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Subject:Re: FrameMaker to Word From:Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET> Date:Thu, 30 Apr 1998 22:53:54 -0400
Jane, the RTF filter out of Frame isn't quite the same as the one Microsoft
routinely includes in its software. The RTF conversion is rather capricious.
But you may find that part of your problem is how much RAM you have. Frame
is a RAM-hog and if you're running less than 32 Meg you're probably going to
have strange crashes. You may have them regardless, depending how your
system's configured and how you hold your mouth when you click on various
items.
The problem becomes more acute as you include loads of graphics (maybe some
with Frame drawings in them) and tables. Frame tables don't always convert
well. And many other Frame-specific items aren't RTF-friendly, such as
conditional text and variables.
To maximize your chances, make sure you have all your conditional text
switched on or off according to the moment's needs, and that all variables
are converted to text. Suspect all automatic headings on tables; sometimes
they cause problems. There are probably others I can't recall tonight. As a
stop-gap, try saving the whole thing as a MIF and reopening it, then saving
as an RTF. MIF'ing a Frame file cleans out a whole lot of silly Windows
stuff and makes the file work more cleanly.
Lest this be taken as a Frame-slammer, be reminded that Frame isn't a native
Windows app like Word, but a porting from the much different Unix
environment. That was Frame's first cradle, and possibly still its best. But
it makes Frame a little less RTF-compatible than Word. That's why we rely
more on MIF2RTF from Omni Systems to convert things that we absolutely need
done correctly. It takes a while to set up MIF2RTF, because it's command
line, not GUI. But it's powerful, flexible, fast, and works like German
optics. Just about every problem we've had with it has turned out to be my
fault in the setup. And their support is awesome.
>Barb,
>
>I wish you could tell some of us HOW to do this. I cannot save any
>FrameMaker document as anything else, including MIF, RTF, DOC, or
>anything else. Well, that's an exaggeration. Sometimes I can save it
>as a TXT file, but I don't have time to reformat a 300-page document.
>I'm using FM 5.52 on Windows 95. FrameMaker offers me those "Save As"
>options, but when it starts cranking away it just crashes and closes
>down completely. The document has only 16-color bitmaps (and very
>few), but it was converted from Word. I seem to have better (though
>still inconsistent) luck with documents started from scratch in FM.
>
>I did send my log file to Adobe tech support with a long explanation
>but haven't heard anything back.
>
>Any ideas?
>
>Jane
>
>On Thursday, April 30, 1998 3:55 PM, Barb Philbrick
>[SMTP:caslonsvcs -at- IBM -dot- NET] wrote:
>> They'll actually convert fairly well if you save your Frame file as
>> an
>> RTF, then open the RTF in Word. (I'm using Word 7 and Frame 5.5.2.)
>
>
