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New to FrameMaker

New Here ,
Jun 21, 2008 Jun 21, 2008

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Does anyone have good suggestions or recommendations for where one can find
information about FrameMaker 8 for the new writer. I'm not new to writing,
just to FrameMaker. But I can't afford to spend lots of money trying to
get some use out of this "new toy". :-)

I have been banging my head against the keyboard now, trying to figure out
how to take the work that I've done (in HTML) for, and make it into a nice
FM book.

Unfortunately, the users guide, and other information from the Adobe site
appear to use, and depend upon information, or configuration details (EDDs)
that do not exist for the person who just installed FM "out of the box".

Are some EDDs, or templates, or whatever, freely available for someone like
myself?

Thanks in advance
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Structured

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Mentor ,
Jun 23, 2008 Jun 23, 2008

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Hi Bob,

Speaking for structured FrameMaker, you may want to review the following recent thread:

Russ Ward, "Getting Started with Structured FrameMaker" #1, 4 Jun 2008 6:37 pm

We talked about sample files and things like that there. Your question was a bit broad, so I don't know quite what else to say at this point. Note that you posted this in the structured Frame forum... you could use FM in its unstructured mode, but as a structure junkie I'd certainly recommend exploring that option. It might help to learn more about templates in general, though, before jumping into EDDs and other structure-related components.

Russ

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New Here ,
Jun 23, 2008 Jun 23, 2008

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Russ:

Thank you for the response & suggestion. I'll check there.

Bob

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New Here ,
Jun 23, 2008 Jun 23, 2008

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Unfortunately, I had checked there before posting here. The unfortunate thing is that the referenced "tutorial" no longer
appears to be available on her site. I looked all over that
site, just in case she had renamed or relabeled it. :-(

Thanks anyway.

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Advisor ,
Jun 25, 2008 Jun 25, 2008

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Bob,

I don't believe Marjorie's tutorial is yet available. She is writing it as part of her own learning process.

You posted your message to the structured FrameMaker forum, and you ask about available EDDs. Still, as Russ observed, your message didn't explicitly say that you are interested in structured FrameMaker.

FrameMaker provides the same editing, formatting, and publishing capability under two different document models. Unstructured documents use the traditional word-processing model. In essence, an unstructured FrameMaker document is a sequence of paragraphs, each with an associated paragraph format or style. Text ranges with associated character formats, tables, graphics, and other features are additions to the basic organization of a documents main flow as a sequence of paragraphs. Note that the term "unstructured document" is not a negative one and in no way implies that the content is poorly organized.


Alternatively, a structured document is a hierarchy of structural elements. Each element consists of some combination of text, special formatting objects (such as graphics, markers, and cross-references), and other elements. Attributes (named strings) can be associated with the elements. While the document is still divided into paragraphs, each with a paragraph format, the author edits the document by manipulating elements. FrameMaker applies paragraph and character formats automatically to the documents elements and the author need not even be aware of such details of FrameMaker formatting. Some editing operations can cause existing material to be reformatted and the user need not be bothered with the details. For example, consider an airline manual in which chapters are divided into sections with several levels of subsections. Suppose the author decides to divide a top-level section into several second-level sections. Any existing second-level sections will then become third-level sections, the third-level sections within them will become fourth-level and so forth. The section titles of all these elements probably need to be renumbered and perhaps formatted with a different font. In the structured document, such changes happen automatically; in an unstructured document, the user would need to change the style of each section head individually. Furthermore, structured documents enforce user-definable rules that control the contexts in which each type of element is permitted and allow the software to provide context-sensitive help in guiding the user to create valid documents in which all required elements occur in the required location. The location of optional elements is also controlled. The model of structured documents is compatible with that of SGML and XML.

The FrameMaker installation includes several samples of both structured and unstructured documents. There are buttons for "exploring" them at the bottom of the New document dialog box (File > New > Document).

An EDD (element definition document) is a structured FrameMaker document that defines the elements and attributes to be used in other structured documents, along with the automatic formatting associated with the defined elements. The EDD parallels an SGML or XML DTD as well as associated formatting information. For information on EDDs, see the online Structure Application Developer's Guide. To inspect EDDs that come with FrameMaker, just look in the FrameMaker installation folder for filenames including "edd". In particular, the structure and sample subfolders contain EDDs.

I do offer a self-study course on authoring structured documents. It assumes some basic familiarity with FrameMaker and hence does not cover things like using the spelling checker, setting preferences, or creating a table of contents or index. Nor does it cover creation of an EDD. It does cover the structured document model, the Structure View, Element Catalog, editing attributes, navigating through an element structure, and manipulating elements. Contact me directly at lprice@txstruct.com if you'd like more information.

--Lynne

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New Here ,
Jun 25, 2008 Jun 25, 2008

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LATEST
Lynne:

First, I want to thank you for the length of your reply. You have obviously taken my question seriously, and have put a lot of thought into providing as accurate a response as possible. I really appreciate your time and attention.

> I don't believe Marjorie's tutorial is yet available.

Ah. That would explain why I can't find it. Thank you.

> You posted your message to the structured FrameMaker forum, and you
> ask about available EDDs. Still, as Russ observed, your message
> didn't explicitly say that you are interested in structured
> FrameMaker.

That is correct. I still have lots to learn about FrameMaker, and
this includes the distinction between unstructured and structured
entities. [I started to say "documents" but this isn't completely
accurate, is it?]

> FrameMaker provides the same ...

Wonderful information. Thank you for taking the time to try and
clarify the distinction between the two document models.

> Alternatively, a structured document is ...

Another wonderful paragraph.

> Suppose the author decides to ...

Exactly the kind of information needed to explain and justify the
use of a structured document model.

> The FrameMaker installation includes ...

Another informative paragraph. I'm still trying to fumble my
way around FM, and have yet to "explore" the samples, and compare
and contrast the two models.

> An EDD ...

Super.

> I do offer a self-study course ...

Outstanding. Thank you for that. I will.

For someone reading this "thread" after the fact, I found some
interesting "introductory" FrameMaker videos at the following URL.
Note, however, that the videos were designed for a particular user
set (i.e., people developing IBM Redbooks), so there appear to be
some interesting tools that I would love to get ahold of... :-)

http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redbooks.nsf/pages/fmlessons?Open

Thank you again for your time and attention. You have been extremely
helpful, and I will be sending you an e-mail shortly.

Bob

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