Filter by Attribute option vs Ditaval

Technically they are basically the same thing, although ditaval filtering is defined by the DITA specification and is limited to certain attributes, and uses a specially formatted ditaval file (XML format) to perform the filtering. FM9 can apply a ditaval file to output created from Frame to perform the filtering. Without creating a special structure application, you cannot create a ditaval file using FM9, you'd have to create one using an external editor. FM9 can only apply this filtering by ditaval on output, you can't view a filtered document while authoring.

The general attribute filtering feature in FM9 can filter using any attribute and can be done while authoring. If you plan to do extensive filtering in FM, you should check out the AXCM plugin from West Street Consulting ..

     http://www.weststreetconsulting.com/WSC_AXCM.htm

Also, the DITA-FMx plugin does allow you to create ditaval files inside of Frame, and allows you to apply that filtering to a document open for editing as well as to the output.

     http://leximation.com/dita-fmx/

Cheers,

...scott

Scott Prentice

Leximation, Inc.

www.leximation.com