Importing MS Word formatted document, format changes!?

Question

I'm showing my ignorance of this product again (and apologies for that being the case, as I'm really trying to get up to speed on this product but seem to keep failing at it...  I swear I actually did understand PageMaker and other similar products when they were in their heyday!), but I'm struggling to import formatted text into a structured FrameMaker document (book).
I'm cheating a bit and have copied a .book (and all the included files) from a prior document that was created by the tech writer that I'm working to fill-in for.  The main section of that .book includes a .fm file that is the primary document.  There are several other pieces of the book that I have successfully updated (for now), including the table of contents (which will likely lead to frustration later when I need to update the entire .book).
Anyway, I select all of the text in the flow that I want to replace, delete it all (whee, gone that quickly!) and then use File > Import to import an MS Word 2007 formatted document.  That document includes a numbered list that has sub numbers as part of it...
For example:
1. Heading...
Text...
* Bulleted List
* Bulleted List item, etc.
1.1 Further information related to 1 above
More text
* More bulleted lists
- sub to that bullet list
- additional sub to the bulleted list
* More bullet list
2. New Heading
Hopefully that comes through in a way that helps what I'm working with make sense.
Anyway, I want to import the nicely formatted MS Word document back into Frame to replace the content that was there before.  Alternatively, if there is a simple way to edit the content that was there previously and retain the bulk of the formatting, then I'm game.  The key thing for me is getting the numbered list to look and work right, with the sub numbers where needed.  When I tried to edit the text that was there and get the listing right I'm lost as to how to edit it in a way that makes sense to me.  Again, it may just be ignorance on my part, and again I apologize and appreciate any assistance anyone can lend.
I swear FrameMaker 9 just makes me long for the good old days of working on a Xyvision system (or even worse the old Penta system that I worked on before that), or at least makes me want to find a copy of Quark Xpress or something similar ;-)
Thanks in advance for any assistance that can be lent to this poor lost soul :-}

Answer 1

Barry,
but I'm struggling to import formatted text into a structured FrameMaker document (book).
import an MS Word 2007 formatted document.
First, I doubt that you are working with a structured document. If you are, you do not want to import a Word file into a structured Frame document, because you will then have to apply the structure. A structured document is like an XML document but with the formatting added. That is, a structured document has elements inside elements, etc. To see whether it really is a structured document, open one up, place the insertion point inside a text flow, and select StructureTools > Structure View (FrameMaker 9), or something similar for your version of Frame. You should see a window with little rounded boxes hanging from vertical lines...that is the document's structure. If the window is empty, you do not have a structured document.
Furthermore, importing a formatted Word file into an unstructured Frame document does not guarantee the same formatting in Frame as in Word. I never do it, so I will let others explain more about that.
Alternatively, if there is a simple way to edit the content that was there previously and retain the bulk of the formatting, then I'm game.  The key thing for me is getting the numbered list to look and work right, with the sub numbers where needed.
Of course, FrameMaker allows you to edit its files. In an unstructured document, you format things virtually the same as you do in Word, that is, you apply styles (also called tags) to paragraphs. So, you have to be, or get, familiar with the available styles. For nested lists, there are typically two styles for each level of the list. One of the styles/tags will have a name indicating it is the tag to be used for the FIRST item in the list. This tag resets the numbering to 1. For example, if the outer list has a tag named numbered_list, then there is likely another tag named numbered_list_first. The numbered_list_first tag is applied to the first item in the list and the numbered_list tag is applied to the remaining items in the list. The "first" tag restarts the numbering and the other tag simply increments the numbering.
Sublists might have tags like sublist_numbering. I have seen tags named list_alpha (for lists numbered with letters), list_roman (for lists numbered with roman numerals), etc. It all depends upon how the tags were created and by whom.
I suggest you read more about this in the FrameMaker user manual. The user manual explains the guts of list numbering.
I hope this helps,
Van