Table Markup in MML

[ppa_chris]

Does anyone know if it's possible to use MML to get text to go into a table in a FrameMaker template please? What is the markup coding required to begin and end a table?

[Bernd Alheit · Accepted solution]

Tables can't defined with MML.

[ppa_chris]

Hmmm.... had a nasty feeling that was the case. Thanks for confirming.

[Arnis_Gubins]

However, you can include MIF snippet insets in an MML stream that FM will properly render. So just wrap the content accordingly.

[ppa_chris]

Thanks for the tip Arnis - not sure I'd know how to go about that though!

[FieryPantone]

That "just …" is masterly <vbg>

I've taken a quick look at the MML Reference, and don't immediately see how to use a MIF <Tbl statement in an MML file. Hints and tips welcome :-}

A CALS to MIF translator would sometimes be a useful thing to have, even if there is a certain satisfaction in being able to open a .dita file in FM and then rescue the table from there.

[Bob_Niland]

What are you trying to do?

If it's to get content from an external app into FM tables, generating MIF is a possibility. I've done it for spreadsheet content, hinted at here.

[ppa_chris]

Hi Bob - I'm trying to mark up text coming from a database and pretag it so that it uses the correct formats on import to a FM doc. Most of the data is just plain text paras, that uses para tags with tabs to fall into columns. It's just the column headers that I want to put in a table because they need to be rotated otherwise the columns are too wide for the printed page.

[Arnis_Gubins]

For database publishing, you might want to have a look at the freebie Miramo Personal Edition from Datazone (see: http://www.miramo.com/english/overview/dp_download.html). This will give you much more control in formatting the output from the database. You can run this in conjunction with FM (as the publisher) or use their mmComposer component without the need for FM as the publisher.

I'll post the MIF in MML info later, when I've got access to FM.

[ppa_chris]

Thanks for the tip about Miramo - I'll keep it in mind for future work. Not a possibility on this project I'm afraid, but I'd be interested to see the MIF in MML option when you get a chance, thanks.

[Arnis_Gubins]

I looked into my archives about using MIF with MML, and it used a roundabout route. With MML you can use the AFrame operator to start a MIF stream (primarily intended for inserting graphics), but it seems that it now only parses MIF graphic objects. Back in FM5 (in the '90s), I vaguely recall that all valid MIF objects that could be placed in an anchored frame could be used. So, a text frame could be inserted in the AFrame, and then any valid MIF text content could also be used (including a table structure). I tried this out, but now the MML parser flags everything in the nesting starting with the text frame (rectangle) as an invalid opcode. Perhaps something has changed in the past 6 releases or so of FM? Anyway, the approach was a bit convoluted and I had started using Miramo at that time, so I abandoned that approach.

Sorry for any false hopes on using this route. My bad...

I also recall that the original MML (which I believe came from Softline International, Inc. (SII)) also allowed a table construct (along with many other features), so I don't know when and where the MML implementatons diverged - perhaps with the Adobe acquisition from Frame. SII still has a web site listing their full MML implementation documentation  (see: MML Reference - Introduction), so perhaps they still have a replacement version for the MML filter available.

Another approach, using some scripting at the FM end, could be to drop specific markers at the start and end of the table contents in the MML stream and then use FM's convert to table operator to change that content into an actual table using the formatting defined in the Table catalog.