Importing tables with conditional expresions from FrameMaker

Report · Aug 17, 2020

Hi there

Another annoying bug in RoboHelp 2019 modern UI (update 12) I guess 😞

I have a document in FrameMaker with a table. The whole table is set up with 2 conditional tags, and I have the conditional expresion "Tag1 or Tag2". Very simple.

When I import the document in Robohelp, the table vanishes (no sign of the table in html view), but if I don't set the conditional expresion but a single condition, it works and RH shows the table.

Any clues?

Thanks a lot for your time

Report · Aug 18, 2020

Am I missing a point here?

I can see it is annoying to have to remove a condition before import a one time process so you are able to import the document.

You say the table is missing in HTML View. That's a Classic term. I take it you mean Author view. Is there anything in Source view where the table should be?

I'm not a FrameMaker using but to my mind tags should not affect import in any way. Let us know about the above as it may help.

Also it might be worth trying Update 14.

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Report · Aug 18, 2020

Not sure how the newer versions of RH are behaving, but there used to be 2 philosophies about conditionals when going from FM to RH; the first was to set your Show/Hide indicators in FM and then it would only import the "Show" content; the second way was to leave everything showing in FM and then set your conditioning in RH to control the output generated (I'm in the #2 camp).
IIRC, there were issues when dealing with conditional build expressions in FM (but since I don't use them in FM, I'm not 100% sure).

Report · Aug 20, 2020

Hi Jeff

Initially I went with "Show/hide" way in FM and import the content that FM shows but right now I had to go with a mixed strategy: I filter some contents with conditional tags in FM (without condicional build expressions) and filter another contents in RH.

There are so many bugs and problems with FM and RH integration, and with RH modern UI that I usually spend weeks trying to working around issues on every single step I take. It's boring, and up to now it seems Adobe has published update 14 for RH... this software is far from mature.

Thanks a lot for your time

Report · Aug 20, 2020

Hi Peter

Yep, you are right, I open both Author view and Souce view in RH modern UI and there is no table at all.

When I set the condicional expression in FM, it shows the table, but when I import the document in RH the table disappears. Simple like that.

But this only happens with tables and condicional expressions, the same test with a paragraph works without problems. And, if I choose a single condicional tag instead of a conditional expresion, FM shows the table and RH imports the document fine.

Thanks a lot for your time

Report · Aug 20, 2020

If Jeff does not have an answer, I think you need to contact Support. This does not sound right but I don't have a solution.

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Report · Aug 20, 2020

Hmm, I'd be inclined to go the "show everything in FM/sort it all out in RH" route. But just as a test, have you tried publishing directly out of FM? If your conditional expressions & tables work there, then you'd have a lead on the problem (i.e. the New UI engine) [that's because the guts of the FM publish engine are RH Classic under the hood].