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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Hi Ed...<br>
<br>
If your PDF layout requirements are very simple, XSL-FO *may* be a
good option for you. However producing two 1000-page publications
once a year doesn't seem like it's worth the cost of implementing
an FO-based publishing workflow, considering the fact that you've
already got a perfectly good PDF publishing engine, and (it sounds
like) the knowledge/inclination to make it work (FrameMaker).<br>
<br>
In my opinion, FO is good for high volume and moderate to low PDF
formatting requirements. Yes, you can make it do most of what you
can do with Frame, but it'll require a huge amount of coding and
effort. I have seen people spend well over $200K on FO development
over many years to achieve moderate looking PDFs. Something that
might take a week to develop with FrameMaker. The big thing that
FO brings to the table is a simplified publishing pipeline.
Implementing an automated XML+FM-based publishing workflow
requires a bit more effort than a comparable FO-based workflow ..
but in my opinion the PDF quality and the ability to easily make
formatting adjustments to the FM-based process makes it a much
better solution in most cases.<br>
<br>
However, if you're just producing two 1000-page publications each
year, you don't need an automated solution, so the rationale for
FO would be reduced.<br>
<br>
FO does also offer benefit if you're publishing to many (20+)
languages, because managing FM templates/apps for many languages
can be tedious (although I've got one client who is using DITA-FMx
[the DITA+FM solution I offer] to publish to 27 different
languages).<br>
<br>
XSL-FO is a very complex language to learn and develop .. probably
the most difficult I've encountered. People often head down the FO
path because it's "free" (but no). First, you'll start with the
default transforms provided with the DITA-OT .. this provides a
very rough proof of concept .. sure, you'll get PDFs, but they are
really ugly. So you start tweaking the FO code. Then you end up
paying someone else to tweak the FO code .. more and more .. and
finally get to something that looks acceptable. As long as your
formatting requirements don't change, you're OK, but if you need
to move a header or change a font, you'll probably need to hire
that developer to tweak your code again.<br>
<br>
With FM, you may need to hire someone to set things up (maybe not
if you've got the expertise), but once it's set up, you'll be able
to go in and tweak the templates or EDD as needed. Also, with FM
you have access to the intermediate file (post rendering and
pre-publishing), in case you need to make a manual adjustment.
With FO, you're stuck if something doesn't render properly. You
either have to weak the FO code more and hope it works, or just
accept the formatting deficiency.<br>
<br>
As you can see, this is something I feel quite passionate about. I
may be a little biased, but I try to remain open minded, and do
know that FO is a good solution for some situations. I don't think
it's a good solution for you, but you may want to travel that path
for a bit to see for yourself.<br>
<br>
Cheers!<br>
<br>
...scott<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Scott Prentice
Leximation, Inc.
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.leximation.com">www.leximation.com</a>
+1.415.485.1892
</pre>
On 2/25/13 7:40 PM, Ed Nodland wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAJVfO7bdr2YRW7qU9zkUKG7i_X7dG+zJ+_CYTRWroqmv4W3gOg@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">I have been using Framemaker to produce two 1000
page publications every October since 2006. Now I am faced with
two issues.
<div><br>
</div>
<div style="">1) Clean up my XML, EDD and template file for full
round trip capabilities; and</div>
<div style="">2) Convert to a DITA structure prior to adding
several other publications</div>
<div style=""><br>
</div>
<div style="">The DITA community is leaning towards an editopr
like OxygenXML and using XSL-FO and a rendering package such
as RenderX or Antenna House to produce the PDF.</div>
<div style=""><br>
</div>
<div style=""><u>I am interested in any opinions</u>. </div>
<div style=""><br>
</div>
<div style="">Also, I could not find the search capability on <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://frameusers.com">frameusers.com</a>
to search older topics by keyword other then the archive that
looks like something out of the 90's. Am I missing some
capability somewhere?</div>
<div style=""><br>
</div>
<div style="">Thanks</div>
<div style="">Ed</div>
<div style=""><br>
</div>
</div>
<br>
</blockquote>
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