[Framers] xref from FM file created by DITA-FMx to unstructured Frame?

Mon Nov 28 05:18:11 PST 2016

Oh, it's worse than that. The XML files that generate the FM file via
DITA-FMx are regenerated every time there's a change in the source document
for them, because the XML files are created from a perl script that takes
apart an Excel file to create individual XML files for each row in the
Excel file. I already have an xref going from a standard FM file to a
location in the generated FM file that has to be replaced.

And believe it or not, this is actually a VAST improvement on our previous
process, which involved me checking thousands of rows individually for
changes so I could update a standard FM file, which was prone to a lot of
errors.

On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 4:58 PM, Scott Prentice <sp14 at leximation.com> wrote:

> Okay. So you're working in structured FM files (pseudo-DITA) generated
> from an FMx book-build. And you're adding a "link" to an unstructured FM
> file that's been added to the generated book? I think I get it now.
>
> In this case, adding an fm-xref won't likely work (might, but I've never
> tried what you're doing, and modifying generated files is typically not a
> great idea since the edits are lost the next time you generate from DITA).
> What you've got now are two FM files .. just insert a "Cross-Reference"
> (regular FM type .. forget that this was DITA and is structured), and see
> what happens.
>
> Technically, the fm-xref is an FM Cross-Reference object, so that might
> actually work, but if not, just resort to good old FM techniques.
>
> ...scott
>
>
> On 11/22/16 1:41 PM, Lin Sims wrote:
>
> Some of the files are FM generated from XML using your plugin. Others are
> FM created in Frame. The ones generated from .XML have elements, the others
> don't. Both sets are edited with FM set to the structured INTERFACE, but
> only the Frame on the server is in a structured environment. Which is where
> I made my mistake, since I was trying to use the FM instance on my laptop
> that is not in a structured environment. If I work in the structured
> environment, I can insert an fm-xref from the used-to-be-XML files to the
> always-have-been-FM files.
>
> Sorry for being unclear (before and possibly now). The last two weeks or
> so have been stressful and tiring, and I'm not communicating as well as I'd
> like to be.
>
> On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 4:35 PM, Scott Prentice <sp14 at leximation.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Ah .. so aren't they "DITA" files rather than FM files? If they are DITA
>> files and are in the same ditamap which is built into the same book then
>> PDF .. then yes, just insert a fm-xref, select the target DITA file, then
>> select the target element, and you should be good to go!
>>
>> But this doesn't work with FM files and especially with unstructured FM
>> files.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> ...scott
>>
>>
>> On 11/22/16 1:29 PM, Lin Sims wrote:
>>
>> Oh, dear. I think I've misled you.
>>
>> Both FM files are in the same book, which is turned into a single PDF
>> file. Everything is internal to that PDF file. I have done it before, I'd
>> simply forgotten I had to do this down on the server.
>>
>> It's been a stressful couple of weeks, and my brain went to la-la land.
>>
>> On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 4:05 PM, Scott Prentice <sp14 at leximation.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Linking an xref (of fm-xref) to a target in a FM file will never result
>>> in the link going to a PDF file that's generated from that FM file. The
>>> only way for an xref to link to a PDF is to use an external xref, and set
>>> the @href attribute to the file name of the target PDF file (assuming the
>>> target PDF is in the same folder as the PDF that you're linking from). Even
>>> then I'm not sure it'll work, but in theory it should. If you want to link
>>> to a target within a PDF, you'll need to add the necessary coding to the
>>> @href attribute that will make that happen. Off hand I'm not sure what that
>>> coding is, but in theory it's possible .. I think.
>>>
>>> The problem with linking to the source FM file, is that it won't know
>>> what the yet-to-be-created PDF file name is, and that's really what you
>>> need .. the PDF links to a PDF, not to a FM file.
>>>
>>> To create an external xref, insert an "xref" (not an fm-xref), and
>>> choose the "External" button from that dialog. This will let you specify
>>> the href (either a path/filename or a URL to the PDF file), the link text,
>>> and the scope (choose "external"). This should set the @format attribute to
>>> "pdf".
>>>
>>> When you generate the book (and then the PDF) from the ditamap, if the
>>> resulting PDF is placed in the same folder as the linked PDF, the link in
>>> the "DITA" PDF should open the target "FM" PDF. Be sure to select the
>>> "Convert xrefs to Hyperlinks" in the Book Build Options dialog when
>>> generating the book from the ditamap in FMx.
>>>
>>> I hope that helps.
>>>
>>> ...scott
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 11/22/16 12:15 PM, Lin Sims wrote:
>>>
>>> I don't care if it works in Frame, as long as it works in the PDF!
>>>
>>> And I suspect part of the problem is, as I said, because I was not
>>> working in the fully structured environment we maintain on our server.
>>> FM2016 is set to the structured interface on my personal laptop (we all
>>> have it that way), but without the EDD/DTD, I couldn't get anything
>>> meaningful in the elements list. Once I used the server-installation of FM,
>>> I was able to add an fm-xref, which is I think an internal definition(? or
>>> yours, I forget which) that allows us to refer to paragraph tags as well as
>>> elements for xrefs.
>>>
>>> With luck, FM2015 will be installed on the server soon, and things will
>>> do what I want them to do.
>>>
>>> On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 2:37 PM, Scott Prentice <sp14 at leximation.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> FYI .. no, not possible (in a meaningful way) to create an xref from a
>>>> DITA file to an unstructured FM file. In theory you could create an
>>>> "external" xref to the FM file, but the best you could hope for would be
>>>> that it would open the FM file in FM when the link was clicked (and likely
>>>> that wouldn't even work).
>>>>
>>>> ...scott
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 11/22/16 10:48 AM, Lin Sims wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Never mind, figured out that (part of the problem) is that I was
>>>>> working
>>>>> with my local version of Frame, that has no links to an EDD/DTD. The
>>>>> server
>>>>> version (which does) works fine.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now to get the tools guy to upgrade the server from FM12 to FM2015, so
>>>>> I
>>>>> don't have to save down for everything.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 1:33 PM, Lin Sims <ljsims.ml at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> Is this even possible? I've got both files open, but when I try to
>>>>>> insert
>>>>>> an xref, I only get the DITA menu and it won't let me select anything
>>>>>> but
>>>>>> elements. Which the other file doesn't have, of course, it not being
>>>>>> DITA/xml.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I tried to email Scott directly, but I got a bounce, so I obviously
>>>>>> have
>>>>>> the wrong address.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Lin Sims
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Lin Sims
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Lin Sims
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Lin Sims
>
>
>

-- 
Lin Sims