[Framers] Space being removed in structured output

Tue Dec 11 08:40:43 PST 2018

This is a tricky subject, and one that's been debated for years (not 
just related to FM). This particular situation isn't a bug (and DITA-FMx 
would handle it the same way) .. according to the XML specification[1], 
it's valid for XML processors to strip leading and trailing whitespace 
from text nodes. If you want the whitespace to be preserved you need to 
identify that element as a "preserve space" element (xml:space="preserve").

Yes .. in general, if you want the whitespace to have a chance of 
surviving, don't put it at the beginning or end of the element.

[1] 
https://www.w3.org/2008/xmlsec/Drafts/xml-norm/Overview.html#sec-Requirements-Robustness

Cheers,
...scott

On 12/11/18 8:17 AM, Yves Barbion wrote:
> I have just tested this in FrameMaker 2017 (with DITA-FMx) and in 2019
> (without DITA-FMx):
>
>     1. Open the topic as you posted it (in Frame 2017 and 2019).
>     Result: the space after <i>Safe life </i> is gone, so no space between
>     the words "life" and "design" anymore.
>     2. Remove the space  after the word "life" and type a space right after
>     the  italics end tag </i>, so just before the word "design". Then save,
>     close and reopen the file.
>     Result: Surprise! The space is still there.
>
> I think it's a better practice in general to type the space outside the
> inline element.
>
> Kind regards
>
> Yves
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, 11 Dec 2018 at 16:59, Rick Quatro <rick at rickquatro.com> wrote:
>
>> Thank you Yves. I am taking care of this now in my XSLT, but I may fix it
>> in
>> the source.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Framers <framers-bounces+rick=rickquatro.com at lists.frameusers.com>
>> On
>> Behalf Of Yves Barbion
>> Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2018 10:52 AM
>> To: framers at lists.frameusers.com
>> Subject: Re: [Framers] Space being removed in structured output
>>
>> Hi Rick
>>
>> That's the old "whitespace normalization" bug. Sometimes, FrameMaker has a
>> problem with inline elements, such as <i>. By the way, you should use a
>> "more semantically appropriate element" as per the DITA spec, but I
>> digress.
>>
>> This has been discussed years ago in this user group, so you may want to
>> seach for "whitespace" in the archives. Scott's DITA-FMx plugin seems to do
>> a better job with whitespace normalization.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Yves Barbion
>> www.flowtime.be
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, 11 Dec 2018 at 16:39, Rick Quatro <rick at rickquatro.com> wrote:
>>
>>> If the space is after the </i> tag instead of inside of it, it works
>>> as it should. That is a dumb "feature" if you ask me.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: Framers
>>> <framers-bounces+rick=rickquatro.com at lists.frameusers.com>
>>> On
>>> Behalf Of Rick Quatro
>>> Sent: Tuesday, December 11, 2018 9:17 AM
>>> To: 'An email list for people using Adobe FrameMaker software.'
>>> <framers at lists.frameusers.com>
>>> Subject: [Framers] Space being removed in structured output
>>>
>>> Hi All, I am generating dita programatically:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
>>>
>>> <!DOCTYPE concept
>>>
>>>    PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA 1.3 Concept//EN"
>>> "technicalContent/dtd/concept.dtd">
>>>
>>> <concept id="i729608">
>>>
>>>     <title xtrf="Heading2">Safe Life</title>
>>>
>>>     <conbody>
>>>
>>>        <p xtrf="Para">
>>>
>>>           <i>Safe life </i>design provides reserves
>>>
>>> in all aspects of the structure by factoring all calculations.</p>
>>>
>>>     </conbody>
>>>
>>> </concept>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> When I open this concept in FrameMaker, the space after "Safe life" in
>>> the <p> element is being removed. Is there a setting in structured
>>> FrameMaker that I am missing? I am using FM 2019 with the standard DITA
>> applications.
>>> Thank you very much.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Rick
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Rick Quatro
>>>
>>> Carmen Publishing Inc.
>>>
>>> rick at frameexpert.com
>>>
>>> 585-729-6746
>>>
>>> www.frameexpert.com/store/
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Save on energy at quatro.mystream.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>> _______________________________________________
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> _______________________________________________
>
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