Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 8 is now available
posted by Alan
As of a few minutes ago, you can buy our latest book, Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 8 from our online store.

You can purchase the printed book and PDF file combination for $49.99, or you can buy just the PDF file for $29.99. You get instant access to the PDF file--available exclusively through our online store--with either option. (Printed books will be shipped in the middle of June.)

On Sunday, I'm off to the STC conference with Matt and Sarah. Hope to see some of you there.

Labels: book, FrameMaker

3:41 PM Permalink | |

 
Getting close on FrameMaker 8 books
posted by Sarah
We have nearly finished the content updates for the new unstructured FrameMaker 8 book (Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 8). That leaves proofreading, production, and indexing.

Barring any unforeseen problems (and there are always unforeseen problems), the book should be available as a PDF download in mid-May when we ship it to the printer. The printed versions will be available a few weeks later.

Highlights:

• We are offering print and PDF versions. If you purchase the print version, the PDF version is included. In addition to search and live links, the PDF version offers instant gratification (you can download it) and is free of extortionate international or express shipping charges (because you download it).
• We explain how to use the new Unicode support for text and dialog boxes.
• We updated the workflow and output chapters.
• We nipped, tucked, and generally improved the content, and hopefully did a better job than this.
  
• We have rewritten the conditional text chapter to cover the new complex conditionals. I believe that Terry Smith is now the only person in the world who actually understands how to use this feature.
  
• We refreshed screen shots.
• We corrected errors and embarrassing spelling errors. (And probably introduced some new ones. Oh well.)

Email us at books@scriptorium.com before May 9 for a 15-percent discount code on orders of Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 8. You will receive the code along with the announcement of availability in mid-May.

Labels: book, FrameMaker

3:28 PM Permalink | |

 
FrameMaker 8: The Case of the Missing S
posted by Alan
I have been reviewing the content in Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 8, which we plan to release next month. While reviewing the chapters, I have been reminded about some FrameMaker features I had forgotten, but I've also discovered a few puzzling things in the interface of version 8.

For example, there is a toolbar for the new feature that tracks text edits. To see the toolbar, select View > Track Text Edit Bar. The Track Text Edits toolbar is displayed. If the toolbar has Edits in its name, why does the View menu choice show just Edit?

I think this is a case for The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. I bet they could track down that missing s.

Labels: FrameMaker

8:28 AM Permalink | |

 
My beautiful Flash movie shows up as a big gray button in FrameMaker 8
posted by Terry
With FrameMaker 8, you can embed Flash (.SWF) files directly into FrameMaker. From there, if you use Save As PDF to create the PDF file, then your users can play Flash movies right from the PDF. Import the Flash file, Save As PDF, and go.

Except that the result is not quite as advertised.

According to Adobe, the first frame in the Flash file appears where you insert the Flash file. Uh, no. What actually appears is a picture of a big gray arrow button like this:


The gray button is not what I expected or wanted. Frankly, the first frame of the Flash movie is often not great to show either.

So how can you set a poster for the Flash movie that will show up in print and in the PDF? The solution is not elegant, but it works:

1) Create a picture (probably a screen capture from the Flash movie) and place it on top of the embedded Flash file in FrameMaker (both are in the same anchored frame).

2) Add callouts such as "Click here to play movie" if you want. Here's a sample of a picture you might place over a Flash movie:



3) Select File > Save As PDF.

In the resulting PDF, the picture (and text, if any) that you placed on top of the Flash movie act like a big button. Click anywhere on the picture to play the Flash movie. The Flash movie comes to the front and covers the picture, so you can use any kind of picture and it won't affect how the Flash movie looks when it plays.

Here is a FrameMaker 8 sample file that shows the big-gray-arrow-button problem and the workaround to create a poster for the Flash movie. Also, here is the resulting PDF. This file was tested on Windows with FrameMaker 8.0 p273 (also known as the “Fat Tuesday patch” for its release date).

Want more? See this article by Jeff Freeman about importing Captivate Flash into Acrobat for tips that also apply when importing Flash into FrameMaker.

