How to extract text from FM files...without using Frame?

[Document Geek]

I inherited a publishing workflow from a company that uses Framemaker. I started my own company (and hence no loner work at the place that uses Framemaker).  Since I knew I would be converting the workflow to InDesign, I saved a bunch of the files as MIFs. However, I didn't get them all saved as MIFs. Now I need to extract text from some of the FM files, but I don't own Framemaker. And I am on a mac, so I will never own Framemaker.

So, my question is this: is there a way to somehow extract the text from these old FM files? I've tried making a PDF online, but FM is not one of the file formats that Adobe supports for online conversion. Is there maybe a way to open the files in a text editor and extract the text?

Or perhaps is there a reasonably priced online service that will save them as MIFs for me?

Thanks for your help.

[Be.eM]

I own several Macs, and I've got several FM licenses. Not necessarily excluding each other

I'm not aware of any online service, but I guess here are several self-employed FM users who could do this for you, including me. For conversion, it's not even necessary to provide all the graphics or fonts, just the FM files. Just let me know if you want to go this way (tomorrow, here it's just past midnight).

Bernd

[peter minneapolis]

Document Geek wrote:

I inherited a publishing workflow from a company that uses Framemaker. I started my own company (and hence no loner work at the place that uses Framemaker).  Since I knew I would be converting the workflow to InDesign, I saved a bunch of the files as MIFs. However, I didn't get them all saved as MIFs. Now I need to extract text from some of the FM files, but I don't own Framemaker. And I am on a mac, so I will never own Framemaker.

So, my question is this: is there a way to somehow extract the text from these old FM files? I've tried making a PDF online, but FM is not one of the file formats that Adobe supports for online conversion. Is there maybe a way to open the files in a text editor and extract the text?

Or perhaps is there a reasonably priced online service that will save them as MIFs for me?

Thanks for your help.

Is it possible to work with the former company to convert the remaining files to MIF?

It's possible to open FrameMaker files in a very smart editor like TextWrangler, or a disk editor (Google search "mac disk editor" without quotes) but you'll have to do a lot of manual copy/paste to salvage the text.

How do you plan to convert from MIF to InDesign? The DTP Tools MIF Filter commercial plug-in is free to use, but you need to buy page credits - like minutes on a phone card - to save the converted files. They have a free FrameMaker-to-MIF batch converter, but it runs only on Windows. dtptools.com for more info.

You can use Windows on your Mac with the free Boot Camp that comes with recent OS X versions, free VirtualBox, or the commercial VMware Fusion or Parallels Desktop. You also need to buy Windows for any of these.

HTH

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

What about using the demo version of FM9 that Adobe provides on a virtual server?

[peter minneapolis]

Jeff_Coatsworth wrote:

What about using the demo version of FM9 that Adobe provides on a virtual server?

Hi, Jeff:

I was sure that would be my own brilliant suggestion until I checked closer and found that it can't save files, and it can't work with FrameMaker files that users provide.

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Really? Too bad - that really doesn't help anybody judge the usefulness of FM for their operation. I guess the OP will have to download the demo into a Windows VM & run it from there then.

[Art_Campbell1]

Peter,

Would you cite your source for the "can't save" limitation, please?

I've worked and am working with several people / firms that have downloaded the eval versions of FM or TCS2 over the last six months and none have had any trouble saving files or working with older legacy files.

Cheers,

Art

[Be.eM]

Art,

if I understand correctly, this statement is true for an online demo of FM ("virtual server"), which could be used without Windows. The OP says he is on Mac (and probably won't install Windows), so the downloadable "real" demo is not usable for him.

Bernd

[Art_Campbell1]

OK, I was thinking of downloading the eval and running it under an emulator on the Mac.

[peter minneapolis]

Art_Campbell wrote:

OK, I was thinking of downloading the eval and running it under an emulator on the Mac.

Yes, as others have stepped in to say, I was referring to the online FrameMaker virtual emulation.

Regarding emulating Windows on Mac, I think there is one free such animal that doesn't require that the user purchase a copy of Windows as Parallels, Fusion, and Boot Camp do. Perhaps someone knows the name. I do recall that it doesn't work with all Windows-based applications.

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

I think Peter's referring to the hosted demo, Art.

[Document Geek]

Thanks for all the great ideas. However, I like the idea that involves a human being, as opposed to Windows. I don't have BootCamp, Parallels, or anything Windows virtual. And I'll only need a file converted maybe once every six months or so. But I have no way of knowing which files need converting until the client drops a project on me that happens to use old files that I need to convert. And although I could go back to Former Company and ask them to convert them for me, it is best that I find a way to do it on my own, even if it involves paying someone, or a lot of copy and paste. So, I may be in touch with a few of you for price quotes when the time comes. Thanks for your assistance!

[Van Kurtz]

If push comes to shove and the documents are not too large, you can have the client provide a PDF of the document. Then use Acrobat to extract the text and/or save in some format compatible with InDesign.

[peter minneapolis]

Am I missing something? If the client supplies the FM files, and you can work with MIF, why can't they supply the files in MIF format? If they can't, why not?

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

[Document Geek]

All of the files I inherited were provided by Former Company. They did technical manuals for Clients. Clients provided no FM files, no PDFs. Former Company didn't make PDFs of all their FM files. Since for certain projects, the deliverable was just hardcopy (as opposed to a PDF) Former Company would not make a PDF, they would just print directly from FM.

I try to keep my contact with Former Company as limited as possible. Thus, I will no go to them and ask them to convert files for me. I'm very adept at extracting information from PDFs (and I have found Acrobat not to be the best choice in some scenarios). This whole process of converting from FM to ID has been such a learning experience, that I have been blogging about it. If you're interested check it out: www.documentgeek.blogspot.com

But this particular situation (needing to convert an FM to a MIF or PDF without using Frame) has stumped me.

So, I think my best choice is still to get in touch with one of you and have you convert the files to PDF for me. Oh, and one more thing I forgot to to mention (and why I don't think I'll be using a smart text editor) is that all the files I'll need to convert are in foreign languages (and with lots of callouts and pictures). So I wouldn't know if I was copying and pasting things back in the right spots.