Upgrade to FM12 Reason #7) Direct XML editing and low-cost FM XML Author

Amongst the many compelling reasons for upgrading from FrameMaker 7.x to FrameMaker 12, real “out-of-the-box” DITA support would surely be near the top of the list. Although FrameMaker 7.x was a competent and potent structured editor in its day, it was developed before most major milestones in DITA development and approval were achieved.

New, less expensive version of FrameMaker “Just for XML”

Release 12 of FrameMaker also introduced a new product: FrameMaker XML Author 12. This dedicated product has eliminated virtually of the menus and functionality of “full” FrameMaker that is not essential to XML authoring or editing. As a result, this product is priced 60% less than the full product.

Check out the following videos for a preview of this powerful new product.

FrameMaker XML Author 12: Product Feature Overview

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FrameMaker XML Author 12: workflow overview

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FrameMaker 12:Instantly Expand DitaMap Topics//tv.adobe.com/embed/1435/21806/

FrameMaker 12: Output via DITA Open Toolkit

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Early DITA support in FrameMaker 7.2 was basically a “prototype”

Many of the limitations of early DITA “support” are evident in the screen capture below, drawn from the FrameMaker 7.2 Reviewer’s Guide. The red squares emphasize some elements that are clearly proprietary to FrameMaker 7.2. Clearly, <adobeindexterm>, <adobe fig> and <adobeimage> are not native or valid DITA element names.

01 FM7.2 DITA doc image
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With considerable effort using processing instructions and XSLT style sheets, it may have been possible to convert these elements to correct DITA names. That effort would certainly be beyond the ability of the average user.

In contrast, the FrameMaker 12 screen capture below shows an edited version of one of the sample files from DITA Open Toolkit, showing correct names for <indexterm>, <fig> and <image>. These elements are freely available from the element catalog provided by the built-in DITA structured application in FrameMaker 12.

05 FM10 DITA SAMPLE index and fig
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Improved DITA editing with “strawman” for new documents

FrameMaker 12 allows novices to swiftly create correct DITA structure by generating “fill in the blank” example text. In the screen shot below, the user has simply use the DITA pull down menu to create a new topic.

08 NEW DITA TOPIC
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SMART PASTE from unstructured data into DITA

FrameMaker 12 has a tremendous time-save: the ability to copy unstructured data (like Word, Excel, etc.) and to “smart paste” it into an appropriate point into an XML or DITA document. The screen shots below illustrate the process. This powerful capability is built into the FrameMaker 12 and does not require any set up by the customer.

The screen shot below shows portion of a typical Word document that is being copied to the clipboard.

09 WORD BEFORE SMART PASTE
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The shot below shows how the right mouse button is used to invoke the smart paste command at the correct insertion point in the structure window.

10 DOING SMART PASTE
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The screen shot below shows the result: correct structure and reasonable formatting of content that came in from Word. Incidentally, the embedded graphic from Word has been converted into a referenced graphic in JPEG of reasonable resolution.

11 AFTER SMART PASTE
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Complete DITA support in FrameMaker 12

In the ensuing ten years since the initial release of FrameMaker 7.0, FrameMaker has undergone extensive development that dramatically improved the structured editor and structured applications which support XML and DITA. Unlike FrameMaker 7.x, the current release of FrameMaker 12 (a) enables direct opening and saving of XML files with no “save as” conversion feature, (b) allows XML or DITA files to be saved in a FrameMaker book and (c) opens support for directly opening, saving or creating a dita map.

Full support for DITA 1.1 and DITA 1.2 standards

It would take half a dozen blogs to fully cover all of the major features of DITA 1.2 fully supported in FrameMaker. For a dynamic look at some of these features, you may wish to download the PDF version of the FrameMaker Reviewer’s Guide; both of these documents are embedded with narrated Captivate “movies” of key features. Just look for “Enhanced DITA Support” in the PDF Bookmarks.

The following list summarizes some key DITA features supported in FrameMaker 12 that you will not find in FrameMaker 7.x:

- User friendly UI for DITA maps, bookmaps and DITA Resource Manager - Support for DITA 1.1 - DITA files can be opened or saved on HTTP paths with direct access to Content Management Systems (CMS). - Save DITA map as a composite FrameMaker document or book - Save DITA map directly as PDF - DITA conditional processing is now enabled - Support for DITA Specialization - Support for DITA Relationship Table - Create conrefs to an image, table or table-components. Conref supported in DITA maps - Enhanced FrameMaker cross reference support with DITA link support - DITA indexing specialization allows for Index, See and See Also entries.

- Map-level support extended to <keydef> element, <title> element support in <reltables> and <topicset> groups a set of topics together - Conref range support - Updates to Conref Range content - Support for <topicsetref> - DITA specialization supported - Can switch to Resource Manager (RM) or Document View in a dita map - Insert Child/Sibling (topicset or topicgroup to a dita map) - Drag and Drop across dita maps - Insert multiple Topicref elements in a dita map

As mentioned earlier, all of these DITA 1.1 and DITA 1.2 features are supported in FrameMaker 12 “out-of-the-box.” No special files or toolkits need be downloaded to invoke these features. As documented in many of our recorded eSeminars, FrameMaker 12 is a full-fledged DITA editor.

Prove FrameMaker 12 DITA support with your own hands-on

Since earlier versions of FrameMaker had extremely limited DITA support, there are still some skeptics out there who are not convinced that FrameMaker 12 is a “true” DITA editor. If you have any lingering doubts, we encourage you to do the following, simple exercise:

Another benefit to FrameMaker 12: a migration path to DITA

Many content creators are ready to make the move to DITA, but have a huge amount of unstructured legacy documents, often in Microsoft Word or unstructured FrameMaker. FrameMaker 12 has an excellent Word filter and will do an admirable job of converting Word files to unstructured FrameMaker. Upgrade from FrameMaker 7.x and let FrameMaker 12 be your pathway to DITA. It is probably one of the most painless ways you can swiftly achieve structured content that is ready to be transformed into a variety of deliverable formats. FrameMaker 7.x was a very capable product “back in the day,” but it’s time to move on up to FrameMaker 12 to ensure that your content is as flexible and as reusable as possible.

Have your own hands-on with FrameMaker 12 and decide how you can use it

Adobe Technical Communication Suite 5 includes FrameMaker 12, which is an excellent authoring solution and also a versatile structured editor for DITA/XML. The possibilities with these new tools are as limitless as the profiles of our existing and potential customers. To discover how you can use FrameMaker, download a trial copy of FrameMaker 12 today. After having your own hands-on, you may decide in favor of the best bargain of all, obtaining a cloud subscription to the entire Tech Comm Suite 5, which includes RoboHelp 11, Captivate and other products in addition to FrameMaker 12.