Automating PDF and HTML generation

[Fei Min Lorente]

Hi again, Mathieu:

I'm starting to think you should just come and visit me and the software developers and I can give you a tour of our system. :-)

Okay, I'm still on FrameMaker 7.2, but like you, I'm using Mif2Go to produce PDF and Eclipse Help. On the build machine, we're still using Acrobat 6 Pro, but I've got Acrobat 9 Pro installed on my computer and I'm trying to figure out the effects on the automated build before we move it over there, too.

Yes, you can use Mif2Go to launch PDF and HTML generation from a command line. If you search for runfm in the Mif2Go Help, you should find everything you need.

We used Python scripts to kick off the runfm command (we modify the XML files define the Eclipse TOC to add an entry for the PDF files, and do other stuff), and the whole overnight build thing is handled by Anthill Pro.

A few things to note:
- You still have to log into a Windows session on the build machine and run FrameMaker to get the PDF and HTML output.
- runfm doesn't report errors and fail accordingly.
- When errors occur, FrameMaker shows a dialog box and deadlocks until the dialog is dismissed.

So we had to do some in-house programming to create a couple of FrameMaker plugins:
- One checks for errors; if a dialog box shows up, it cancels the box and sets an error flag.
- The other does an Update Book, and checks for errors, before running runfm.

We also worked with Omni Systems (the makers of Mif2Go) to get a return value from runfm that we can use to capture errors. I believe Omni Systems has made this part of their mainstream product, but I'd have to double-check on that.

We've been doing overnight builds for almost a year now. It can be done. :-)

Fei Min Lorente

-----Original Message-----
From: framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com [mailto:framers-bounces at lists.frameusers.com] On Behalf Of mathieu jacquet
Sent: Monday, May 31, 2010 9:03 AM
To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
Subject: Automating PDF and HTML generation


Dear all,

we're using Frame 9 on XP and 7 with Mif2Go to produce a PDF, Eclipse Help and OmniHelp.

Is there any way to automatically launch ouput generation (PDF + HTML) in command line? The idea would be to integrate command lines in a batch to be run while building the software at night.

We also have a Ranorex (automation tool). Has anyone of you ever tried to automate generation using this kind of tool?

Thank you all for your expertise!

Cheers,
Mathieu.
 		 	   		  
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