Labels: Acrobat, Flash, FrameMaker, PDF, SWF

12:06 PM Permalink | |

 
No help for you!
posted by Alan
I was saving a structured FrameMaker 8 book out to XML and encountered an error in the structured application I was testing. I knew I had a flaky read/write rule, so I went to the Help menu to select the Complete FrameMaker Help choice, which displays a web page with a link to the structured application documentation.

Imagine my surprise when the Complete FrameMaker Help choice was grayed out. I was very puzzled by this because I had used that very option just last week. I then opened one of the files in my FrameMaker book and checked for that menu option, and it was no longer grayed out.

On my laptop running Windows Vista, it seems that FrameMaker 8.0p266 lets me select the Complete FrameMaker Help choice only if a document file is open (or if no file at all is open). If a book file is the active file, the choice is unavailable.

Is this Adobe's way of telling us book files are beyond help?

Labels: FrameMaker

3:39 PM Permalink | |

 
Wherefore art thou, custom structured application?
posted by Alan
If you have added a structured application to the default ones provided by FrameMaker 8, proceed with caution before you install the patch for FrameMaker 8.0p266. The install will replace your applications definition file (structapps.fm) file without making a backup version.

I had customized my structapps.fm to include applications I created for a client. I tried to use one of those applications yesterday, but it wasn't in my list of applications. Sure enough, those applications were gone from the definitions file. Sarah had the same thing happen to her definitions file, too.

Moral of the story: make a backup version of structapps.fm before you upgrade to version 8.0p266. (And I think Adobe should have known better than to do something like this.)

Labels: FrameMaker

8:34 AM Permalink | |

 
Reactions to the TechComm Suite
posted by Sarah
Bloggers are starting to comment on the TC Suite. Here are a few I spotted this morning:

Bill Swallow ("TechCommDood") writes on waxing techcomm:

I'll admit, I'm both impressed at the package (the monetary deal for the payload of technology is quite appealing) and at Adobe's direct acknowledgement of the techcomm market. [...]
The workflow is still unidirectional; FrameMaker to RoboHelp to online output. There is no going back from RoboHelp should you make changes (which you can, since RoboHelp also remains an authoring tool) once you import the FrameMaker content.
This is where the similarities between RoboHelp and the likes of WebWorks Publisher and Mif2Go end. RoboHelp allows you the option to continue to edit content in the built-in (or external) HTML editor after import.

This is an important point (and a highly problematic one). If you link your FrameMaker content into a RoboHelp project and then make changes to the FrameMaker-sourced content in RoboHelp, then you end up with two copies of the content. Not good, and the temptation to just "tweak a few things" is always there. (I'd be happy to be proven wrong on this point.)

Bob Doyle writes on his techwr-l.com blog:

You can include Help in FrameMaker projects, eLearning in RoboHelp and in Frame, 3D animations in Help and Frame and in PDF documents, RoboHelp screen captures from Frame, etc, etc. All the tools include direct access to aspects of the others from within the tool. You do not have to leave one tool to “Edit with…” another tool. And no longer are conversions needed to reuse assets.

This is the first reference I've seen to reusing RoboHelp content in FrameMaker. I don't believe that this is actually possible.

Another positive initial review from Ron Miller:

[...] Adobe appears to have taken care to put integration on the front burner to make it easier for training and tech writing departments to share content.

[... T]hey appear to have answered all the criticisms I had of RH6 and then some with RH 7. What's more they have integrated it with Frame to create a fully featured publishing environment.

Until I take it through its paces with a project, it's hard to judge but the first impressions were good and it appears clear that Adobe wants to claim a place in the tech writing market.

Dan Ortega of Astoria (via Charles Jeter) clearly identifies the strategic problem with the Suite:

[...] Adobe still appears to be focused on a desktop paradigm. [... W]hen they reference workflow, they refer to workflow integration between the products in the TC Suite. [...]

If Adobe plans to succeed in the enterprise, they have to take a much broader view of how technical documentation teams work by moving beyond the creation perspective. They need to adopt a perspective that encompasses the entire production cycle[...].

