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josephb44551697
josephb44551697
Known Participant
July 10, 2019
Answered

Exporting Master Pages

  • July 10, 2019
  • 2 replies
  • 2106 views

Hello,

In the TechComm department where I work, we export our FrameMaker files to XML to send them out for translations. The one issue that I have run into is that we are able to export all of the Body Pages content to XML, but because the master page content is not exported, it will not be able to be translated by our translation agency. This poses a problem as our regulatory information and page headings are boilerplate and need to also be translated, but it doesn't make sense to put it on the body pages.

Is there a way to export the master pages to XML so that we can translate them as well? I know that the template used in structured applications functions as a place to hold the master page information, but it seems like there would be a way to export this information as well. I would really appreciate any help with this issue.

Thank you,

Joseph

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Lynne A. Price

Joseph,

  Yes, you should minimize the amount of cut-and-paste. I don't know how many master pages you have with how many headings and pieces of boilerplate text. Suppose you maintain each of these segments as a separate structured document. These numerous small files would be the only place you would edit this content. Modify each segment of boilerplate content on the master pages in the main template by replacing the segment with a text inset of one of the new boilerplate files. This would only have to be done once. From then on, whenever you edit one of the boilerplate segments you can just update your template and the boilerplate would be modified. Meanwhile, create a new book that contains all the individual files with boilerplate text and save it as XML. When you save a complete document as XML, use an XSLT post-process that combines the XML exported from the body pages of the document you are processing with the XML created by saving the boilerplate text as XML.

     --Lynne

2 replies

Ian Proudfoot
Ian Proudfoot
Legend
July 10, 2019

Joseph,

Another approach (if you can edit the DTD/Schema or maybe just the EDD) is to store the text for the page headers as metadata in the main XML flow then use Running HF variables on the master pages to display the regulatory content as required. I've done that for a project with a lot of repeating regulatory content which was translated into 30+ languages. It's still going strong after eleven years!

To avoid having to hide the text in FrameMaker it could be stored as attribute content on the root element. The success of this method depends on the number of separate text items that need translating.

Ian

josephb44551697
josephb44551697Author
Known Participant
July 10, 2019

Ian,

Thank you for the reply. The issue with this is that our translation agency would be translating only the content of the XML, not the attributes or anything contained within the XML tags themselves. So the heading/title attributes would not get translated.

Joseph

Ian Proudfoot
Ian Proudfoot
Legend
July 10, 2019

Joseph,

The regulatory data could be stored in elements in the XML environment, but transformed into attribute content in FrameMaker. This would need to be done in XSLT of course.

Ian

L
Lynne A. Price
Inspiring
July 10, 2019

Joseph,

   Consider putting each piece of boilerplate content in a separate file or flow. You can include them as text insets on your master pages

and export them individually to XML. If you need to provide the translation agency with a single XML document, you can use XSLT to assemble the various components into one XML document.

     --Lynne

josephb44551697
josephb44551697Author
Known Participant
July 10, 2019

Lynne,

It would be best to include the boilerplate information in the same XML file as you describe. I am good with the idea of using XSLT, but would there be an automated way to strip the contents from the master pages (and replace after translation), or would it have to be a more manual copy-paste from the master pages to a separate file and back?

Joseph

L
Lynne A. PriceCorrect answer
Inspiring
July 10, 2019

Joseph,

  Yes, you should minimize the amount of cut-and-paste. I don't know how many master pages you have with how many headings and pieces of boilerplate text. Suppose you maintain each of these segments as a separate structured document. These numerous small files would be the only place you would edit this content. Modify each segment of boilerplate content on the master pages in the main template by replacing the segment with a text inset of one of the new boilerplate files. This would only have to be done once. From then on, whenever you edit one of the boilerplate segments you can just update your template and the boilerplate would be modified. Meanwhile, create a new book that contains all the individual files with boilerplate text and save it as XML. When you save a complete document as XML, use an XSLT post-process that combines the XML exported from the body pages of the document you are processing with the XML created by saving the boilerplate text as XML.

     --Lynne

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