Re: converting Frame to down-level HTML [ONLY MAP TO <p>]

[hedley_finger@xxxxxxxxxxx]

All:

Kathy replied ...
> i would respectfully disagree with the "too demanding" part.
>
> to effectively use webworks publisher, you should understand HTML (my
> level of expertise is at 3.2, not 4.0) and have creative control over
> your FrameMaker template(s) (in order to make any possibly necessary
> additions or modifications to pgf or char formats, add conditions, etc.)

... to Deborah, who said ...
> > 1. WebWorks Publisher has a learning curve that is longer and steeper
> > than FrameMaker. In MY opinion. It was too demanding in 1995, and that
> > hasn't changed in 1999 or 2000 (or since Frame 6.0; tried it for a
> > contract). As Stuart noted, the mapping from Frame (and I tried it from
> > 5.x and 6.0) is insufficiently specific and flexible.

... in response to Stuart, who asked the original question.


Any tool for mapping an unstructured document to a structured document --
be it, mif2go, Webworks Publisher, or HTML Transit -- is an absolute dog IF
you try to map FrameMaker formats to 'like' HTML formats.  By that, I mean
mapping 'ChapTitle' to <h1>, 'SectionHeading' to <h2>, 'Body' to <p> and so
on.

You can successfully do this up to a point but then come the dreaded lists
and tables.  You have to somehow detect the first item in a list, and
decide whether the list is bulleted (<ul>) or numbered (<ol>).  Then you
have to determine the components of each list item: the [bulleted or
numbered] element itself <li> and then any <p> elements that are a
continuation of the list item.  For example, the numbered step in a
procedure is the <li> list item and the explanatory paragraph under it
would be a <p> indented paragraph WITHIN the <li> element.

Lists get terribly exciting when you have to determine whether the last
[bulleted or numbered] para REALLY ends the list, so you can insert an
</ol> or </ul> terminal tag or whether that plain paragraph <p> after the
last list item <li> is the explanatory continuation that REALLY ends the
list.

So most FM-->HTML conversions mean a raft of special para formats to signal
the real start and real end of a list, with the problems of ensuring that
writers apply them correctly.  Then you build all kinds of regular
expressions and macros within the tool to insert the appropriate tag
openings and closings into the output stream at the logical points.  Expect
lots of tweaking of the source document after the first run through to fix
'wrongly' applied 'trigger' formats.

But there is a simple solution: if converting from an unstructured
document, don't even TRY to map to HTML structure.  The defining DTD is so
general anyway that almost anything goes: documents beginning with an <h4>
followed by many <p> elements, then an <h2>, then an <h1>.  In a REAL
structure, you would not be allowed to insert an <h4> as the first element.

Just map unstructured to unstructured!  Out of the box, this is what mif2go
does.  So 'ChapTitle' gets mapped to <p class="ChapTitle">,
'SectionHeading' gets mapped to <p class="SectionHeading">, 'Body' gets
mapped to <p class="Body"> ... you get the idea.  mif2go then thoughtfully
generates a CSS file with specifications for the p.ChapTitle,
p.SectionHeading, and p.Body selectors, and so on, based on your FM format
properties.

Character formats are easier.  Untagged Bold and Italic applied with those
damn buttons on the toolbar get mapped to <b> and <i> respectively.   And
you can easily map your own character tags to <span> elements, for example,
'GuiWidgetName' to <span class="GuiWidgetName"> and a corresponding generic
selector in the CSS file of '.GuiWidgetName'.

I have just completed an FM --> Microsoft HTML Help project using this
unstructured --> unstructured conversion method and am delighted with the
results.  But it required a LOT of work -- inescapable, I'm afraid,
Deborah.  This approach allows you to spend more time with the conversion
tool to insert JavaScript and other kinds of goodies to make your output
more dynamic.

Of course, you have to ensure that your users have Netscape Communicator
4.77, Internet Explorer 4 or later, or Opera 5 so that the CSS styles are
presented correctly.  But you can put the installers for these on the
distribution CD and hint heavily in your app installer wizard that users
upgrade their browser.

Regards,
Hedley

--
Hedley Finger
Technical Communications/Technical communicator and FrameMaker mentor
MYOB Australia <http://www.myob.com.au/>
Reply Paid 371   Blackburn VIC 3130   Australia
<mailto:hedley_finger@myob.com.au>
Tel. +61 3 9894 0945
Mob. +61 412 461 558


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