Re: [docbook-apps] RE: HTML -> DocBook Conversion?

[Michael Smith <smith at xml-doc dot org>]

Steve Whitlatch <swhitlat@getnet.net> writes:

> Hello Roger,
> 
> Is the FrameMaker document already in structured form in
> FrameMaker? If not, then this information may not help. I
> have webbed a detailed rerecord of my experience with
> DocBook+FrameMaker at:
> 
> http://www.getnet.net/~swhitlat
> 
> Follow the DocBook link on the left.

Do you have a summary written up about any problems or limitations
you ran into getting valid DocBook output from Frame 7? A couple
years back Bob Stayton wrote up a list of some problems he found,
and I did the same. Summary is at:

  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/xml-doc/message/3257

Did you run into those same problems? If so, how did you work
around them? Post-processing, maybe? Or some custom proramming.

[...]

> For a single document, I would probably do the work
> manually. However, there could be a solution going to MIF
> and then sending the MIF file through some type of
> tag-mapping process via Perl or another text manipulation
> tool. To learn how to do that would probably take some
> people (me) much, much longer than the manual process.
> 
> So, for a single document, it's just work. For hundreds or
> thousands of documents, a MIF expert who knows the text
> conversion tools would be the solution. Some consultants who
> fit that category often participate on the various
> FrameMaker mailing lists.

One thing about working with MIF is, there is no free open-source
MIF parser for Frame 5 (or 6 or 7). There was one once that could
handle Frame 4 files, I think. So if you were really to build your
own system for working with MIF in Perl or whatever, you'd first
need to create a MIF parser.

If (and this is a big If, I know) you don't need to preserve the
content of your Frame markers (index markers, hypertext links,
etc.) on conversion to DocBook, I think going from Frame's "plain"
XML output through a custom XSLT stylesheet to generate DocBook
works pretty well.

And one big advantage of it is you don't need to learn any
proprietary application-specific language/system (e.g., Frame 7's
stuff or WebWorks Publisher's macro language).  All you need to
learn is some basic XSLT, and of course learning that will end up
being useful for a lot more than just converting Frame content.

(And Steve, I don't mean you personally, because I know you
already know XSLT -- I'm just using "you" in the general sense).

  --Mike

Attachment: pgp00000.pgp
Description: PGP signature