DITA support in FrameMaker and XMetaL

Comparing DITA support in XMetaL and FrameMaker Simon Bate Scriptorium Publishing www.scriptorium.com

Agenda Authoring Conditional processing Generating output Cross-references and conrefs Map files Specialization Consider your needs

About the presenter Based in Research Triangle, North Carolina Senior Technical Consultant at Scriptorium 30+ years experience in Technical Publications Long-time FrameMaker user Instructor for Scriptorium classes: XMetaL DITA XSL in Publications

A note about Scriptorium Affiliated with Adobe as Adobe Authorized Training Center Affiliated with JustSystems as a Certified Services Partner Nonetheless, I think you'll find this presentation quite candid about each tool's strengths and weaknesses.

Questions Please ask questions. I may defer some questions to the end of the presentation.

FrameMaker highlights High-quality print/PDF output Formatting control is built in Ability to quot;tweakquot; formatting, such as page breaks WYSIWYG for print/PDF

XMetaL highlights Ability to edit XML directly Integration with DITA Open Toolkit Not WYSIWYG for print Specialization support DITA 1.1 support

XMetaL Authoring highlights Code (quot;plain textquot;) view Structure view (block only) Format-neutral WYSIOO presentation No invalid content allowed Elements grouped by type (Insert menu)

FrameMaker authoring highlights WYSIWYG for print/PDF Structure view is complete Document window/structure view combination Invalid content allowed

Conditional processing in FrameMaker Traditional FrameMaker conditions In 8.0, allows expressions FM information is saved in XML output But the information is not DITA Use attributes Special > Filter by attributes

ditaval files FrameMaker: only when using DITA Open Toolkit XMetaL: hidden by conditional GUI Use Export to create ditaval file

Generating output in XMetaL Open Toolkit RenderX for PDF via Open Toolkit HTML-based help

Generating output in FrameMaker PDF Open Toolkit (install plug-in) FrameMaker book from DITA map HTML-based help

Cross-references in FrameMaker FrameMaker <fm-xref> element Only reference a selected set of elements Creates active links in PDF files DITA <xref> elements Can reference any element in any topic Can contain alternate text (not just the title) Does not create active links in PDF files

Cross-references in XMetaL Insert > Link Cross-reference File reference Web link Can change text in <xref> element Converted correctly in Open Toolkit

conrefs in XMetaL

conrefs in FrameMaker

Map files in FrameMaker

Map files in XMetaL

Specialization XMetaL Many hooks for specialization FrameMaker Nothing built-in Could modify EDD

Which has better DITA support? For print/PDF output: FrameMaker For DITA authoring: XMetaL For print WYSIWYG: FrameMaker For output-neutral formatting: XMetaL No clear winner.

How important is print publishing? It's much easier to produce high-end print/ PDF from FrameMaker. Print/PDF publishing through Open Toolkit is not satisfactory. WYSIWYG presentation in FrameMaker is a plus for print-centric workflows. WYSIOO presentation in XMetaL is a plus for authoring without focusing on print.

How much control should authors have? Because FrameMaker combines authoring and publishing, authors have more control Can create and publish with invalid content XMetaL enables DITA authoring; separates out publishing Does not allow invalid content in normal authoring. Think workflow and sharing topics

Do you need cross-browser, cross-platform help? HTMLHelp (CHM) Not cross-platform XMetaL and FrameMaker (3rd-party or OT) XHTML-based Help FrameMaker and 3rd-party converters Eclipse Help XMetaL and FrameMaker (via OT) Requires Eclipse infrastructure

Transition issues Current unstructured FrameMaker users will find structured FrameMaker easier than XMetaL (mostly). Developer types may prefer XMetaL. FrameMaker includes conversion utility. (Of course, you could convert in FrameMaker and then use the converted content in another XML tool.)

Do you need to specialize? You will have to implement FrameMaker support yourself. XMetaL supports use of specialized DTDs.

Graphics Many more formats supported in FrameMaker. In XMetaL, PDF output with EPS images requires Acrobat Distiller. Callouts a problem in either: Layers in graphic file? FrameMaker callouts are flattened on export to XML.

Attributes Attributes Inspector (XMetaL) is easier to use than Attributes Editor (FrameMaker). But...attributes show up in FrameMaker structure view and not in XMetaL structure view.

Summary Your priorities will dictate which tool is a better fit for your organization. Each application has significant strengths and weaknesses. Authoring paradigms are significantly different.

Resources DITA @ OASIS http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=dita White papers Available on CD at our booth www.scriptorium.com/papers.html Please leave a business card or your email address if you want the handouts.

