FrameMaker and XML DB communication question.

[Guest]

Hello all.

After a few weeks, I have a more specific question. I work for a company that makes multiple models of basically the same product. Because of that, a lot of the instructions remain the same, but certain specifications change in very predictable locations.  I know FrameMaker (I have 10) can communicate with a database after it has been converted to XML. What I am wondering is if I can tell FrameMaker to look in a certain row on a database and put the same field from changing rows in a paragraph.  For example, let’s say this is the paragraph:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur __#Field 1#__elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore __#Field 2#__ aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu ___#Field 3#___ nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est ___#Field 4#___.

And this is my db:

Model	Field 1	Field 2	Field 3	Field 4
A
B
C

What I want to do is be able to tell FM to auto insert the data by telling it which row to search for the different fields.  I realize I would have to edit the document and tell it a different row each time, which I am fine with.  This would still be a huge time saver.

While instructions how to would be nice, I am not asking someone to my homework for me, I just want to know if what I am wanting to do is possible!

Thanks!

[Mike Wickham]

Have you looked at using variables to make the substitutions? Depending

on your need, it could be a much simpler process. You assign variables

to each of those fields in the main document. Then you create a separate

document that contains the variables of the same name and assign

appropriate values to them. You can make multiple versions of this

variable-holding document-- for example, one for each model. Then you

import the appropriate set of variables into your main document. So the

separate document would have variables for #Field1#, #Field2#, etc. and

importing would replace the value anywhere you have assigned the

variable in the original.

The third-party BookVars plugin makes it very easy to do this at the

book level:

http://leximation.com/tools/

[Guest · Accepted solution]

Following up on Mike's suggestion, if you do go the variable route, I'd recommend using the BookVars plugin. This makes handling variable updates painless.

http://leximation.com/tools/info/bookvars.php

Woops apparently I didn't read Mike's post all the way through. He already recommend the plugin. I believe my link takes you directly to that plugin though so I'll leave my post.

Message was edited by: jaloren28

[Guest]

So, I'm looking at the info page for BookVars - am I correct in understanding that I can create multiple Book Var files and then changing which one I am importing the variables from?

[Guest]

Yes, the plugin is immensely useful and versatile. You can actually create a "master book var file" and set up all your framemaker books to use that particular file. In addition, you can create "variable groups" where you ONLY import variables from that particular group. The plugin also gives you an automated way to delete variables from all the files in a particular book.

[Mike Wickham]

Yes, you can create a separate BookVars file for each book. I create a

separate BookVars file for each book I produce. For example, I populate

it with variables for title, author, ISBN, copyright date, contact info,

etc. and assign the proper values to the variables. When I create new

books, I include a copy of a front matter template file that already has

pages created with all these variables in place and already formatted.

So all I have to do is import the variables from the BookVars file and

it populates the pages with the correct values for that book. Everything

is already formatted and ready to go without further work.

The great thing about using variables is that you can change their

values and easily propagate them throughout the entire book in every

spot that it needs changing without doing an individual search/replace

for each term (assuming your authors remembered to use a variable where

appropriate, instead of just typing in the text). So the "Title"

variable not only puts the title on the title page, it also populates it

into the page headers throughout the book, and anywhere into the text

where the title variable may have been inserted. Easy!

Be sure to update the book afterward, as changing the values of

variables can cause the text to reflow and change the page count. This

could lead to cross-references pointing to the old page position instead

of the new one.

[Guest]

Thank you both very much for your answers!  I downloaded the trial last night and have spent the whole morning playing with it and this is exactly what i needed. I wish it had come with some more detailed instructions (took me half an hour to figure out the update command updated the chosen's groups info from the document instead of updating the document from the group info - import was the command I was looking for), but still an amazing little tool that was well worth the $35.