some war stories about getting Structured, tales of heroism and tragedy, etc. Please feel free to reply to me directly with comments not suitable for the broader community. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
Thanks Nadine! Yes, the existing product documentation was authored in oxygen in India. I don't have good access to those resources, but I have the DITA files. I have to make them look presentable, and then improve the quality of the writing, fill in gaps, etc. So I have no legacy FM content, only DITA content. I want to use FM's publishing capabilities. I am well familiar with unstructured FM10, but unfamiliar with structured FM11. john On Nov 29, 2012, at 7:00 PM, Writer generic...@yahoo.ca wrote: Congrats on the new job, John. Being the master of your own documentation is pretty awesome, eh? I would love to find some EDDs for basic DITA-compliant user manuals, and I'd love some war stories about getting Structured, tales of heroism and tragedy, etc. Please feel free to reply to me directly with comments not suitable for the broader community. This is going to be fun! I'm not clear on this. Are you saying that you have DITA files that were authored somewhere other than in FM, but you WILL be authoring DITA in FM in the future? If that's the case, EDDs are built into FM. Or did I misunderstand your question? If you are authoring DITA in FM, you might want to browse this user group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/framemaker-dita/ Learning to author in DITA is not very hard. However, creating output can be very challenging, and learning to architect your process from beginning to end BEFORE you get started is very important. Production challenges can mean that you have to have make certain authoring decision/compromises. Sometimes those decisions can only be learned through experience, so you might want to check out lists about your processing tool, if possible. Forgetting about formatting while you author is also challenging at first, but important. Marking up content based on its semantic value, rather than for formatting, can take a while to get used to. There's so much more that can be said. You're welcome to contact me offline if you have any questions. I don't use TCS4, so I can't answer RH questions. Nadine ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
I made great progress today. I was able to open the DITA files and get them pretty consistent with new master pages, etc. I see two issues right now that I cannot figure out: * I want to get rid of many, many paragraph formats that I won't need, but I don't know if it is safe to do that, or if it will break something. * I have many topics that I want to nest as H2s under H1s, etc, and I cannot see how to do that, but today was only my first day so I am sure I will get there. I am grateful for the progress I have made, but I wish I had some documentation! I tried the Yahoo group and Yahoo won't let me in with my old credentials - I'll resolve that tomorrow. It's getting late here in Boston! On Nov 29, 2012, at 7:16 PM, Writer generic...@yahoo.ca wrote: T hanks Nadine! Yes, the existing product documentation was authored in oxygen in India. I don't have good access to those resources, but I have the DITA files. I have to make them look presentable, and then improve the quality of the writing, fill in gaps, etc. So I have no legacy FM content, only DITA content. I want to use FM's publishing capabilities. I am well familiar with unstructured FM10, but unfamiliar with structured FM11. john I'm pretty sure what I'm about to say is accurate. Someone correct me if I'm wrong... You should be able to open those files in FM (make sure you're in structure mode). You can edit the EDD files and template files to look as close to your print documentation as you can so that when you generate FM books/files, the formatting is almost exactly as you need it. Have you tried just opening the DITA files in FM? If so, did you encounter any problems? When I used FM9, I only edited EDD and template files a little bit. I relied on my processors to format output completely. In the case of production PDFs, that meant generating FM books/files, and then applying an FM template to the generate files. Part of the reason for doing it this way was so we could use the generated FM files in different ways (branded/custom documentation, quick guides as opposed to full books, etc). BTW, we used WebWorks ePublisher to create draft PDFs and online help systems. ePublisher ingests ditamaps directly; you don't have to create FM files first. Nadine ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: greenfield and new structure
Hi John, In a structured FrameMaker document, the users don't deal directly with paragraph (character, table) formats anyway, so there is no practical reason to delete any. Rick Quatro Carmen Publishing Inc. 585-283-5045 r...@frameexpert.com -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of John Sgammato Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 7:25 PM To: Writer Cc: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: greenfield and new structure I made great progress today. I was able to open the DITA files and get them pretty consistent with new master pages, etc. I see two issues right now that I cannot figure out: * I want to get rid of many, many paragraph formats that I won't need, but I don't know if it is safe to do that, or if it will break something. * I have many topics that I want to nest as H2s under H1s, etc, and I cannot see how to do that, but today was only my first day so I am sure I will get there. I am grateful for the progress I have made, but I wish I had some documentation! I tried the Yahoo group and Yahoo won't let me in with my old credentials - I'll resolve that tomorrow. It's getting late here in Boston! On Nov 29, 2012, at 7:16 PM, Writer generic...@yahoo.ca wrote: ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
RE: greenfield and new structure
At 19:24 -0500 29/11/12, John Sgammato wrote:
* I want to get rid of many, many paragraph formats that I won't need, but I
don't know if it is safe to do that, or if it will break something.
