JavaHelp and FrameMaker files

Hello!
I have been given an assignment to develop a 'Help' system for our application. I am working with our Technical Writer on this. She uses FrameMaker 7.0 and it has the capability to save a file to a .xml format.
The idea is for me to process that file in Java and be able to display it in the application as it looks in FrameMaker. Can this be done through the JavaHelp API?
I tried looking at the SAXP and DOM and JDOM APIs too to process the FrameMaker .xml files but since I discovered JavaHelp I think it should be the right tool to use.
I need not be an expert in xml too because I still have the Java side to learn.
Does anyone have any experience or ideas on this?

Take a look at AurigaDoc , http://aurigadoc.sourceforge.net/
If your source document is xml and if can make the xml structure similar to AurigaDoc than
you can convert your source document to a lot of formats like html, dhtml, pdf, postscript, rtf,
Java help, HTMl Help(.chm), etc using AurigaDoc.
Even if your source document is different that what is reqd for AurigaDoc you can write custom
xsls for your document and invoke AurigaDoc with your custom xsls. This way you can convert to various o/p formats without having to know the Xerces, xalan, FOP apis

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How do I convert a FrameMaker file containing both Portrait and Landscape pages into PDF?

I have recently converted to FrameMaker 9 and Acrobat 9. In the FrameMaker manual I am creating, most of the pages have Portait orientation, but some have Landscape orientation. However, when I convert the manual to PDF using Acrobat Distiller, the Landscape pages become Portrait. This wasn't a problem when I converted the manual into PDF in previous versions of Acrobat Distiller, it appeared after I installed Acrobat 9. In other words, the FrameMaker file has worked before. I have also tried this on three different computers to make sure the computer is not the problem. Does anybody have any ideas that I could try to make this work?

Jorunn, did you ever resolve this problem? If not, I've got a solution for you.
In FrameMaker, select the book you want to create a PDF of, click File > Print, and select Adobe PDF as your printer.
Click Properties and make sure you have the selections you want.
Back on the Print Setup dialog, leave the Paper and Orientation as both Letter and Portrait respectively.
On the Print Book dialog, select Print to File and browse to the correct location. Make certain to save this as a PostScript file (name.ps) and at the Safe Book As field, you want Single File selected.
Again on the Print Book dialog, click the checkbox for Generate Adobe Data and click PDF Setup. On the PDF Setup for Selected Files dialog, at the PDF Job Options, select Press Quality or make the appropriate choices for your situation for Settings, Bookmarks, Tags, and Links.
With Adobe Distiller open, File > Open and browse to the .ps file you indicated earlier. Also verify your Default Settings for the PDF are correct. When Distiller is finished, you can double-click the PDF file to open it and check that your portrait and landscape pages show correctly.

Different ways of adding FrameMaker files

What is the difference between the following two ways of
adding FrameMaker files to a RoboHelp project:
1. File > Import > FrameMaker document
2. Right-click project folder & select Add FrameMaker
File (with Copy or by Reference)
??

This is an old thread, but the answer is not sufficient, so I'm raising the question again.
RoboHelp is maintaining some kind of knowledge about the FrameMaker files, because the icon on the folder holding the individual topic files for a FM file will change to red, indicating an update is needed. Update based on what? I can make a text change in the FM file and the icon won't change, but at some point in the process, will get the red icon indicating the files need to be updated. It does not seem to retrieve changes to text, but I had a topic in which I had replaced a large graphic with a linked thumbnail image, and upon taking the bait and "Updating" the files, the thumbnail was replaced with the original image. During the update, the message says "Processing FrameMaker Documents."
So does anyone have a clearer explanation about the Add FrameMaker File > Add by Copy is doing?And should I ever/never/sometimes update the files?
I have FM 8.0p277 and RH 7.03.001 (can't upgrade due to client request).
Thx.

Can't save/write Framemaker files

Hi,
I've suddenly got a major problem - I can't Save or Save As any Framemaker files.
Specifically, I am using Framemaker 9 (latest patches) under Win XP/SP3, using parallels Desktop for Mac on my MacBook Pro 17" (8GB, 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS 10.6.2).
I can save to my Windows virtual drive, but if I try to save to my Mac world, I get an error that says "The \\.psf\Home\<path>\<filename>.fm.DE1 that FrameMaker wrote may be damaged". There is a .lck file, but can't save the .fm file, even with another name.
I have tried saving in different formats (to check it's not a network/permissions issue). I can save in .html, .txt, .xml, .pdf, .rtf. I cannot save in any of the Frame-related formats (MIF, .fm, previous versions).
I suspect the problem arose after updating Parallels Desktop to the latest version. Dumb move. It barfed at the end of the upgrade, but I thought things were OK after restarting.
I also had a disk problem on my Mac (various catalog file errors) after ejecting a recaltitrant USB pen drive. Major headache. Again, thought it was all fixed after fsck and Disk Utility checks. maybe not. Still a weird issue though. I do seem to remember having something like this before. Anyone got any ideas?
Martin Ley
martin at em-dash dot com

