Variables Not Appearing Correctly

[prairiewriter]

I am using RoboHelp 8 and FrameMaker 9. In RoboHelp, I have linked to a FrameMaker book. I have encountered a problem that I cannot seem to resolve. All of my FrameMaker variables have imported correctly. However, in a few instances the following code has been added:

<span class="FM_variable" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;">&#160;<?rh-udv_start name="AcmeWidgets" ?>Acme Widgets<?rh-udv_end ?></span>

Ideally, the variable should appear as:

<?rh-udv_start name="AcmeWidgets" ?>AcmeWidgets<?rh-udv_end ?>

The additional code is causing the variable to display incorrectly. I can remove the additional code, but it is added again each time I update the topics. This is only happening in one or two instances – the rest of the variables appear correctly. Can anyone help solve this dilemma?

[Jason L-S]

Have you cleared all Character styles from the variable text in FrameMaker?

[prairiewriter]

Jason:

Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure what you mean by "clearing all the character styles from the variable text in FrameMaker". Here is how the variable is defined in Frame:

Default ¶ Font>Acme Widgets<Default ¶ Font>

Are you suggesting that I remove "Default Font"? Also, not all variable references are changed in RoboHelp. Only a few have the additional code and I am not certain why this is happening.

Thanks again.

[prairiewriter]

Help!

I am still unable to resolve this issue. Some (not all) of my variables are not appearing correctly. For example, the font for Heading 1 is 14 point, bold, Verdana. However, the variable appears as normal 14 point Times New Roman. Have I missed a span setting in my CSS? Is a setting in the Frame file causing this problem?

I’m desperate for a solution – it’s a show stopper for our online Help. Thank you in advance.

[Jason L-S]

You can start by running a variable report in Robohelp. Tools > Reports > Variables.

Make sure all your variables are accounted for in the Robohelp project. If not, reimport the files and let Robohelp rebuild everything.

Assuming that your variables are recognized by Robohelp, then in FrameMaker you can try this. Select the heading in question, and then click Heading 1 in your paragraph catalog. Next, while the heading is still highlighted, click Default Font in your character catalog. This should remove any additional character formatting on the variable itself.

Make sure you've mapped styles for paragraphs and character formats in Robohelp. Right-click the referenced FrameMaker book in Robohelp. Click Properties, and then select the Style Settings tab. Click Edit in the Style Mappings area. Select Character Styles in the Style Mapping Type box. You'll want to make sure you've get every FrameMaker style mapped to an acceptable Robohelp style.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Hope it helps point you in the right direction.

Jason

[prairiewriter]

Just a quick note to provide the solution to the issue. It appears that the cause of the variable issue was overrides applied to variables in FrameMaker. Unfortunately, RoboHelp did not know how to process the overrides and imported the variable as the FrameMaker default font. Removing the overrides in FrameMaker resolved the issue.

Thank you to all who took the time to suggest solutions.