FrameMaker+SGML
FrameMaker+SGML is a powerful WYSIWYG[1] which allows you to edit SGML documents with all the rendering and other features of FrameMaker. In FrameMaker+SGML the correspondence between SGML tags and printed output is implemented with a document called the EDD[2] which maps SGML elements to FrameMaker formatting instructions.
FrameMaker+SGML ships with an outdated DocBook implementation, based on the DocBook 2.2.1 DTD (the current version is 3.0) provided by Lynne Price. Lynne Price then upgraded the DTD to 3.0 under contract by Cygnus Solutions but left most of the elements undefined in the EDD.
In March of 1998 I started filling in the gaps by defining the output format for many tags in the EDD. Later that year Alyce Gershenson and Frederick Geers modified the EDD and the FrameMaker template file to match the Cygnus publication styles. In September of 1998 I defined many more tags in the EDD, to the point where I now think that Cygnus's EDD is a useful tool for FrameMaker+SGML users.
I have finally made Cygnus's FrameMaker+SGML EDD available by anonymous ftp at the address ftp://ftp.cygnus.com/pub/home/rosalia/docware/framemaker/ Please keep in mind that there are still some serious unresolved problems in the read/write rules and the FrameMaker API client, which I have not yet sat down to study.
To use the FrameMaker+SGML support you should do the following:
Grab all the FrameMaker+SGML files from the anonymous ftp site listed above. Put them in a directory (or folder on Windows) of their own.
Start up FrameMaker+SGML and load the file Sgmlapps.fm.
Double-click on a line that says [FIXME: must look it up] and change the variable to match the location of the folder you created in step 1.
Go to the File menu and select Developer's tools, and in there select Reread SGML application. It will ask you to select a file to “read in”, and you should pick Sgmlapps.fm.
Go to the File menu and select Set SGML application. You will get a couple of choices. You should choose DocBook-3.0-cygnus (or whatever it was). Do not choose DocBook: this is the obsolete version that Adobe ships.
Create a new document. When FrameMaker+SGML asks you for a template, you should select the Template.fm file that you downloaded.
If all went well you should now have a DocBook document open. You can bring up the “structure view” and “element catalog” windows to help you edit your DocBook document.
 | I would love it if some FrameMaker+SGML were to collaborate with me on the DocBook EDD. If you are interested in doing so, please send email to <rosalia@galassi.org> |