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TeraRecon
Known Participant
August 18, 2011
Question

Changing format of all graphics files is very cumbersome - how to make it less so?

  • August 18, 2011
  • 2 replies
  • 1233 views

Hello,

This problem is happening in FM 8, running on Windows XP.

I have recently converted all the image files referenced in a book, from one format to another. When I open a chapter (.fm) file in that book, FM looks for the graphic file that has been referenced in the first frame it finds (I import all graphics by reference). It opens a navigation dialog so I can locate the missing file, at which time I select the new file instead. Unfortunately, I have to do this over and over, for each graphic referenced by the FM file. Isn't there a way for me to tell FM to look for the same base filename, but with a new extension? A default file type for imported files? Is there a way to modify the .fm file itself to change the reference to the imported graphics? Having to tell FM the new filename for every graphic in the book is cumbersome and time-consuming (and I will be doing the same thing for about 75 manuals!). If FM can remember the location of an imported file and look for subsequent files in the new location, can't it do something similar for file types?

Compounding this problem is the fact that when the navigation dialog opens, the files in the current folder are automatically listed in "List" form, and are not in alphabetical order. If there are many graphics in that folder, it takes extra time to hunt for the desired file, so I usually change the listing format to "Detail" and then sort on "Name". But even that takes time. Are there defaults I could set so that the folder's contents are listed in the navigation dialog in the format I choose? I'm not even sure whether this is a FrameMaker or a Windows issue, so I don't know where to look for option settings. (I have poked around in FM options dialogs, and also the help files, but haven't found any references to this.)

Help with even one of these would save me a lot of time.

Thank you!

Joyce Wermont

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    2 replies

    T
    TeraReconAuthor
    Known Participant
    August 19, 2011

    Thanks, everyone, for all your help. The quickest way to do this is to save the .fm file as an .mif file, edit that file manually (in a text editor) and change all the old file type extensions to the new extension. Then change the .mif extension on the file back to .fm. Done!

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Bob_NilandCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    August 18, 2011

    If it really is "all" graphics files of a particular format, hacking the MIF might work.

    Suppose we want to change all TIFFs to EPS, and the file paths are unchanged.

    Save the .fm file in MIF format, as say document.mif.

    Save the .fm as a .fm and back it up.

    Open the MIF with your favorite text editor.

    Find all:

    ".tif'>" and change to

    ".eps'>"

    Find all:

    "<ImportObUpdater `TIFF'>"

    and change to:

    <ImportObUpdater `EPSF'>

    Find all:

    "<BitMapDpi 600>" (or whatever dpi the tiffs were using)

    change to

    "<BitMapDpi 0>"

    If the change is bitmap to bitmap, such as JPG to TIF, you don't need to bother with this, unless the old and new formats changed (which for us, they would, as we typically use TIFF at 600, and JPEG at 200).

    Save the MIF.

    Re-open in Frame.

    If OK, re-save over .fm).

    The ImportObUpdater may or may not be critical, and the values to supply to the change depend on the graphics file formats, which you haven't yet told us.

    You may get a dialog complaining about graphics file filter regardless.

    In my example, however, I would frankly expect to have scaling problems, as Frame interprets size differently for EPS and TIFF.

    ______

    Disclaimer - I hack file paths this way frequently,

    but I've never tried changing file type.

    T
    TeraReconAuthor
    Known Participant
    August 18, 2011

    Error7103 -

    Thank you for a quick response. I just tried this, and it seemed to work - I was able to edit the .mif file and change all the format extensions. Then I opened the .mif in FM and it looked OK, it loaded the correct graphic files automatically, and there didn't appear to be any scaling problems. But when I tried to save it as an FM doc file, it wouldn't allow that. Error message: "Filenames ending in .mif cannot be saved in Document format". I used Save As, btw. But it didn't work with plain Save either.

    It sounds like you've been successful in saving .mif to .fm - any tips?  Again, I'm using FM 8.

    Thanks,

    Joyce

    T
    TeraReconAuthor
    Known Participant
    August 19, 2011

    Error message: "Filenames ending in .mif cannot be saved in Document format".

    Save as FM Document Format to filename.fm.

    Use a new filename to be safe. Rename it later.


    I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. I tried to save it as "Document 8.0

    (*.fm)" This is one of the choices of formats I can save the file to, along

    with rtf, html, pdf, etc. There's no "FM Document Format" in the list.

    I saved the original file under a different name already, so if I screw this

    one up, I won't lose anything.

    Thanks,

    Joyce

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