Adobe's products are evolving and becoming more integrated, but they are doing so inside the Adobe walls. Conveniently, FrameMaker and RoboHelp are now neighbor, where before they were more like rival gangs with a turf war. But the XML and XSL barbarians are at the gates, and it's time to let them in and accept them as citizens. (This metaphor has clearly run, er, amok.)

The era of proprietary content files is over. Baseline content needs to be in XML because of the "production cycle" that Mr. Ortega describes. XML is:

• Supported by content management systems
• Advantageous for localization workflows
• Enforceable (that is, you can enforce your preferred structure)
• An excellent starting point for automated content production (via XSL, FrameMaker, or even InDesign)

Authoring tools aren't going anywhere, but the FrameMaker- or RoboHelp-centric universe is not going to last.

Labels: FrameMaker, robohelp, TechComm Suite, xml

10:45 AM Permalink | |

 
eWeek analysis of TC Suite
posted by Sarah
They misspelled Michael Hu's name, so minus points for sloppiness.

Introducing: Adobe's Software for the Technical Writer (eWeek)

I have some issues with this article. For instance:

• The lead-in: "Determined to earn revenues beyond the Web developer market, Adobe Sept. 25 released its Technical Communication Suite [...]." Hmmm. Creative Suite is for web developers? Acrobat?
• "The new suite comes almost as an afterthought to the company's Flash, Flex and the AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime, formerly code-named Apollo) Web development technologies, whose futures were discussed Sept. 20 at the FlashForward conference in Boston." That's just a weird editorial comment. Creative Suite 3 was released this spring, so was Flash/Flex/AIR an afterthought to CS3? Different release cycles do not necessarily equal "afterthought." Also, I don't think the audience for FFA and for TC Suite have much (if any) overlap.

I think the addition of support for Flash into Acrobat is important -- it will allow us to create much more interactive PDF files. But I'm afraid that I'm not quite on-board with the hyperbole from Adobe (sorry, Mike)?

"We're going to change the dynamics of this industry and change how people are creating content and change how people consume this content," Wu [sic] said.

Here is the unauthorized translation:

This TC Suite is going to hurt our competitors, who are all providing point solutions. Even if you concede that, for example, Flare might be better than RoboHelp, when we put FrameMaker and RoboHelp in a single box with an attractive price point, it makes purchasing FrameMaker and Flare separately less appealing.

ePublisher Pro's integration with FrameMaker is probably better than RoboHelp's, at least for now, but licensing RoboHelp as part of the Suite is going to be much easier than justifying two separate purchases.

If we can piggy-back Captivate onto the big authoring tools (FrameMaker and RoboHelp), we'll get incremental revenue from people who might have otherwise not bothered with buying a simulation tool.

In short, the losers are going to be:

• MadCap, which makes Flare (RoboHelp competitor), Mimic (Captivate competitor), and, someday, Blaze (alleged FrameMaker competitor).
• Quadralay, which makes ePublisher Pro (conversion tool for FrameMaker to HTML, sort-of RoboHelp competitor)
• Qarbon, which makes Viewlet Builder (Captivate competitor)
• TechSmith, which makes Camtasia (Captivate competitor)
  

Lots of Captivate competition on that list. Makes you wonder if this is really about Flash and Acrobat, rather than FrameMaker/RoboHelp integration.

And one other random note: MadCap already has a suite called MadPak, which includes Flare (help authoring), Mimic (simulation), Capture (screen captures), and Echo (audio). No great print solution, though.

Labels: FrameMaker, madcap, robohelp, TechComm Suite

12:57 PM Permalink | |

 
Not-So-Creative Suite
posted by Sarah
According to Cherryleaf (via Cap-Studio), Adobe has announced the Adobe Technical Communication Suite.

This suite will contain FrameMaker, RoboHelp, Captivate and Acrobat 3D, and it will cost $1599 (a 56% saving over the full price). [Note: I do not know whether this is U.S. or international pricing.] Upgrades from any component of the suite would be less.

Some thoughts...

If you in need of several of the components, you'll obviously save money over licensing them individually, so a definite customer win there.

This is not good news for Quadralay/ePublisher Pro. Even if we assume that the FrameMaker/RoboHelp integration isn't as powerful as FrameMaker/ePublisher Pro, it's likely to be good enough for many.

