Structured Framemaker/XML Resources—Where to Begin?

Report · May 18, 2012

I'm new to Structured Framemaker and XML, though I've used Unstructured Framemaker for several years. My company has asked me to look into options for converting our many publications to e-book format, but I'm a bit overwhelmed and unsure where to begin. Can anyone offer a basic outline for what to focus on, in what order, and good resources for learning? I learn best by example, and links are welcome.

Thank you.

Report · May 18, 2012

Hi Jmw...

You don't need to be using structured FrameMaker to export to an ebook format. If you've got FrameMaker files, you can export to EPUB or MOBI (the two formats you'll care about) using RoboHelp or EPubFm (a plugin from ElmSoft .. http://elmsoftonline.com/ElmProducts.html). There are other conversion tools, but most convert from RTF or ODF, so you'd have to export from FM to RTF, then on from there. Flare (which can open FM files) also has an EPUB export, but it's very limited in features.

You can see a fairly comprehensive list of EPUB tools here ..

http://epubtest.com/resources.php

Note that no matter what tool you use to get an EPUB file, it's likely to need some tweaking. This requires opening it up, and making modifications to the underlying XHTML, XML, and CSS files. I highly recommend using oXygen XML editor for this purpose. You can point it at an EPUB and it'll open it up and let you edit the files inside. Then you can validate the files, and save .. nice and tidy. You can also do this with a tool called Sigil .. but it has much less capabilities (but it's free).

If you don't have RoboHelp or Flare (and even if you do) .. I'd recommend spending the $50 for EPubFm and giving it a try. You'll get better results (regardless of the tool you use) if you use a very simple template and avoid tables and fancy formatting.

I don't suppose that you're going to the STC conference next week (May 21-23)? If you are, I'm giving a presentation on EPUB tools.

Good luck!

...scott

Report · May 22, 2012

Thanks, Scott. Exactly what I was looking for re: epublishing. Can you recommend any resources for learning Structured Frame as well? Some of our other applications (including moving documents back and forth efficiently from Word to Framemaker) might benefit. Won't be at the conference but hope your presentation goes well.

Best,

Matt

Report · May 22, 2012

HI Matt...

I don't have any personal recommendations, but perhaps others will (or maybe you should re-post with that as the subject line). I'd go to the following websites to look for white papers and other resources that may be helpful ..

www.publishingsmarter.com

www.scriptorium.com

Cheers,

...scott

Report · May 23, 2012

Hi Matt--

Scott is right that you don't need to be in structured FrameMaker to produce .epub output. Two tools that he didn't mention are WebWorks Publisher and mif2go. I don't produce .epub so I don't have any experience working with it. I understand that to produce epub from mif2go you need an additional (free) tool. That is not the case for WebWorks. A nice feature about WebWorks is that you can have FrameMaker, MS Word, and DITA source files in the same project and produce your epub file(s) from all of them without needing to round trip anything from FrameMaker to Word.

As far as learning structured FrameMaker, if you know the unstructured FrameMaker interface well it's not that much different. You'll want to spend your time learning DITA or DocBook.

-Lief