EDD rules documentation

[sanam.deh]

Hi,

I want to create an EDD file from scratch. I am not an expert, but till now I make some changes to available EDD files to meet our needs. However, now I want to create an EDD from scratch. I wondered if there is any documentation available on EDD's different rules.

For example, I want o create an EDD file, which has a root element (BOOK) containing TITLE and CHAPTER elements. I want my TITLE element to be in the middle of the row. But I don't know how. I could change the casing and weight of the title but not its position. So, I wonder that is there any document available dedicated to EDD rules. I read various available ADOBE tutorial documents. But most of them concentrate on making a structured application. And there are just a couple of pages on making EDD files and most of them used the same sample (proposal sample). 

Thanks for your help in advance.

Sanam

[Russ Ward]

Hi Sanam, it sounds like you want to read the Structured Application Development Guide. It has extensive information on EDD development. It is available from Adobe here:

https://helpx.adobe.com/framemaker/help/help-resources.html

Russ

[sanam.deh]

Thanks, Russ for your reply. I read this document before, but it also doesn't have full coverage of EDD rules. I believe there is no such document. I try to write different rules by looking at other EDDs, and document samples. But there is no document that explains each rule. All the documents I read talk about a type of rule in general and gave just a sample.

Thanks again for your time

[frameexpert]

Here is a direct link to the PDF that Russ is referring to:

https://help.adobe.com/en_US/framemaker/pdfs/fm-structure-app-dev-guide.pdf

Starting with chapter 12, there are almost 100 pages of details on working with EDDs. If this isn't sufficient, I can offer you one-on-one online training on EDDs. I am currently working on a new EDD for a client. If you are interested, please contact me offlist. rick@frameexpert.com

[Lynne A. Price]

Sanam,

   How familiar are you with formatting in FrameMaker? As you probably know, FrameMaker supports two types of documents:

1.  An unstructured document, like many word processor documents, consists primarily of a sequence of paragraphs, each has a paragraph format that specifies details such as the default font, line spacing, indentation, and alignment (left-justified, centered, or right-justified). Character formats can specify different fonts to use for some of the text withing a paragraph. Tables, graphics, and some other special objects are also supported.
2.  A structured document consists of a hierarchy of nested elements. An EDD defines the elements that can be used in a structured document and the permitted organization of those elements. It also specifies the formatting given to those elements in different contexts. The EDD documentation assumes the reader is already familiar with FrameMaker formatting.

   You asked about putting your TITLE element in the middle of a row. I suspect that using a paragraph format with Alignment set to Center will give you what you want. There are two ways an EDD can specify formatting. It can assign a format from a catalog such as the Paragraph Catalog, Character Catalog, or Table Catalog. Alternatively, it can set individual properties  to modify the format that would otherwise be used.

   Since the basic formatting is the same in structured and unstructured documents, the EDD documentation does not go into detail about formatting. The help resources page that Russ mentioned:

https://helpx.adobe.com/framemaker/help/help-resources.html

has links to other documents that explain formatting.

     --Lynne

[sanam.deh]

Dear Lynne,

I am a software developer. And I don't work with FrameMaker. I didn't work with unstructured FrameMaker at all. But, since the structured FrameMaker uses XML files, my company asked me to look at EDD, DTD, and XSD files and try to understand and then change them according to their need. So, I am a little familiar with these files (my company uses the S1000D plugin of FrameMaker structure). 

Since all of you mentioned the "fm-structure-app-dev-guide.pdf " I will read it again more carefully.

Thanks again for your time.

Sanam