I'm pretty green on structured as well (one project to date, but it was quite a
biggie). While building the EDD and template, I decided to get the EDD to
control document formatting entirely (or as entirely as possible) by invoking
para and char tags in the template. With this approach, I ended up with quite a
lot of para and char tags that existed solely to fulfil some aspect of the
mechanisation of the design, and which should ideally never be available to
users (who shouldn't be applying tags directly anyway).
The kludge I used was to prefix the names of such tags with a tilde ('~') to
move them to the bottom of the para and char palettes (in the old interface).
I don't know whether this will be of help to you, but enjoy your new role: it
sounds a great challenge.
--
Steve
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Re: greenfield and new structure
I have not done DITA with FM before, but I seem to be learning fast (despite the seeming utter randomness of related documentation - lots of reference info, lots of specific procedures, but no single Here's the procedure to build a user guide in a DITA environment doc). I got into a project with MindTouch at my former company, and the MindTouch people had zero experience or knowledge of FrameMaker, didn't even have a copy of the software. I don't know if they ever worked it out - I started the new job before that was resolved. On Thu, Nov 29, 2012 at 6:48 PM, Robert Lauriston rob...@lauriston.comwrote: What other tools did you consider? If I had carte blanche, I'd probably use Confluence or MindTouch TCS. Have you done DITA with FrameMaker before? On Wed, Nov 28, 2012 at 6:25 PM, John Sgammato john.sgamm...@actifio.com wrote: I just started a new job at a software startup. I have basically a carte blanche to build an awesome doc system. The existing doc is mostly in DITA xml, but not yet in FM. I have TCS4 and DITA-FMx. I plan to go Structured. First deliverables will be PDFs, but I have flexibility after that. I would love to find some EDDs for basic DITA-compliant user manuals, and I'd love some war stories about getting Structured, tales of heroism and tragedy, etc. Please feel free to reply to me directly with comments not suitable for the broader community. ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as john.sgamm...@actifio.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/john.sgammato%40actifio.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info. -- *John Sgammato * Documentation Architect *e* john.sgamm...@actifio.com *w* +1-781.890.2950 x7652 *Recover anything instantly for up to 90% less than you're paying now.* ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
But surely somehow the para tags get mapped to elements for PDF output? When I publish a procedure to PDF, suppose I want the steps to have 0pt above, 6pt after, etc - the stuff I usually set up in the paragraph designer. How do the elements get that information en route to becoming a PDF? I want to know how to set that up, too. And then I want to publish the same content to HTML, with different presentation. Now that I separate the presentation form the structure, I have misplaced where the presentation layer went... still scratching head john On Sat, Dec 1, 2012 at 10:03 AM, Rick Quatro r...@rickquatro.com wrote: Hi John, In a structured FrameMaker document, the users don't deal directly with paragraph (character, table) formats anyway, so there is no practical reason to delete any. Rick Quatro Carmen Publishing Inc. 585-283-5045 r...@frameexpert.com -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of John Sgammato Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 7:25 PM To: Writer Cc: framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: greenfield and new structure I made great progress today. I was able to open the DITA files and get them pretty consistent with new master pages, etc. I see two issues right now that I cannot figure out: * I want to get rid of many, many paragraph formats that I won't need, but I don't know if it is safe to do that, or if it will break something. * I have many topics that I want to nest as H2s under H1s, etc, and I cannot see how to do that, but today was only my first day so I am sure I will get there. I am grateful for the progress I have made, but I wish I had some documentation! I tried the Yahoo group and Yahoo won't let me in with my old credentials - I'll resolve that tomorrow. It's getting late here in Boston! On Nov 29, 2012, at 7:16 PM, Writer generic...@yahoo.ca wrote: -- *John Sgammato * Documentation Architect *e* john.sgamm...@actifio.com *w* +1-781.890.2950 x7652 *Recover anything instantly for up to 90% less than you're paying now.* ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