Contact information Simon Bate Scriptorium Publishing Services www.scriptorium.com sbate@scriptorium.com 919 481-2701 x106

Questions

Agenda Authoring Conditional processing Generating output Cross-references and conrefs Map files Specialization Consider your needs 2

About the presenter Based in Research Triangle, North Carolina Senior Technical Consultant at Scriptorium 30+ years experience in Technical Publications Long-time FrameMaker user Instructor for Scriptorium classes: XMetaL DITA XSL in Publications 3

A note about Scriptorium Affiliated with Adobe as Adobe Authorized Training Center Affiliated with JustSystems as a Certified Services Partner Nonetheless, I think you'll find this presentation quite candid about each tool's strengths and weaknesses. 4 quot;Full disclosure...quot;

Questions Please ask questions. I may defer some questions to the end of the presentation. 5

FrameMaker highlights High-quality print/PDF output Formatting control is built in Ability to quot;tweakquot; formatting, such as page breaks WYSIWYG for print/PDF 6 Version 8.0 Large user base (among technical publications)

XMetaL highlights Ability to edit XML directly Integration with DITA Open Toolkit Not WYSIWYG for print Specialization support DITA 1.1 support 7 Version 5.1 XML (content) editor

8 Menus Toolbars Content Views Structure view Element and Attributes Insert menu to insert grouped elements.

XMetaL Authoring highlights Code (quot;plain textquot;) view Structure view (block only) Format-neutral WYSIOO presentation No invalid content allowed Elements grouped by type (Insert menu) 9 Code view allows you to create invalid structure. quot;Smart Insertquot; works on insert and paste.

FrameMaker authoring highlights WYSIWYG for print/PDF Structure view is complete Document window/structure view combination Invalid content allowed 11

Conditional processing in FrameMaker Traditional FrameMaker conditions In 8.0, allows expressions FM information is saved in XML output But the information is not DITA Use attributes Special > Filter by attributes 12

ditaval files FrameMaker: only when using DITA Open Toolkit XMetaL: hidden by conditional GUI Use Export to create ditaval file 13

Generating output in XMetaL Open Toolkit RenderX for PDF via Open Toolkit HTML-based help 14 Conditions selected at generate time. HTML-based help includes CHM and Eclipse.

Generating output in FrameMaker PDF Open Toolkit (install plug-in) FrameMaker book from DITA map HTML-based help 15

Cross-references in FrameMaker FrameMaker <fm-xref> element Only reference a selected set of elements Creates active links in PDF files DITA <xref> elements Can reference any element in any topic Can contain alternate text (not just the title) Does not create active links in PDF files 16 fm-xref references topic, param, and related-links elements.

Cross-references in XMetaL Insert > Link Cross-reference File reference Web link Can change text in <xref> element Converted correctly in Open Toolkit 17

conrefs in XMetaL 18

conrefs in FrameMaker 19 Can't move a conref using structure view.

Map files in FrameMaker 20 Can work with map files For print/PDF, you can create FM book file from DITA map. Doesn't work on nested maps. Map files are important if you're using DITA OT for output.

Map files in XMetaL 21 All control over maps is through small menu. Confusing. CTRL keys don't work in Map.

Specialization XMetaL Many hooks for specialization FrameMaker Nothing built-in Could modify EDD 22 This comes from the way the two are implemented. XMetaL is an editor that provides formatting as an afterthought. FrameMaker is an integrated editor and formatter.

Which has better DITA support? For print/PDF output: FrameMaker For DITA authoring: XMetaL For print WYSIWYG: FrameMaker For output-neutral formatting: XMetaL No clear winner. 23

How important is print publishing? It's much easier to produce high-end print/ PDF from FrameMaker. Print/PDF publishing through Open Toolkit is not satisfactory. WYSIWYG presentation in FrameMaker is a plus for print-centric workflows. WYSIOO presentation in XMetaL is a plus for authoring without focusing on print. 24

How much control should authors have? Because FrameMaker combines authoring and publishing, authors have more control Can create and publish with invalid content XMetaL enables DITA authoring; separates out publishing Does not allow invalid content in normal authoring. Think workflow and sharing topics 25 Some issues here deal with publishing workflow.

Do you need cross-browser, cross-platform help? HTMLHelp (CHM) Not cross-platform XMetaL and FrameMaker (3rd-party or OT) XHTML-based Help FrameMaker and 3rd-party converters Eclipse Help XMetaL and FrameMaker (via OT) Requires Eclipse infrastructure 26

Transition issues Current unstructured FrameMaker users will find structured FrameMaker easier than XMetaL (mostly). Developer types may prefer XMetaL. FrameMaker includes conversion utility. (Of course, you could convert in FrameMaker and then use the converted content in another XML tool.) 27 With FM there's still the issue with the Enter key.

Do you need to specialize? You will have to implement FrameMaker support yourself. XMetaL supports use of specialized DTDs. 28

Graphics Many more formats supported in FrameMaker. In XMetaL, PDF output with EPS images requires Acrobat Distiller. Callouts a problem in either: Layers in graphic file? FrameMaker callouts are flattened on export to XML. 29 Callouts: You want to be able to localize the text. FrameMaker quot;flatteningquot; means conversion to GIF.

Attributes Attributes Inspector (XMetaL) is easier to use than Attributes Editor (FrameMaker). But...attributes show up in FrameMaker structure view and not in XMetaL structure view. 30 Call attention selection of elements/attributes in XMetaL.

Summary Your priorities will dictate which tool is a better fit for your organization. Each application has significant strengths and weaknesses. Authoring paradigms are significantly different. 31

Resources DITA @ OASIS http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/ tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=dita White papers Available on CD at our booth www.scriptorium.com/papers.html Please leave a business card or your email address if you want the handouts. 32

Contact information Simon Bate Scriptorium Publishing Services www.scriptorium.com sbate@scriptorium.com 919 481-2701 x106 33

Questions 34

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DITA support in FrameMaker and XMetaL

by Scriptorium Publishing on Nov 03, 2008

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DITA support in FrameMaker and XMetaL — Presentation Transcript