EmDashMan wrote:
Hi,
I've suddenly got a major problem - I can't Save or Save As any Framemaker files.
Specifically, I am using Framemaker 9 (latest patches) under Win XP/SP3, using parallels Desktop for Mac on my MacBook Pro 17" (8GB, 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Mac OS 10.6.2).
I can save to my Windows virtual drive, but if I try to save to my Mac world, I get an error that says "The \\.psf\Home\<path>\<filename>.fm.DE1 that FrameMaker wrote may be damaged". There is a .lck file, but can't save the .fm file, even with another name.
I have tried saving in different formats (to check it's not a network/permissions issue). I can save in .html, .txt, .xml, .pdf, .rtf. I cannot save in any of the Frame-related formats (MIF, .fm, previous versions).
I suspect the problem arose after updating Parallels Desktop to the latest version. Dumb move. It barfed at the end of the upgrade, but I thought things were OK after restarting.
I also had a disk problem on my Mac (various catalog file errors) after ejecting a recaltitrant USB pen drive. Major headache. Again, thought it was all fixed after fsck and Disk Utility checks. maybe not. Still a weird issue though. I do seem to remember having something like this before. Anyone got any ideas?
Martin Ley
martin at em-dash dot com
Hi, Martin:
I'm using InDesign on my MacBookPro pre-unibody under Leopard, and also under Windows 7 Vista running on VMware Fusion2.
I never save my files on the Windows virtual drive for a couple of reasons:
* too likely to crash unexpectedly - hey, it's Windows.
* because the virtual drive file is always marked changed no matter how little activity you do on it, even just opening it, Time Machine backs up the entire humongous drive file and fills up my Time Capsule needlessly.
EDIT:
* I exclude the virtual drive file from the Time Machine backup, but I do save a copy of it in case I need to replace one that goes bad. Doesn't always work, though. I also save a bunch of automatic snapshots of the virtual drive, and manual ones when I change something. I haven't got the habit yet of also making Windows Restore Points. I figure if a Fusion2 snapshot can't get me back working, it's time to start over, or copy my safety copy.
/EDIT
I always save files made on the Mac or Windows sides on my Mac file system.
One likely source of being unable to save is unwanted and unexpected permission changes. Have you tried fixing permissions with Disk Utility, or the free utility OnyX, or the free utility applejack? You run OnyX from within OS X. You run applejack from the command line that appears when you restart the Mac and hold CMD-s to go into single user mode. The command: applejack auto restart performs a bunch of cleanup operations automatically, and displays its actions as it does them. When it's done, it restarts your Mac.
Applejack is more limited in what it does, so it easier to avoid doing anything you didn't intend. OnyX offers options that can clean out stuff you might not want to, so read carefully what options you select.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

I am able to generate PDF from Framemaker file but not able to generate pdf from book in robohelp

Hi,
Using robo help i am able to generate pdf from a single framemaker file.
but when i am importing whole book then i am not able to make it.
And also it is not showing any error on console
It goes to hang like situation and i have to close it from task maneger.

Ok, silly question - why are you bothering to try and create PDFs from RH when you've got FM? FM to PDF produces great results; RH to PDF involves having to go through Word - i.e. RH - Word - PDF = too much work IMHO.

Format of variable imported from FrameMaker file

When I import my FrameMaker files into RoboHelp, at least one of the variable formats changes. That is, a variable format containing a superscript character gets removed when imported into RoboHelp. Is there a way to fix this variable format in RoboHelp or do I have to convert this variable format to text in FrameMaker before importing into RoboHelp.
I am using the Technical Communicator Suite: FrameMaker 8.0 and RoboHelp 7
Thanks

I created a test project and imported one chapter.
The results of the superscript were the same, that is, no superscript: C3 instead of C3. However, there is an exception to this behavior. If there is a cross reference, the cross reference retains the superscript.

How to open framemaker files

Hello All,
I am looking for any kind of viewer to view adobe framemaker files. Have some old files which I want either convert them to pdf or view it some kind of open source packages, if someone know let me know the names.
Thanks for your time and help

Adobe says their online PDF Creator will handle FrameMaker files (FrameMaker® (.fm, .mif),). Go to this url: http://createpdf.adobe.com/
The process looks simple enough (USD$10/month minimum?)...you upload a file and their servers generate a PDF for you.

How can I add links to open xml and csv files stored in another location? Please advice how to place links in my frame maker document?