But surely somehow the para tags get mapped to elements for PDF output? Forget about formatting while you author. Learn to separate creating content from formatting. When I publish a procedure to PDF, suppose I want the steps to have 0pt above, 6pt after, etc - the stuff I usually set up in the paragraph designer. How do the elements get that information en route to becoming a PDF? I want to know how to set that up, too. And then I want to publish the same content to HTML, with different presentation. Now that I separate the presentation form the structure, I have misplaced where the presentation layer went... still scratching head One approach (described at a very general level): 1. Create your DITA topics. 2. Create a ditamap for your book/PDF. 3. Create a ditaval file, if you need one. 4. Save your ditamap as an FM book with FM components (or however it works in FM11). I think you mentioned that you're using DITA FMx? That should help you build your FM book. 5. Go through your FM book and format the tags that are applied to paragraphs and characters. Set up your master pages, reference pages, TOC file, index file, front/backmatter etc. 6. Once you're satisfied with the results, save your formatting as a template. 7. Next time you update your DITA files and recreate your FM book, apply those templates to the generated FM book files. Does that make sense? As for generating HTML, that's going to depend on what processor you use. This LinkedIn thread mentions several e-books about DITA (not FM). If you're not familiar with DITA in general, you might find something useful to give you a basis for using FM as a tool for authoring DITA. http://www.linkedin.com/groupItem?view=gid=112571type=memberitem=181151686trk=group_search_item_list-0-b-ttlgoback=%2Egna_112571 Nadine ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
John... The mapping from elements and their context happens in the structure application's template (which contains an EDD). The EDD contains element definitions, which in turn contain context rules. The context rules specify the formatting (paragraph and character styles, or other specified properties). FrameMaker and DITA-FMx provide default structure applications that you can use as the basis for building your own customized apps. Rather than just jumping in and modifying the default apps, I highly recommend cloning them to create your own apps. This is a bit more effort, but in the long run is the best way to go. While customizing the apps, you will break something (we all do), and it's very important to have the original apps readily available for testing and comparison. Here's some information about cloning the default DITA-FMx apps (a similar process can be used to clone the default FM-DITA apps) .. http://docs.leximation.com/dita-fmx/1.1/?ditafmx_cloningtapps.html When you create a FM book from a DITA map using default FM-DITA, you save your ditamap as a book with FM components. The chapter files are formatted with the current DITA structure application template (and underlying EDD). You can either use a customized app to get different formatting or you can import alternate templates into the files after the book has been created. If you're using DITA-FMx, use the Generate Book from Map command. This performs various book-build operations (as defined in the Book Build Settings dialog). If you set up a book-build INI file, you can define the pagination and numbering properties of the chapter files as well as the properties of any generated lists you include in your bookmap. This INI file also lets you specify additional (unstructured) files to include in the generated book (like a title page or other files). As well .. if you have metadata in you map (like copyright or version information), you can specify that those values be imported into the generated and included files as FM variables. This video provides an overview of this process .. http://blog.leximation.com/2010/03/pdf-publishing-with-dita-fmx-1-1/ Note that DITA-FMx 1.1 does not support DITA 1.2. When DITA-FMx 2.0 is available, that will support DITA 1.2. If you're using FM11, be sure to start with the DITA 1.1 apps or the default DITA-FMx apps as the basis for your customized apps. When publishing to HTML-based output, it really depends on what tool you use, but the mapping would happen in that tool. DITA-FMx provides a direct integration with DITA2Go and the DITA-OT. If you have TCS and want to use RoboHelp, your best bet is to generate a book from the map, then import that book into RoboHelp (don't try the direct ditamap import into RH). (I would love to hear from anyone who has had success with the ditamap to RH import!) Cheers, ...scott On 12/1/12 7:33 AM, John Sgammato wrote: But surely somehow the para tags get mapped to elements for PDF output? When I publish a procedure to PDF, suppose I want the steps to have 0pt above, 6pt after, etc - the stuff I usually set up in the paragraph designer. How do the elements get that information en route to becoming a PDF? I want to know how to set that up, too. And then I want to publish the same content to HTML, with different presentation. Now that I separate the presentation form the structure, I have misplaced where the presentation layer went... still scratching head john On Sat, Dec 1, 2012 at 10:03 AM, Rick Quatro r...