From DocBook to FrameMaker

[Gary Schnabl]

On 7/7/2010 8:56 AM, mathieu jacquet wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> I am working on Vista 64 with FM 9.
>
> I have read that it was possible to import DocBook files into FM. But I've also read that this could turn to nightmare when it comes to create the proper EDD. I am not familiar at all with structured Frame. So my question is, how easy is it to import a DocBook file into FM, and what would it require to achieve that nicely ? Also, is it mandatory to use structured FM for doing so ? And if yes, how much work would it be to turn an unstructured "light" FM document (3 chapters, about 75 pages) into a structured one ?
>
> Thank you all for your valuable expertise,
> Mathieu.

I have put together an omnibus EDD from each DocBook 4.5 and 5.0 DTDs. I 
was very recently playing around with the 4.5 version while converting 
the HTML files for the Definite Guide for 4.5 and another document from 
Sagehill. Both of those documents use a fair amount of DocBook's 
elements, so that they can be decent examples for playing around with DB 
4.5 Structured FrameMaker.

You can use IE to make copies of the HTML documents, import them into 
Word 2007 or 2010, and export them as RTF files to import into 
FrameMaker without any problem. Then you can go on from there using a 
conversion table to lend structure to those files after importing the 
elements from the EDD file. Really quite simple, BTW, as long as you 
know how to go about it.

Gary
-- 

Gary Schnabl
Southwest Detroit, two miles NORTH! of Canada--Windsor, that is...