Re: Conversion of Word documents to structured frame documents

[Dan Emory <danemory@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

SEMA corp in Belgium has a series of products (some already available) for
converting RTF to XML/SGML. The main product, rtf2rdc, is described at
the web site page indicated below:

http://www.sema.be/mtc/products/rtf2rdc/index.html#rtfdtd

The rtfrdc filter, which runs on Linux and Win32 platforms, sells for 625
Euro, and is based on an RTF-DOC DTD that is included in the package. A free
downloadable version (including the DTD) is also available from the web
page. Also, a companion filter, rdc2rtf (not yet available) would convert an
RTF-DOC structured document back to clean RTF, providing a full round-trip
capability.

Below is an excerpt from the web above page:
==========================================
The RTF-DOC document type definition has been specially designed
to encode the main layout and structuring meta-information available
in the RTF format as documented mainly in "Rich Text Format
Specification and Sample RTF Reader Program", RTF Version 1.5,
November 1997, Microsoft Technical Support, Application Note.

You will find elements and attribute sets to represent the following RTF
properties:

                      1.the font table 
                      2.the paragraph and character style definitions 
                      3.the document info items 
                      4.the sections with header and footer definitions 
                      5.the paragraphs with their associated style 
                      6.the tab positions and their categories 
                      7.the tables, rows and cells with position information 
                      8.the character style modification occurrences 
                      9.the embedded picture positions 
                      10.the bookmark starts and ends 
                      11.the field starts and ends. 

The availability of all these RTF properties in an easily processible
syntax ensure the perennity of this meta-information. It also allows a
range of further processing using tools based on the SGML
Application Framework or any other SGML/XML tools. 
================================================================

You could create an FM+SGML EDD from the RTF-DOC DTD, then create a template
and an import/export application for that EDD/DTD. Then, after converting
the RTF document to a structured doc with the rtf2rdc filter, import it into
FM+SGML. When the rdc2rtf filter becomes available, any structured doc that
uses the RTF-DOC DTD could be authored in FM+SGML, exported to SGML/XML, and
converted back to RTF by rdc2rtf, which is then openable in almost any Word
Processor, including, of course, MS-Weird.

The ideal solution (which I'm exploring) would be to develop a complete
FM+SGML application pack for RTF-DOC, using the SEMA tools for round-trip
conversions between XML/SGML and RTF.

But if the RTF-DOC DTD becomes a de facto standard, the SEMA toolset could
very well result in the demise of FM+SGML, since MS-Weird, rather than
FM+SGML, would provide a viable authoring and print engine for structured docs.

Its potential demise, I hasten to point out, results from the fact that
FM+SGML is mainly being used by the big SGML shops as a print engine for
documents created and maintained with ArborText's Adept Editor. Even though
FM+SGML could be superior in almost every respect to Adept Editor as an
authoring tool, the product's existing limitations (particularly its entity
management deficiencies and the complexity of import/export application
development) severely constrain its use in that capacity.

The tepid XML export capability in FM+SGML 5.5.6, combined with the fact
that it can't import XML docs, shows that Adobe can't seem to keep up with
the rapid pace of XML evolution. That fact suggests that the use of
third-party conversion tools such as SEMA's is where the future lies if
FM+SGML has a chance of surviving. 

The holy grail of fully successful round-trip conversions between FrameMaker
and Word (or between FrameMaker and RTF) seems to be unattainable, as the
many postings on this subject confirm. And that's going to result in the
demise of FrameMaker as well as FM+SGML unless a solution is forthcoming.
Perhaps something like the SEMA toolset is the lifeboat we've all been
seeking. Documents that must be round-tripped between FrameMaker and Word
would be created in FM+SGML using the RTF-DOC DTD. In that case, FM+SGML's
superior capability as an authoring tool for long structured documents could
be fully exploited. When such documents must be converted to Word, edited,
and then converted back to structured docs that FM+SGML can open, the SEMA
toolset (or something like it) would carry out the round-trip conversions.     
     ====================
     | 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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