AuthorIT and Structured FrameMaker?

[Guest]

Just wondering if anyone has experience with bringing AuthorIT structured documentation into FrameMaker. I know it's a long shot, but....

[Russ Ward]

Hi Candace,

It doesn't sound like a long shot to me. My guess is that the best approach would be to export (publish) the AuthorIT content as XML and import to structured Frame that way. If you can get a good DITA output from AuthorIT, you may be able to use the DITA structured application included with Frame and avoid the step of creating your own, at least in the initial phases.

Note that my response here is really just a broad summary based on concepts. True implementation would require lots of skills with structured content and could take some time to pull off, depending on the skill set(s) that you are working with. Perhaps I misread your post and you already know all this, and are simply looking for someone who can help you do it...

Russ

[Matt_Armstrong_NZ]

Hi Candace,

What Russ has outlined is broadly correct.  There are also ways to use non-DITA structures and map them directly to EDDs.  One of the Author-it partners in The Netherlands has automated this process so Framemaker appears as one of the standard Author-it XML outputs in the publishing engine.

A key question would be, what are you trying to achieve?  Do you simply want to use the Frame rendering to PDF (a common option), or do you want to continue editing the content in Frame?  Are your translators only able to deal with MIF files?  Do you have a specific Frame process you want to use?  etc etc

Regards

Matt

[Guest]

Thanks to you both for the very helpful information.

To be specific as to what I'd like to do, here is the situation:

I am currently authoring in unstructured FrameMaker. I single-source PDF guides and online HTML help through WebWorks ePublisher Pro.

We have another doc set that produces HTML help using Author-it. Sooner or later, we are going to have to share tools and content.

My thinking was that somehow I could get Author-it export into structured Frame, as has been suggested.

(I am currently using conditional text in "plain" Frame to differentiate the guides and help, while I suspect I could use structured Frame to do that more efficiently.)

Thanks again.

[Matt_Armstrong_NZ]

Hi Candace,

From what you've outlined you could also try the opposite route and export your Frame docs as MIF or RTF into Author-it and use Author-it for your PDF and HTML.  This is the more common practice, based on the import options in Author-it.

Another alternative is to have your Author-it user publish their content as a Word file and import that into Framemaker.  The Word output from Author-it is very clean and well formed.

Regards

Matt A

[Russ Ward]

Candace,

You are correct in your theories, especially about conditional text in structured FrameMaker. Whatever you choose, I would certainly recommend that you standardize on your authoring and publishing platform, whether it is AuthorIT or FrameMaker. Both applications are strong authoring and publishing tools, and either should be able to handle all your needs. I think it might be time to just pick one, based on your needs and preferences.

Russ

[Guest]

Thanks to you both. I agree that standardization on one tool will have to come. The Word export to Frame from Author-it might well be the best short-term solution, at least for PDF.