Which EDD controls how a composite .fm is made?

[Guest]

FM 10.0.2.419

DITA 1.2

I'm stuck. I am converting my .ditamap files to composite FrameMaker files by choosing File > Save Ditamap As and picking Composite Document. The .fm file is created, but changes that I made to the EDD are not appearing in the composite document. In the notes for the EDD is says that "Users who need maintain EDDs for only a small number of the DITA DTDs may want to avoid the overhead of maintaining the text insets by converting them to text before making changes." That's me, so I converted all of the text insets in ditabase.edd.fm to text and I changed the Prefix text in related-links to say "Related topics" rather than "Related links." However, when I create the composite document, it still says "Related links."

I have made other EDD changes that are being ignored as well, which made me think that I wasn't using my DITA 1.2 Application, but I confirmed that I am. Under DITA > DITA Options, the DITA 1.2 option is selected and DITA_1.2_Applications is what is mapped. In my structapps.fm the definitions are pointing to directory (and files) that I use. The EDD that I am changing is in that directory (G:\company_docs\DITA_1.2\app\).

Does anyone have any ideas why the EDD changes in ditabase.edd.fm are not being used when creating a composite document?

-Lief

[ScottPrentice · Accepted solution]

Hi Lief...

I believe that you were part of the discussion in an earlier thread on a similar topic ..

     http://forums.adobe.com/message/4330772#4330772

I wish that I knew the answer to your question .. and hopefully someone more experienced with the default processing of FM-DITA can jump in to offer some suggestions.

One option is to just import your EDD and template into the generated files after they have been created. Also .. unless you are actually using DITA 1.2 features, I'd recommend using the DITA 1.1 apps instead. They are much easier to customize and you're more likely to be editing the "right" app.

Just to confirm that you're on the right track .. editing an EDD alone will never have any effect on a structure application. After updating the EDD you must import that into the assocaited template. The template file contains both the EDD and styling/layout information, and that's the file that is referenced by the structure application definition. If you're just editing an EDD and you're not importing that into the template file, your edits will never be used.

Good luck,

...scott

Scott Prentice

Leximation, Inc.

www.leximation.com

[Guest]

I was unaware that I needed to import the EDD into the template (is that in the documentation somewhere?). After doing so, the EDD changes are appearing as expected. Thanks, Scott!

[ScottPrentice]

Excellent. I'm glad that was the problem. Yes .. it's in the documentation "somewhere" .. the Structure Application Developer's Guide is the book to read. It's got all of the answers to working with EDDs and structure apps.

Cheers,

...scott