Adobe FrameMaker 7.1: Fast Software for Long Documents

Producers of technical documentation have long sung the praises of Adobe FrameMaker, but other print designers may wonder what's the big deal. That may change with FrameMaker 7.1, which includes powerful QuarkXPress and PageMaker filters and whizzy conditional-text features.

Glinert, Susan. Creative Pro (2004). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Adobe FrameMaker Autonumbering Examples

Autonumbering had changed as new versions of FrameMaker have arrived. What worked in FrameMaker 5 might have broken in 5.5. This is due to changes Adobe made in the restart building blocks (request presentation). While our examples below use the maximum building blocks (meaning a little extra work), the result is numbering schemes that are more flexible for multiple versions of FrameMaker.

Bright Path Solutions (2004). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Collaborating with Tools for Single-Sourcing  

A discussion of single-sourcing using FrameMaker and WebWorks Publisher.

Bhatia, Neeraj and Frederick Menezes. STC India (2001). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Adobe FrameMaker

comp.text.frame

A USENET newsgroup for discussion among users of Adobe FrameMaker.

Google. Resources>Mailing Lists>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Converting FrameMaker to HTML  

Many FrameMaker users need to publish their documents on the World Wide Web. The best approach is to use a converter, which preserves the format and organization of the original FrameMaker document. Good converters can handle long, complex documents that contain elements such as table of contents, index, line drawings, bitmap graphics, tables, footnotes, and equations. We discuss the benefits of having a single source document for paper and Web, the techniques for creating documents that can be converted easily, and the powerful conversion tools available today.

Jackson, Ken and Sonya E. Keene. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Web Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Converting Indexes with WebWorks Publisher

While WebWorks Publisher (WWP) 7.0 can convert FrameMaker indexes into different online formats, getting things to work initially can be a bit of a challenge. Page ranges in index entries result in hyperlinks to both the starting and ending locations. Index hyperlinks don’t always link to the top of a help topic, but often to somewhere in the middle. For Simple HTML and Dynamic HTML, “See” and “See also” references can fail to convert altogether. However, if you do get stuck, Customer Support can help pull you through.

Brown, Fred. Allegro Time! (2002). Articles>Indexing>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Creating an Interactive Online User Guide  

Want to create a colorful, interactive online version of your FrameMaker® documents? Not many steps are involved in making the conversion: start with template changes in the FrameMaker files; create a postscript file; convert it into a PDF (Portable Document Format) file using Adobe Distiller®; and add final touches to the PDF file in Adobe Exchange®.

Beren, Wendy G. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Documentation>Online>Adobe FrameMaker

Creating Online Help from FrameMaker Files Using WebWorks Publisher  

WebWorks Publisher from Quadralay lets you develop online help from FrameMaker files without dealing with the inefficiencies associated with help authoring tools (HATs). No longer do you have to convert the FrameMaker files to RTF for use in a HAT—and consequently lose all the formatting, which you must rebuild. You also do not have to maintain two sets of files.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Adobe FrameMaker

Creating Online Help in a Multiplatform Environment  

With the explosion of online help authoring tools (primarily in the Windows® environment) companies are clamoring for the ability to produce online help on multiple platforms. This demonstration presents one solution to the problem of creating online help in a multiplatform environment. We will demonstrate the process of translating FrameMaker™ files from the Macintosh® to Windows NT®, and ultimately, to UNIX®.

Shelton, Jan D., Anne Navarro and Robbie Fontenot. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Documentation>Help>Adobe FrameMaker

Creating Single Source Documents with FrameMaker  

A discussion of how to think about FrameMaker templates for single source documents.

Knopf, David A. Knopf Online (2001). Presentations>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Adobe FrameMaker

Creating Tables in FrameMaker

Tables make information easy to find and understand and are often used for illustrating comparisons among similar data. A table usually consists of a heading row and one or more body rows and may also contain a title.

McMurrey, David A., Jana Owens, Jacqueline J. Pulido and Thomas A. Moore. Illuminati Online (2004). Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Creating XML Content  

Houser provides an overview of XML editors. He discusses in detail three of the most popular content-oriented editors: ArborText Epic, Adobe FrameMaker 7, and SoftQuad XMetaL.

