atw: Re: Who Uses What and Legacy Document Conversion (Word > Frame)
- From: "Peter G. Martin" <peter.martin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2003 16:19:14 +1100
On Wed, 17 Dec 2003 14:19:52 +1100 (EST), Michael Edward Granat
wrote:
>Dear Bruce (White),
>
>>From recent discussions here on the same topic, those dead=
keen
>>developer types,
>using UNIX (with FrameMaker on that platform) can write their=
own
>macros in something horrid like the VI notepad development=
tool.
>
>Yes there are tools to write (as in hand tool from scratch)=
macros
>(probably in C or C++, on UNIX) for FrameMaker, but there is no
>macro <<recording>> facility built into the product.
>
Sorry, but this is an old furphy that seems to pop up here
periodically.
UNIX Framemaker +does+ have macro keystroke recording,
and has had for years.. as far back as about v3.0, if I recall
correctly.. and maybe earlier ?
>From p577 , FrameMaker 7 manual (UNIX Macros and Utilities):
"A macro can do anything you can do in FrameMaker, except the
following:
+ Pause for keyboard input and then continue
+ Record mouse clicks or mouse movements
+ Record the F10 keyboard shortcut that moves focus to the menu=
bar
+ Record the F4 keyboard shortcut that displays the appropriate
context (shortcut) menu
+ Record Japanese characters
To record a macro in UNIX:
1. Choose File > Utilities > Keyboard Macros.
2. Click Record a New Macro, click Begin, and then click OK
3. Type the keystrokes you want FrameMaker to record...."
.... etc
Meanwhile, back in Windows, there is FrameScript ($$s), and if=
you
want to do file saving manipulations in a batch file -- like=
opening
a file, saving to PDF, MIF, closing a file etc.. the free
dzbatcher utility automates these "remote" actions via command=
line
or batch commands.
MIF (and probably shortly, XML) output and input makes FrameMaker=
more useful when you want to program extensive automatic changes=
etc
to your Frame docs. I use dzbatcher via a perl script to save=
files
and books of files to MIF (formatted-text based files), and=
change
them as required [it helps to know what you're doing in MIF or=
XML].
I do things like checking documents into CVS en masse, where they=
pick up versioning data useful for doc control, then checking=
them
out to reconvert to Frame format, finally producing PDF=
versions.
That's one of the simpler exercises.
Access to the MIF version with regular expressions, for example,=
allows you to do an awful lot more than Word macros are likely=
to.
But you do have to know your MIF.
It +sounds like+ the coming 7.1 version due in Jan 2004 sometime=
may
make things even easier if the ease and quality of the XML export=
import processes is improved.
BTW, macros in UNIX FrameMaker don't seem to make it vulnerable=
to a
Word virus -- or is that a repetitive phrase ??? :-)
-Peter G. Martin,
Technical writer, Proxima Technology
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