Hi,
I would like to know as to how can I add links to open xml and csv files stored in another location? Please advice how to place links in my frame maker document?
Kindly advice.
Thanks
Priya

Special > Hypertext > Command "open document" will do its best to open the target document inside FrameMaker, which may not be much help; Special > Hypertext > Command "message …" will use the application you specify. The user guide for 7.0 says this about absolute links, and I don't think anything has changed since:
For example, to start PaintBrush and open the Ship.pcx file on drive C you would use the command message system pbrush.exe C:/Ship.pcx
I've not often used a relative link, and not recently: the same source says
folder levels are separated by a slash / even in Windows and Mac
[relative links] FrameMaker searches for a relative pathname beginning in the folder that contains the current document
[absolute links] FrameMaker searches for an absolute pathname beginning at the top of the file system. In Windows, the absolute pathname begins with the drive specifier, a colon and a slash.

Specify location of backup and autosave files?

I'm still new to FrameMaker but making steady progress. I am transitioning over from Word and things are going well.
Here's one feature I miss from Word: The ability to tell Framemaker where to store the backup and autosave files. My book has 40 documents which translates to 120 files inside my folder. Could this be done in FM 12?
Thanks,

This item has been on the wish list since the first releases of FM and still is for the next version.

Using FrameMaker files on server

2008-10-22-03T17:30Z
FrameMaker gurus -
Windows XP Professional SP2
CPU: 2.4 GHz
RAM: 2.0 GB
FrameMaker 7.1p116
WebWorks Publisher Professional for FrameMaker 2003 8.0.82296
GigaBit set at 1000
I've seen some strange behaviors by both FrameMaker and WWP Pro.
I have heard it said or have seen it written to the effect that FrameMaker has problems working with files on a server.
Given the setup:
1. FrameMaker and WWP Pro programs (individual licenses) installed on workstation on LAN
2. FrameMaker (.book and constituents) and WWP Pro production files on server on LAN
3. corporate standard setup rather than having files on workstation under, say, "My Documents" folder
¿What are the considerations, potential glitches, and gotchas? ¿Things such as incompatibility between speed of FrameMaker and WWP Pro programs on workstation getting info to and from files on server?
Advise, please.
Thanks!
Dave Stamm

David,
I do not know about WWP Pro, but we use FrameMaker on workstations and access the files on servers. No problems other than speed at which files and graphics display.
Van

How do I generate PDF and CHM files from the a command line in windows?

I am trying to set up a PC to build some documents during the night. I was looking for a way to get framemaker to generate PDF and CHM files via a command line in windows? How is this done with FrameMaker 12
Thanks for the help
Alex

Hi,
The part with generate a PDF via a jsx seems to work OK, except when FrameMaker decides that it will not work anymore. I must say I am not impressed with the stabillity of FrameMaker 12, there is room for a lot of improvement!.
I have given up on how to figure out how to get FrameMaker 12 to generate chm files via jsx scripts, any pointes are still very welcome.
The route I have taken is I make a RoboHelp project for each chm files I need to generate. The only thing this RoboHelp project contains is a link to the actual FrameMaker project I want to generate a chm file.
To make the chm I start RoboHelp with a script that
1) Opens the desired project
2) Sets the desired output chm files name
3) Generates the chm file
4) And finally quits RoboHelp
Below is a copy of the jsx in case anyone can reuse anything. And yes parameters are transfered via enviroments variable. I have later learned there is some way to read the parameters given at a command line but this seems to work so I stick to this for now.
// Get parameters
var RhProjName = $.getenv("RH_PROJ_NAME");
var RhChmName = $.getenv("RH_CHM_NAME");
var RhLogFileName = $.getenv("RH_LOGFILE_NAME");
var RhLogFile = new File(RhLogFileName);
RhLogFile.open("w", "TEXT");
RhLogFile.writeln("RH_PROJ_NAME : ", RhProjName);
RhLogFile.writeln("RH_CHM_NAME : ", RhChmName);
doc = RoboHelp.openProject (RhProjName, 1);
var sslmngr = RoboHelp.project.SSLManager;
for(var i = 1; i<=sslmngr.count; i++){
var ssl = sslmngr.item(i);
if(ssl.name == 'Microsoft HTML Help') {
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    if (doc.saveAll(true) ) {
      RhLogFile.writeln("saveAll returned TRUE");
    } else {
      RhLogFile.writeln("saveAll returned FALSE");
    if ( ssl.generate() ) {
      RhLogFile.writeln("ssl.generate returned TRUE");
    } else {
      RhLogFile.writeln("ssl.generate returned FALSE");
} else {
    // alert ("Found " + ssl.name + " dont do anything");
doc.saveAll(true);
RhLogFile.close();
RoboHelp.closeProject();
RoboHelp.quit();

Have framemaker files generated on mac in 2000 want to incorporate data into indesign cs 6 for pc?

