RE: FrameMaker + SGML

[KMcLauchlan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hmm.  I don't suppose there's a way to go backwards 
from FM+SGML, to create a doc (or at least a good 
template in FM, then tag it with the SGML element 
tags, and back it out into an EDD?

What I'd like is to take an existing doc, which 
looks and flows pretty much the way I want my docs 
to do, and turn that into an EDD and DTD that would 
thereafter be usable for future versions and docs.
If the process forces me to clean up some aspects 
I'd neglected, well that's fine.

I'd also like to export as tagged SGML text, make 
future revisions with an SGML-aware (and enforcing) 
text editor) and only bring my texts into FM+SGML 
in the final days of a doc cycle, for formatting.

The notion of keeping the master and working docs 
in tagged-text format is attractive for several 
reasons, including:

1) Nobody wants to pay for other people around here 
   (like SMEs)to have FM, but they'd be ok with text 
   editors;

2) FM does not play nice with version-control systems, 
   due to all files being binaries and therefore not 
   elligible for saving as incremental deltas;

3) I think more translation services can handle text --
   I can always fix broken tag sets and nesting, if 
   I must;

4) Other?

It would be really nifty if I could slide into SGML 
from my current position, rather than starting from 
the ground up... since there's only one of me, anyway 
at the moment.

OK, OK... warn me off it.  But make it persuasive, huh?

:-)

/k

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dan Emory [mailto:danemory@primenet.com]
> Sent: Thursday, May 04, 2000 6:39 PM
> To: FrameSGML List; Free Framers; Techwrl-l
> Cc: framers@FrameUsers.com
> Subject: Re: FrameMaker + SGML
> 
> 
> At 12:15 PM 5/4/00 -0700, Steven J. Owens wrote:
> >     I'll turn this around.  I'm quite familiar with SGML and XML,
> >though more from a programming perspective.  What's does the FM+SGML
> >option provide?  Is there any support for XML (a streamlined subset
> >of SGML)?
> ==============================================================
> ============
> FM+SGML provides a WYSIWYG way to create structured documents 
> that can be
> exported to SGML or XML. SGML document instances can be 
> round-tripped; XML
> document instances can only be exported.
> 
> An Element Definition Document (EDD) defines the content 
> model for each
> element type in the document structure, using SGML syntax. 
> The EDD also has
> format rules which can be context-sensitive, as well as being 
> determinable
> by the values of attributes in the element itself or in one of its
> antecedants. The EDD can be initially created from an existing DTD
> (obviously, format rules must be added), or, if there is no 
> pre-existing
> DTD, one can be created from the EDD.
> 
> A template is created by importing the EDD into an empty FrameMaker
> document. During the import action, all of the tags (e.g., paragraph,
> character, cross-reference) that are defined in the EDD 
> format rules are
> created in the catalogs of the template. The template 
> designer must then
> format these tags to conform to the requirements of a style 
> guide and/or
> other document design requirements.
> 
> To create a new document, the author simply selects the 
> applicable template.
> This creates an empty document, which must begin with a root 
> element that
> the author selects (there can be any number of different root 
> elements).
> Authors do not have to understand SGML or XML in order to create/edit
> documents, although an option is provided to display SGML 
> element tags for
> those who are twisted enough to want them.
> 
> Guided editing is supported by an element catalog which lists 
> the elements
> that can be inserted at the current insertion point, plus an 
> interactive
> structure view, which shows the hierarchical structure of the 
> document to
> any desired level of granularity, plus the attribute values 
> of individual
> elements. The attribute values of any element can be 
> viewed/edited. A number
> of other useful tools are also provide to assist authors, including a
> structure validator that stops at each invalid point in the 
> document and
> indicates the nature of the problem (e.g., missing required 
> element, missing
> required attribute value, invalid attribute value, element is 
> invalid at
> current location, etc.). Unlike many SGML author/editor 
> products, however,
> FM+SGML does not prevent invalid elements from being inserted 
> (this, as
> Martha would say, is a "good thing.").
> 
> A particularly valuable feature of FM+SGML is that it can detect and
> automatically correct any attempt by authors to override the 
> format rules in
> the EDD. Although ordinary FrameMaker has a similar capability, it is
> nowhere near as rigorous as it is in FM+SGML. For example, if 
> an author
> attempts to apply a  tag other than the one specified in the 
> EDD format
> rules, the EDD-specified tag (and all of its formatting) will 
> be restored.
> 
> My own experience is that I can create a structured document 
> much faster
> than I can an unstructured one, because I am completely freed of all
> concerns about formatting, allowing me to concentrate wholly 
> on content.
> That, plus the assurance that every document is consistently 
> tagged with no
> format overrides justifies, in my mind, the use of FM+SGML 
> even when there
> is no SGML or XML requirement. It allows me to produce better 
> documents
> faster.  
> 
> An SGML/XML import/export application definition must be 
> created for each
> EDD/DTD combination. Essentially, this definition specifies 
> the names of all
> relevant files and directories involved in import/export 
> operations. In
> addition, it includes a read/write rules file that specifies 
> how various
> elements and their attributes are to be translated on import 
> and export. The
> same application definition can be used to export both XML 
> and SGML document
> instances. During XML export, a cascading stylesheet is also 
> created. The
> styles in the style sheet are derived from the format rules 
> in the EDD and
> the formatted tags in the FM+SGML document being exported. 
> Consequently, the
> resulting XML document instance should, when opened in an 
> XML-aware browser
> (e.g., IE 5) replicate the formatting of the original FM+SGML 
> document.
> =================================================================
>      ====================
>      | Nullius in Verba |
>      ====================
> Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
> FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
> Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory@primenet.com
> 10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
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