From DocBook to FrameMaker

[LW White]

Hi Mathieu,

Frame ships with a DocBook structured application. ([Frame installation folder]\structure\sgml\docbook\app) which includes the EDD and a starter template. So, what you would do is basically open your DocBook files using the DocBook structured app, which is called something like DocBook 2.1. (When you open the file, Frame will detect the DOCTYPE declaration for the doc and display a window where you can select the structured app you want to use to open it.) You may need to do some clean-up and you'll need to edit the template to give the docs the look and feel within Frame that you want. You might also need to edit the rules if you have any roundtripping requirements that they don't already cover. Although the EDD is already created for you, you might also need to edit it, as it not only defines the structure but also "matches" each element within context to the appropriate Frame format. If you're going to use Frame at all for this, then yes, you must use the structured version if you want to preserve the structure of the documents.

How much work required to turn an unstructured Frame doc into a structured one depends on a lot of things. If the document faithfully follows a template, it will be much simpler because conversion tools can match formats to elements in a predictible way. The Frame conversion table is a built-in method, but there are a number of third-party tools as well. If the document does not follow a template, the work is more difficult and largely manual, though there are some tools that can find and convert on manually-applied formatting vs. formatting applied via a template style.

There are several good "getting started" videos and PDFs at http://www.adobe.com/support/framemaker/. A great resource is the Structure Application Developer Guide. Unfortunately, it has not been updated for Frame 9 as far as I am aware, but the Frame 8 version is still very useful. Find it at http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/8.0/structapp_dev.pdf. There is also a Structure Application Developer Reference Guide guide at http://help.adobe.com/en_US/FrameMaker/8.0/structapp_dev_ref.pdf.

Best,
Leigh



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. 		 	   		  
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