Have framemaker files generated on mac in 2000 want to incorporate data into indesign cs 6 for pc?

They're Apple HDV, not ProRes. QuickTime Player on Windows does not have a decoding component for these files--and as a side note, you don't need to install the ProRes decoder since that has been built into QuickTime Player for some time now.
Anyway, you can get a third-party decoder for these files: Calibrated{Q} XD Decode. Note that Apple changed something in QuickTime 7.7 and the Apple HDV clips will not work with it; you'll need to roll back to no later than 7.6.9 to use the component properly. You can get that version here: Old Version of QuickTime Player 7.6.9 Download - OldApps.com.
I have a method of converting these to a format that can be natively handled in Premiere Pro, but it's not really suited for large quantities of files like yours. Calibrated XD Decode isn't exactly cheap ($130 on sale right now), but it will get you up and running with minimal effort--that's probably worth the admission price.

Save as PDF, HTML and CHM file formats

Is FrameMaker capable of saving in all three of these formats: PDF, HTML and CHM file formats? Would InDesign be a better choice?

The first two, yes. For Compiled Help, the third, I'm sure you know that the files have to be compiled, so no, and I don't think the source files for compilation are a direct export either, unless you can follow an XML path. Although the popularity of CHM is way down from a number of years ago because HTML is more portable, but that's a different issue.
If I were you, I'd look at MIF2go, a Frame add on that does support export to all these formats, and a number of others.
InDesign doesn't do this either...
Just as a word of unasked for advice, choosing your authoring platform by what it can output is a back-asswords way to choose a tool. Find the tool that suits the way you create documents the best so you get more required features to create your stuff quicker and easier.
Both the tools you mention and most other modern ones do pretty open-ended output, either directly or through filters or conversion utilities... there are always ways to massage output to a different format. So output is certainly a consideration, but it's a relatively minor one.
As for input tools, you're comparing apples and oranges with FM and ID. FM excels at book style documents with multiple chapters or files that share common layout characteristics. InDesign excels at shorter documents that are usually design-driven, that require hands-on layout tweaking, and it can't do multiple file management.
Cheers,
Art

JavaHelp and OracleHelp don't appear in SSL folder

Hi,
I presume that along with the other output files such as HTML
Help, WebHelp, etc. JavaHelp and OracleHelp should also appear in
the SSL folder of the Project pane. But these two deliverables
don't appear in my version of RH. I use RH X5.0.2.
Is this something related to buyer-specific need. Suppose we
would have asked for RH without JavaHelp and OracleHelp. I am not
sure. I asked the guys out here but even they are not sure.
Pls suggest...

Two things I can suggest if you're building JavaHelp,
specifically JavaHelp 2.0:
1. Make sure you have a JRE installed on your hard drive
(we're using 1.4.2_04) Since you've already installed RH, you
unfortunately need to reinstall it, then point it to the right
folder.
2. I strongly recommend suggesting to your development team
that they NOT use the JEditor Pane method of calling JavaHelp from
the Java application. Our development team is current using this
older (buggy) method and because of it, some of the limitations in
JH that Sun apparently fixed (such as not being able to link to an
external URL or email) are still present.
Let me know if you need any help with the JavaHelp stuff. I
created a whole procedure on setting it up correctly so that our
support staff can get it right every time they install RoboHelp for
us.
Jim

Old old FrameMaker files missing fonts/characters

I have a HUGE collection of FrameMaker files, created on a SUN system in vers 3.5. When we open in 5.5, or the new 9 (PC) there are fonts missing (being replaced) ie times helvetica, & new century schoolbook we have purchased and installed these fonts, but it still claims they are missing. (we now have zaph dingbats working) I have read about the .ini files, my next step is to try that, however, the CHARACTERS that are missing are Cyrillic, will editing the .ini files help this problem?..oh and many of the files are "view only"...our final working document will be liked pdf files...have we missed anything?

The easiest explanation is that the font names and font mapping has changed from the Sun mapping to the Windows system, which ini file editing may help, but I suspect you ahve a larger problem.
It's almost certain that the old files are using Cryllic characters from the FrameMaker character set.
Frame went to Unicode support in version 8, which basically means that if you're going to use FM 9 on the project (which you should, because of the Unicode support -- it makes them portable), that you're going to have to map the existing Cryllic characters to the corresponding Unicode Cryllic character.
Which also means that the fonts you've purchased had better include the Unicode characters -- which they may not. They probably do if they were crafted recently, but it's worth checking that detail now, before you jump in. Older fonts may not support Unicode.
The read-only setup in the old files is probably because someone locked them down so they couldn't be altered OR a bit or two got corrupted over the years. If that's what happened, try Esc F l k (the l = lower case L) to see if that fixes it.
Art

JavaHelp and FrameMaker files

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