Cross reference issues in FrameMaker 11 DITA

Report · Apr 22, 2013

I'm trying to upgrade from FrameMaker 9 to FrameMaker 11. My files are set up using structured FrameMaker and DITA. The ditamap is comprised of both FM files and XML files. I'm attempting to use the ditabase template and DTD and DITA 1.2.

When I open my XML files in Framemaker 11, any cross references to other chapters in the book and gone. The fm-xref tag that is there is empty. I know there are some changes to cross references between DITA 1.1 and DITA 1.2, but I'm wondering if there is a way to retain the cross references when I open the file in FM11 even if the cross reference does actually link to the referenced location. Or do I have to manually go through my document and re-enter all the cross references?

I'm also having trouble getting the cross references to use the correct font format. After searching through all the various edd files that are referenced, I found the section that applies to cross references and it seems to indicate that the font format is set in the cross reference format in FrameMaker, but I can't figure out how to change the cross reference format.

Then instructions in the Framemaker help say:

Choose Special > cross-reference.
Click Edit Format.
....

But I can't find anything that says "Edit Format".

Thanks for the help,

Sharon

Report · Apr 22, 2013

Hi Sharon...

First .. I know it's *supposed* to work, but the mixing of FM and XML in the same book or map is really not ideal, especially when it comes to cross-refs. If you must mix them, I'd use a book rather than a DITA map as the container.

In FM11 (or maybe FM10), Adobe switched from using the xref/@type attribute to xref/@outputclass as the place that the cross-ref format name is stored in DITA files. Your FM9 DITA files used xref/@type and in FM11, it's looking at the @outputclass attribute. That means your cross-refs may not display properly since there's no format name defined. As a test, try opening the DITA file in a text editor, and look for an xref element (fm-xref turns into xref when saved to a file). You'll see a @type attribute on the xref element .. change that to @outputclass, then open that file in FM11 and see if your cross-refs work better.

To change a cross-ref format in FM, just double click the fm-xref to display the cross-ref dialog. In the cross-ref dialog, select the proper format and choose Insert. That should update toe cross-ref to use the selected format.

Cheers,

...scott

Report · Apr 22, 2013

Hi Scott,

Thank you for your reply. I recently inherited the project and it was set up with the XML files. It has been working and I'm hesitant to change what isn't broken, especially since I'm fairly novice with DITA and structured Frame.

I followed your suggestion to look for the cross reference in a text file and I found the problem, although not what was expected. It did have the outputclass attribute set okay, but it was pointing to a file with a .fm extension rather than the .xml file. I'm assuming that as some point the file was saved as a framemaker file rather than as xml and then the cross reference was created pointing to the wrong file. The strange thing is that the cross reference appeared fine in FM9 but disappeared in FM11. Perhaps, FM11 was unable to open the FM9 file to get the cross reference? Anyway, I changed the reference to .xml files and the cross references are back.

For changing the cross reference format, I actually need to change how the formats are defined. When I follow you instructions above, I'm able to assign a cross reference format to the cross reference (e.g., see figure, see title and page, and so on) but I can't see how I change the font that is used in the cross reference format. That is, I want to change the font that is used in the "See title and page" cross reference format.

Sharon

Report · Apr 22, 2013

Ah .. the cross-ref to the FM file may not have resolved because the file was still in FM9 format. Try opening and saving all of the FM files into the new format .. that might help as well.

This is one of the problems of having projects that contain mixed source types. If the target is an FM file, how do you change it to point to an XML file?

To change the actual font or other format definition of the cross-reference, you need to modify the cross-ref definition. If the cross-ref is in an XML file, the definition is defined in the structure application template. If it's in an FM file the definition is in that FM file. (More problems with mixed source types.)

Good luck!

...scott

Report · Apr 24, 2013

I should say that really the content is in XML files. The FM files are just chapter cover pages. So all the cross references are to and from XML files. They do cause problems because they take so long to load and save.

I found the cross reference definitions in the template file.

Thanks you for your help.

Sharon