RE: Frame -> HTML

[Bill Burns <BillDB -at- ILE -dot- com>]

Mark writes:

> Webworks maps Body1 to "default" by default. What you say is perfectly
> correct, but if you have the manuals I've been dealing with, what
> Webworks produces is Garbage Out that *must* be edited. The development
> effort to deal with whether Body1, etc. tags are in a doc, whether the
> split of HTML files is at the correct spot, etc. is another edit cycle,
> IMHO.
> 
So don't edit the output; fix the source. This sounds as if all of the
default mappings are being used, which suggests that the mapping phase of
the setup was done cursorily. It takes minutes to remap all of the styles in
a book. If the layout is basic, the setup is also simple. However, if you
simply accept all of the default mappings and if you have loads and loads of
overrides in the Frame files, you WILL have to clean it up. That's a problem
with the source, not with the conversion tool.

> There's a set of development tasks to perform in setting up
> FrameMaker/Webworks, and another in reorganizing the manual. Sometimes I
> think it would be easier to just start the manuals from scratch...
> 
If the source is a mess to start, you will have garbage in the output
(GIGO). As Eric said, WebWorks converts reliably, based on how you set up
the mappings. Every scrap of code can be changed so the output is exactly
what you want, and you can add and customize styles to match your existing
Frame source, if you need. It sounds as if you're faulting the tool for the
shortcomings of the source. 

Bill  Burns - Eccentric Technology Consultant
International Communications Design & Development
billdb -at- ile -dot- com
Y2K Complacent