Houser, Alan R. Intercom (2002). Design>Information Design>XML>Adobe FrameMaker

Custom Toolbar

We recently converted our documents from Word to FrameMaker. Most of the people in my department had been using Word for years and had grown accustomed to applying character formatting using key commands or buttons on the toolbar. I was afraid that they would use the same methods in FrameMaker simply out of habit, rather than using character tags.

Henkel, Rick. Docspages. Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Designing FrameMaker Templates for Use with WebWorks Publisher Professional  

Plan your FrameMaker templates' look for both print and online.

Gallagher, Linda. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2003). Design>Document Design>Single Sourcing>Adobe FrameMaker

Document Hack (A Technical Writer's Journal): From Acrobat to FrameMaker

FrameMaker is the industry standard for writing book-length documents. It is a powerful program capable of creating books of well over a thousand pages. The learning curve for the program is significant. FrameMaker is a much different animal than Microsoft Word and other word processors.

Hewitt, John. Writer's Resource Center (2004). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Document Layout Concepts (Frames and All That)

The primary reason to use Framemaker is the power that it offers in managing long and possibly technically complex documents. And while detailed control of the formatting of every paragraph and character is important, the overarching concern is overall structure and layout on a document- or book-wide basis. As the product's name announces, at the heart of FrameMaker's structure and layout paradigm is the 'Frame'. Yet I found the user documentation on the actual subject of frames to be perplexingly opaque. Frames are mentioned here and there, and what is described is not incorrect. But nowhere in the user docs is there a concise and complete discussion of this central FrameMaker feature -- which tends to stall efforts to actually get started on using FrameMaker in a productively-planned manner. Indeed, it is tempting to speculate that the FM learning curve is infamously steep precisely because this conceptual core is so ill illuminated. So, determined to dispell the fog (at least for me!), I resorted to studying the very helpful Programmers' Reference and Guide, and built a MIF-Browser tool to get to the bottom of the matter. Herewith is an effort to clarify what to me seem the essentials needed for productive use of FrameMaker, condensed in one place.

Wideman, Graham. WidemanOne. Design>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

Embedded Indexing in FrameMaker   

Embedded indexing is the process of creating index entries electronically in a document’s files. Although desktop publishing packages are not the best tools for indexing, they can be used to create effective embedded indexes. For technical documents that will be updated frequently or will go online, technical communicators can create embedded indexes that will help their audience find information quickly and efficiently.

Mauer, Peg. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Document Design>Indexing>Adobe FrameMaker

Embedding Indexes in FrameMaker

FrameMaker provides you with the ability to enter individual index headings using index markers. Once entered, you can automatically generate the index with the correct page numbers.

Brown, Fred. Allegro Time! (2002). Articles>Indexing>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker 5.5.6 Component Versions

This page is my effort to discover and document how to transform the currently shipping FrameMaker 5.5.6 into a form that is actually usable and hopefully stable.

Wideman, Graham. WidemanOne (1999). Design>Publishing>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker 5.5.6 Product Components

This is my current model of the components which compose the FrameMaker 5.5.6 product, and their functions. Open to critique. All of the components marked in yellow are either included in the FM package, or at least supposed to be.

Wideman, Graham. WidemanOne (1999). Design>Publishing>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker Batch Processing and Automation Using MIF

Have you ever wanted to check a large set of FrameMaker files to make sure all the borders, text- symbols, and rulers are turned off? What about hyperlinks? Wouldn't it be nice to be able to automatically validate all the hypertext links within a large set of FrameMaker files? Did you ever wish there was a way to automatically convert a set of data into FrameMaker tables? You can do all these things, and more, using the Maker Interchange Format (MIF). This article presents some of the main features of MIF and gives an overview of some of the ways you can make use of MIF. Additional articles will delve deeper into using Perl to process MIF, providing details on specific applications.

Larsen, Seraphim. Silicon Valley Connection (2002). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe FrameMaker

FrameMaker Building Blocks: Using Building Blocks to Customize FrameMaker Documents  

Building blocks, like macros, allow you to enter information without typing it.

Scriptorium (2000). Resources>Tutorials>Software>Adobe FrameMaker