3.2.2.4.2.
Writing in Word processing systems: FrameMaker, Humboldt-University
Berlin
Framemaker
provides in comparison to Microsoft Word a much more sophisticated tool for
electronic publishing and for a cross-media publishing.
It
allows:
n
Production
of real and large structured text (not just address cards) (and is stable
handling those).
n
Production
of semantically structured text (not just text that uses style sheets).
n
Provision
of a WYSIWYG user interface to edit XML documents, instead of an XML tree
editor à la Spy or Xeena.
n
Capabilities
of producing a good-looking paper version of a document with all layout features
that are professionally used at printing companies.
Framemaker+SGML
especially combines the power of an excellent word processor (better than MS
Word) with a good structure editor.
In order
to produce structures documents and some sort of style sheets, one has to learn
FrameMaker's EDD language.
As
FrameMaker belong to the product family of Adobe, it provides an add-on to
produce a high quality PDF, as digital preprint copy of a written document.
Editing
or converting using FrameMaker is much more complex than the previously
described methods. FrameMaker is able to import formatted Word documents
keeping the stylesheet information and exporting the document via an internal
FrameMaker format as SGML or XML documents.
In order
to proceed with a conversion using FrameMaker, you will need the following
configuration files: a conversion table that contains the list of the Word styles and the
corresponding elements within the FrameMaker internal format. This table is saved within the FrameMaker
internal format (*.frm).
A
document type definition will be saved within FrameMaker internally as EDD
(Element Definition). It is saved within the FrameMaker internal document
format (*.edd).
FrameMaker
uses layout rules for the internal layouting of documents. Within this layout
definition, the layout of documents is described just like it is within MS Word
documents: single formats and their
appearances like text height, etc., are defined. This file is also stored as
(*.frm file).
The
Read-Write Rules contain rules that define which FrameMaker format will be
exported in which SGML / XML element.
The SGML-
or XML DTD has to be used as well, including Catalog- or Entity files, as well
as Sub DTDs, like CALS for tables.
To
process a conversion, a new SGML application has to be defined within
FrameMaker+SGML. This application links all files that are needed for a conversion
as described above. It enables FrameMaker to parse the output file when exporting
a document to SGML or XML.
A
workflow and a technology for conversion to ETD using FrameMaker+SGML6.0 was
first developed at the Technical University Helsinki, within the HUTPubl
project (1997-2000), see http://www.hut.fi/Yksikot/Kirjasto/HUTpubl.
You can find more information about using FrameMaker+SGML for an XML Authoring at http://tecfa.unige.ch/guides/xml/frame-sgml/html/quick-fm-xml-guide.html. (See also Danny R. Vint “SGML at Work”, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1999.)