RE: Automation and Windows/Unix questions

["Peter Ring" <pri@xxxxxx>]

If you are using FrameMaker on Win32 boxes, DZbatcher from Miramo is your
friend.

"You can use DZbatcher to perform the following batch operations:

Print documents using a `print settings' document to control how the
documents will be printed.

 * Convert files from Frame document (binary) format to Frame MIF (Maker
Interchange Format) or vice versa. You can also batch-convert files to
FrameViewer or FrameMaker locked format.

 * Convert files to Acrobat PDF format.

 * Import formats from one document into many other documents.

 * Automate conversion of MS Word, and many other external document types,
to FrameMaker.

 * Automate the updating of variables, cross-references and text insets
across a large collection of documents."

Also available for Sun Solaris 2.6 and AIX.

I use it routinely to update a set of volumes, about 3500 pages total, from
about 500 MS Word source documents. I drive the process from a make file and
a set of shell scripts (yeah, make and decent shells are also available on
Win32).

Did I mention that DZbatcher is free (as in free beer)?

http://www.miramo.com/


Kind regards,
Peter Ring


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-framers@omsys.com [mailto:owner-framers@omsys.com]On Behalf
Of Jeanette Feldhousen
Sent: 12. december 2001 19:14
To: rrochelle@amcc.com
Cc: framers@omsys.com; Framers@FrameUsers.com
Subject: Re: Automation and Windows/Unix questions


This would be fairly easy to do in UNIX using fmbatch. You could also
use a makefile to automate it--a makefile lists dependencies for each
target file, and rules for building the target file (in your case,
the target file would be the PDF file, and the dependencies would be on
the graphics files). If any of the files in the list of dependencies
changes, the target file is rebuilt.

--Jeanette

At 09:57 AM 12/12/01 +0100, Thomas Michanek wrote:
>*** The original message appeared on the FrameUsers mailing list.
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>*** If this information was useful, consider copying it to FrameUsers.
>
>From: "Rich Rochelle" <rrochelle@amcc.com>
>> For example, I want to be able to update a Visio drawing and
>> automatically update all of the Frame docs that it occurs in, save them,
>> make pdfs out of them, then email them to someone for review, all by
>> issuing a single command name.  I am using 5.5 in Windows 2k. I see
>> that there's an fmbatch command line interface in the Unix version, and
>> this seems like it does what I want, except that I will still need to
>> use the Windows version of Frame,
>
>You say you're using Windows 2000, but I get the impression that you
>still have access to FM on UNIX? If so, this is fairly easy to accomplish
>by writing a small shell script that uses fmbatch for the FM stuff and
>then call Distiller and an email program. Note that Acrobat Distiller
>is not available for all UNIX platforms!
>
>> 1)  If I can make Framemaker happy with the same doc in Unix AND Windows
>> this is a breeze (currently in unix, I am having some font  unavailable
>> issues, plus printing to a pdf isn't working, but this might just be an
>> issue on my end)
>
>Yes, you must solve the font issues for fmbatch to work properly
>(see http://w1.184.telia.com/~u18407300/fonts/unavailable.html ).
>Printing to PDF via fmbatch is easy, provided you do have Distiller.
>
>> 2)  I could learn how to talk to Frame with scripts in Windows, but I
>> don't know if this is even possible, or what language I would use
>
>For the FM stuff, you could use either of the following:
>1. DZbatcher, a free Windows version of fmbatch:
>   http://www.miramo.com/dzbatcher2.html
>2. FrameScript, a $150 scripting language for FM:
>   http://www.framescript.com/default.htm
>3. DoBatch, a free plugin somewhat similar to DZbatcher:
>   http://www.telecable.es/personales/cud/homepgs/plugins.htm
>
>For the distill/email stuff, you would probably have to write a
>small BAT file or similar. (I have no experience of this.)
>
>
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>Thomas Michanek, FrameMaker/UNIX/MIF expert
>mailto:Thomas.Michanek@iar.se      (Sweden)
>http://go.to/framers   (updated on Oct. 11)
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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