A monolithic suite with cross-product integration (I assume) seems like the wrong direction in the current market. Our customers are asking for lightweight XML solutions. They are looking for ways to reduce their dependence on proprietary systems. We are currently working one project that's moving from Word to DITA with an assortment of editors and extensive customization of the DITA Open Toolkit for output. Another project is moving from unstructured FrameMaker/ePublisher Pro to structured FrameMaker/XML/XSL; output is various flavors of HTML and of course PDF/print. I just don't see the TC Suite as a contender for these customers.

We do, however, have another customer who is currently authoring in Word and RoboHelp and is deeply displeased with the quality of printed output and the amount of work required to produce online help. For them, the Suite provides the right set of tools; they do not need XML at this time. But how many similar workgroups are out there?

What do you think? Is the new TC Suite appealing to you?

Labels: FrameMaker, robohelp, TechComm Suite

12:08 PM Permalink | |

 
Instant gratification -- FrameMaker 7 book
posted by Sarah
Our massive FrameMaker reference, Publishing Fundamentals: FrameMaker 7, is now available for download from our shopping cart.

The download is $39.99. Site licenses are available; contact us for details.

After much discussion, screaming, blood, and tears, we have made the PDF available without DRM. Please do not share or redistribute it.

We are currently working on updates to the book for FrameMaker 8 and hope to have unstructured FrameMaker content ready before the end of the year. When you purchase the FrameMaker 7 PDF, you will receive a coupon good for $20 off the FrameMaker 8 content when it is released.

Note: Currently, our plans call for FrameMaker 8 content to be paper, not digital.

Labels: book, FrameMaker

1:40 PM Permalink | |

 
Deja vu all over again
posted by Sarah
The recent discussion about RoboHelp's presence (or lack thereof) in Adobe documents, along with discussions about staffing changes, feels awfully familiar.

But first, a clarification. In an earlier post, I wrote this:

The "Other" segment, which includes the infamous "Classic Publishing" (aka "We Don't Give a $#$#@ About These Products"), accounts for just under 10 percent of total revenues. Source: Adobe presentation, PDF format, page 10)

I should have been more specific. Page 10 of the quoted PDF says that “Other” accounts for less than 10 percent of total revenues. (No mention of RoboHelp as being part of that group. The bit about RoboHelp being part of Classic Publishing came from elsewhere. Note that the same product management team runs FrameMaker and RoboHelp.

Meanwhile, I took another look at the business segment chart that Mr. Jeter mentions. He's quite right that RoboHelp is not on the list. But take a look at Adobe's complete product list. There are many, many more products there than on the business segment chart. RoboHelp is not the only product omitted from the business segments. (One interesting note, though -- in the product list, RoboHelp is listed under Developer Tools, and then shows up again under eLearning and Technical Communications.)

Back to deja vu.

In 2005, Adobe announced the creation of the "Print and Classic Publishing" business unit, which would be run by Adobe India. Some time before that (I think around 2000, but I can't find specifics), Adobe had moved FrameMaker development from San Jose to India.

There was much anxiety around the product -- would development continue? Was FrameMaker dead? (See Microtype's FrameMaker press site)

The discussion around RoboHelp right now feels exactly the same. (And I should note that I'm probably a little more objective about RoboHelp because I rarely use the product -- and I don't know the engineering or tech support team personally.) I had dinner with Lee Richardson (formerly FrameMaker engineering manager) just after his responsibilities were, um, reassigned. He seemed to be handling the change quite well, but I was upset on his behalf. When you are acquainted with the people whose careers are being shuffled about, it's personal.

In the RoboHelp case, it doesn't help Adobe's cause that MadCap Software has a marketing strategy that revolves around issuing cheeky press releases.

With the benefit of several years' perspective on the FrameMaker issues, it looks to me as though Adobe is using the India office to continue development on products that are not commercially viable with US-based (i.e., more expensive) software developers.
I've built relationships with the new FrameMaker team, but given the choice between their jobs and the development of FrameMaker 9, in say, China, I'll take FrameMaker 9. (sorry, guys!) (And, for the record, it was the Adobe India team that build Unicode into FrameMaker 8, which is a remarkable achievement.) For those of you looking at the RoboHelp situation, you have to decide whether the same is true for you. Does your personal loyalty to the former RoboHelp team outweigh your need for the product?

