TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Can anyone very familiar with FrameMaker familiarise us with an alternative
methodology for doing such a conversion with a recent version of Framemaker?
In my understanding it's just a matter of mapping styles and structure to
dtd/schema elements - Adobe has it's own proprietary format for such
mappings.
I remember doing such a conversion a couple of years ago - as such it didn't
require any additional tools other than Framemaker itself, but the output
was rather miserable if I remember.
Lech
On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 3:34 PM, Butler, Darren J CTR USAF AFMC 584
CBSS/GBHAC <Darren -dot- Butler -dot- ctr -at- robins -dot- af -dot- mil> wrote:
> Thanx Geoff,
>
> We are familiar with XML and SGML.
> As stated in my post, we already have such an application that we cannot
> use anymore so we are looking for alternatives. Do you have any
> experience or exposure to such a tool? MIF2GO has been suggested.
>
> Best regards,
> Darren
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> techwr-l-bounces+darren -dot- butler -dot- ctr=robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+darren.butler.ctr<techwr-l-bounces%2Bdarren.butler.ctr>
> =robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot-
> com] On Behalf Of Geoff Hart
> Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 10:03 AM
> To: techwr-l List; Butler, Darren J CTR USAF AFMC 584 CBSS/GBHAC
> Subject: MIF to XML/SGML conversion?
>
> Darren Butler wondered: <<Does anyone know of an application that
> converts MIF to XML and/or SGML...>>
>
> Not an expert on the conversion process, but I do know enough to
> remind you that XML and SGML are not "just another file format". The
> distinguishing characteristic of these two formats, unlike most other
> file formats, is that they are (or should be) structured and governed
> by a DTD. (So is HTML, but the structural aspects of an HTML document
> are so loose and so poorly enforced that you might as well not
> bother.) DTDs focus on the functional relationships between the parts
> of a document, not on the formatting, and if you are like most of us
> (me included), you have probably created documents that only fit this
> criterion about 90% (the number is obviously fuzzy).
>
> So before you attempt the conversion, spend some time making sure
> that your document structure is sufficiently rigorous that XML or
> SGML is an appropriate choice of output format. If this isn't the
> case, you'll need to spend some time cleaning up the structure before
> you do the conversion. For complicated documents, DTD design is not
> for the faint of heart, and requires a degree of rigor in writing
> that few of us apply to our writing.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> -- Geoff Hart
> ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
> www.geoff-hart.com
> --------------------------------------------------
> ***Now available*** _Effective onscreen editing_
> (http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm)
>
> Print version: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fStoreID=1505747
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
> publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
> authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
>http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
>
> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as
> Darren -dot- Butler -dot- ctr -at- robins -dot- af -dot- mil -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit
>http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/darren.butler.ctr%40r
> obins.af.mil
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
> publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
> authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial.
>http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
>
> True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
> Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
> documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as xchaotic -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> or visit
>http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/xchaotic%40gmail.com
>
>
> To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info.
>
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
ComponentOne Doc-To-Help gives you everything you need to author and
publish quality Help, Web, and print content. Perfect for technical
authors, developers, and policy writers. Download a FREE trial. http://www.componentone.com/DocToHelp/
True single source, conditional content, PDF export, modular help.
Help & Manual is the most powerful authoring tool for technical
documentation. Boost your productivity! http://www.helpandmanual.com
---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-
