How many FM users are there?

[Bernard Aschwanden]

Just as a further note to the info Max passed on, I'm happy to say that several of the features shown included some awesome tools that Frame has been missing for years. While it was demo of a pre-release and not all versions may make it into the final copy (that should keep legal happy) it was neat to see things like track changes and multiple conditions being added into the application.

Add to that the expected inclusion of solid DITA support and the software can easily hold its own against Arbortext. While the default export of DITA content in 7.2 was weak (I built an independent way to create some DITA while Adobe sorted this out) the DITA Application Pack (Free download from Adobe) does a great job. I've created numerous DITA documents including maps, task, references, concepts and more with it and run transforms and validation against the files. I did so in third party tools and other DITA tools. No issues. Frame is solid and will continue to get better.

Add support for a variety of other publishing features and Adobe has shown that the rumor of Frame's demise are entirely wrong. The product is strong and viable. The feature set that has been publicly shown results in rounds of applause. I'm so happy to see that there is ongoing  development and that the Adobe booth was mobbed with requests for info on a variety of new tools.

All the best,

Bernard



Bernard Aschwanden
Director of Technology and Publishing Architecture
Bright Path Solutions

bernard at brightpathsolutions.com 

www.brightpathsolutions.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 Maxwell Hoffmann
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 10:45 PM
To: Diane Gaskill; framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: RE: How many FM users are there?

Hi Diane,

Thank you for checking with me; your timing could not be better. I am at the STC Annual Convention in Minneapolis, where I've had an opportunity to peak in on several DITA presentations and solicit feedback on FrameMaker's DITA capabilities from a variety of sources.

I won't say that Arbortext is "lying" to you, but they are 100% wrong, and clearly misinformed. The only real difference between Arbortext DITA and FrameMaker that I am aware of is that the current release of FrameMaker (V7.2) requires the user to download the DITA toolkit instead of finding it bundled in the product as it ships.

If you used structured FrameMaker with the DITA app pak, you will be able to produce DITA that is 100% compliant with OASIS standards. As long as your company's division in Japan is producing DITA-compliant output from Arbortext, there is no reason that you cannot have a seamless exchange.

I hope that this ends the argument, but based on past experience of my own  with Arbortext sales people, you can probably expect further claims like this to surface. My feedback comes from a variety of sources, including users who are currently creating DITA from structured FrameMaker 7.2.

Incidentally, I had a "sneak peak" of the next release of FrameMaker at a session today and I got permission from the PM to share this much: DITA will be bundled with the next release and end the 5 minutes or so that it takes to download the DITA toolkit. Feedback from STC attendees who have seen the brief sneak peaks of the "next" FrameMaker has been overwhelmingly positive.

I hope this helps. 


Maxwell Hoffmann
Manager of Consulting & Training Solutions
ENLASO Corporation
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http://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwellhoffmann

-----Original Message-----
From: Diane Gaskill [mailto:dgcaller at earthlink.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2007 6:09 PM
To: Diane Gaskill; Maxwell Hoffmann; framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: RE: How many FM users are there?

Hi Max,

The PTC rep told me today that FM DITA is proprietary and not compatible with anything else.  Is this true?  She also told me that the PTC version of DITA is "standard" (whatever that means).

One of our divisions in Japan has decided to go with AT.  We are leaning toward structured FM.  I was hoping to be able to exchange XMS files between SFM and AT.  Some of the comments (which you probably read) on the framers list seemed to say that I could, but now I am not sure.  Can you shed any light on this?

Thanks a bunch.

Diane