A Manager’s Guide to Converting
XML to Structured FrameMaker
Doug Martin
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Project Overview
Why Structured FrameMaker?
• FrameMaker can read and write XML or
SGML using conversion tools that are
native to FrameMaker
• Formatting changes can be made using
two different methods
• FrameMaker’s interface is easily learned
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Conversion Tools
Converting SGML to Structured
FrameMaker requires the following tools:
• EDD (Element Definition Document)
• Read/Write Rules
• Structured Template
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What is an EDD?
An EDD contains Structure
Rules and Context
Formatting Rules
• Structure Rules determine the
list of elements, how many are
required, in what order they may
occur, and in which contexts
they are allowed
• Context Formatting Rules
determine how elements look in
different situations
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What are Read/Write Rules?
Read/Write Rules are instructions to:
• Import XML/SGML content into Structured
FrameMaker
• Export Structured FrameMaker files to
XML/SGML
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What is a Structured Template?
A Structured Template is usually two files:
• A blank document with the structure rules
and context format rules from the EDD.
This is used to create new Structured
FrameMaker documents from SGML/XML.
• A Document Template containing
unstructured formats, which are imported
into the blank document. This is where
formats are created and maintained.
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Formatting Choices
There are two ways to format Structured
FrameMaker documents:
1. Define formatting rules in the EDD
2. Use a Document Template
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Defining Formatting Rules in an EDD
To create formatting in the EDD:
• Takes more time
• Is a longer process
• Requires specialized knowledge
• The syntax is harder to read
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Using a Document Template
• Formats in the unstructured FrameMaker
template are generally easier to create
and revise because they are all GUI-driven
• This is the most commonly-used approach
to define formatting for Structured
FrameMaker documents
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Learning Structured FrameMaker
As an Adobe Certified FrameMaker instructor, we offer three Adobedeveloped courses for Structured FrameMaker:
• Authoring Structured Documents
– General training how to use Structured FrameMaker
• Defining Structure using EDDs
– General training how to understand, create, and maintain EDDs
• Importing/Exporting SGML
– General training how to convert SGML to Structured FrameMaker. The
first day will provide the foundation for the Customized Process Training
In addition to the standard courses, we recommend a custom course:
• Customized XML Conversion Process Training
– This course walks users through the exact conversion process we use to
convert SGML to Structured FrameMaker. This course is specific to each
organization and uses the custom EDD, Read/Write Rules, and
Structured Template created for the organization. Users will learn the
exact steps to convert SGML to Structured FrameMaker.
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How it all works
• EDD
• Read/Write Rules
• Structured
Application
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How it all works
In this section, the source SGML
is converted to a Structured
FrameMaker document
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Client Work List
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