Embed MS Excel File in FM8?

[Ben Allums]

On 5/13/2011 10:00 AM, Stuart Rogers wrote:
> On 11/05/2011 5:33 PM, Miller, Chris M wrote:
>> Can I embed a MS Excel file into FrameMaker as a link so that when I
>> convert it to PDF or WebHelp (via RoboHelp) the Excel file is accessible
>> to the reader? My research tells me “no” but figured I’d reach out to
>> the FM gurus of the group to double-check. ;)
>
> You can't achieve that result with the method you propose, but you could
> put a hypertext marker into the FM file that would open the Excel file
> -- provided that it resides in a fixed location accessible to the person
> using the PDF.

This approach definitely works with WebWorks ePublisher.  I'd be 
surprised if it didn't work in RoboHelp the same way.  ePublisher sees 
the link to the Excel document and brings it along as a baggage file, at 
least for WebHelp, CHM, and other HTML outputs.  Of course, neither tool 
presently embeds Excel files as attachments onto PDFs.  ePublisher may 
be able to link to the file, yet it doesn't perform any "baggage file" 
handling during pure PDF production


Ben Allums
allums at webworks.com
512-381-8885