@rickquatro.com mailto:r...@rickquatro.com wrote: Hi John, In a structured FrameMaker document, the users don't deal directly with paragraph (character, table) formats anyway, so there is no practical reason to delete any. Rick Quatro Carmen Publishing Inc. 585-283-5045 tel:585-283-5045 r...@frameexpert.com mailto:r...@frameexpert.com -Original Message- From: framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com mailto:framers-boun...@lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of John Sgammato Sent: Thursday, November 29, 2012 7:25 PM To: Writer Cc: framers@lists.frameusers.com mailto:framers@lists.frameusers.com Subject: Re: greenfield and new structure I made great progress today. I was able to open the DITA files and get them pretty consistent with new master pages, etc. I see two issues right now that I cannot figure out: * I want to get rid of many, many paragraph formats that I won't need, but I don't know if it is safe to do that, or if it will break something. * I have many topics that I want to nest as H2s under H1s, etc, and I cannot see how to do that, but today was only my first day so I am sure I will get there. I am grateful for the progress I have made, but I wish I had some documentation
Re: greenfield and new structure
John, what version of FM are you using? Nadine___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
Congrats on the new job, John. Being the master of your own documentation is pretty awesome, eh? I would love to find some EDDs for basic DITA-compliant user manuals, and I'd love some war stories about getting Structured, tales of heroism and tragedy, etc. Please feel free to reply to me directly with comments not suitable for the broader community. This is going to be fun! I'm not clear on this. Are you saying that you have DITA files that were authored somewhere other than in FM, but you WILL be authoring DITA in FM in the future? If that's the case, EDDs are built into FM. Or did I misunderstand your question? If you are authoring DITA in FM, you might want to browse this user group: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/framemaker-dita/ Learning to author in DITA is not very hard. However, creating output can be very challenging, and learning to architect your process from beginning to end BEFORE you get started is very important. Production challenges can mean that you have to have make certain authoring decision/compromises. Sometimes those decisions can only be learned through experience, so you might want to check out lists about your processing tool, if possible. Forgetting about formatting while you author is also challenging at first, but important. Marking up content based on its semantic value, rather than for formatting, can take a while to get used to. There's so much more that can be said. You're welcome to contact me offline if you have any questions. I don't use TCS4, so I can't answer RH questions. Nadine ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
Re: greenfield and new structure
T hanks Nadine! Yes, the existing product documentation was authored in oxygen in India. I don't have good access to those resources, but I have the DITA files. I have to make them look presentable, and then improve the quality of the writing, fill in gaps, etc. So I have no legacy FM content, only DITA content. I want to use FM's publishing capabilities. I am well familiar with unstructured FM10, but unfamiliar with structured FM11. john I'm pretty sure what I'm about to say is accurate. Someone correct me if I'm wrong... You should be able to open those files in FM (make sure you're in structure mode). You can edit the EDD files and template files to look as close to your print documentation as you can so that when you generate FM books/files, the formatting is almost exactly as you need it. Have you tried just opening the DITA files in FM? If so, did you encounter any problems? When I used FM9, I only edited EDD and template files a little bit. I relied on my processors to format output completely. In the case of production PDFs, that meant generating FM books/files, and then applying an FM template to the generate files. Part of the reason for doing it this way was so we could use the generated FM files in different ways (branded/custom documentation, quick guides as opposed to full books, etc). BTW, we used WebWorks ePublisher to create draft PDFs and online help systems. ePublisher ingests ditamaps directly; you don't have to create FM files first. Nadine ___ You are currently subscribed to framers as arch...@mail-archive.com. Send list messages to framers@lists.frameusers.com. To unsubscribe send a blank email to framers-unsubscr...@lists.frameusers.com or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to listad...@frameusers.com. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