Labels: FrameMaker, robohelp

11:19 AM Permalink | |

 
Politest rebuttal ever
posted by Sarah
Charles Jeter has written up a general lack of information about RoboHelp in various SEC disclosure statements filed by Adobe.

Although I'm also a great fan of conspiracies, I'm afraid that the answer in this case is quite simple. RoboHelp's revenue is not material in the general scheme of things. The "Other" segment, which includes the infamous "Classic Publishing" (aka "We Don't Give a $#$#@ About These Products"), accounts for just under 10 percent of total revenues. Source: Adobe presentation, PDF format, page 10)

The Mobile and Device Solutions segment is even smaller, at 2 percent, but Adobe foresees huge growth in that area. Not so with "classic" publishing, which includes RoboHelp, PostScript, FrameMaker, and a bunch of other nerdy kids generally picked last on the playground.

What's more amusing, though, is that the Adobe TechComm blog was updated this afternoon with a cheery missive from Vivek Jain about cross-product integration:

With FrameMaker 8, we began our journey towards closer integration among Adobe products for technical communicators. With four products, FrameMaker, RoboHelp, Captivate and Acrobat 3D, catering to the needs of technical communicators, we have best in class products for each requirement. Now with much closer integration among these products, we are enabling new workflows.

No mention of the RoboHelp kerfluffle. Very polite.

And I find myself unable to resist this gratuitous video:

Labels: FrameMaker, robohelp

2:20 PM Permalink | |

 
Updating our books for FrameMaker 8
posted by Alan
We've had a few inquiries about our plans for the Publishing Fundamentals book and workbook series now that Adobe has released FrameMaker 8. We do plan to update the book and workbooks for version 8: in fact, we've just started work on updating Publishing Fundamentals.

After we've completed that update, we'll start work on the unstructured workbooks, and then we'll focus on the structured workbooks. We don't have firm release dates yet, but we'll keep you posted on our progress here in Palimpsest and in the newsletter.

Labels: book, FrameMaker

3:44 PM Permalink | |

 
FrameMaker vs. InDesign
posted by Sarah
For InDesign, you can get a plug-in to create Sudoku puzzles.

FrameMaker has a plug-in to solve Sudoku puzzles. (h/t Content Wrangler and others)

That sums up the difference between the two tools quite nicely.

Labels: FrameMaker, InDesign

6:50 PM Permalink | |

 
FrameMaker 7.2+x at STC
posted by Sarah
Adobe provided a series of "sneak peeks" at products under development at the STC conference.

But first, a message from the legal beagles:

The features presented during the Technology Sneak peak contain proof of concept features and features in the development pipeline. They are not final for the next release however [Adobe] want[s] to take this opportunity to show the general direction of where we are taking the products.

No details on ship dates, but as they are recruiting for beta testers for the next version of FrameMaker, I think we can assume in the Not Too Distant Future.

New FrameMaker features shown:

• Unicode
  
• DITA support
• Flash and 3D support (can embed into FrameMaker and have live in PDF or HTML)
  
• Vista Support and docx import
• Track Text Edits
• Attribute based filtering /output (show/hide based on attributes)
  
• Import of XML and CSS files
• Conditional Text Enhancements (Boolean conditions)

Here are some details posted on the Adobe forums by Russ Ward.

(h/t CAP Studio)

Labels: FrameMaker

8:22 PM Permalink | |

 
More FrameMaker 8 tidbits
posted by Sarah
Michael Müller-Hillebrand at cap-studio.de reads the tea leaves of Adobe's public announcements about FrameMaker 8. First, in What has Adobe promised us (German), he makes the following points:

• In a document posted in July 2006, Adobe promised a new release "in the next 12 months."
• They refer to a "major new version," which is code for 8.0 as opposed to 7.x.
• They recognize the lack of support for non-Western languages as a major issue.
• They will focus on structured authoring features.

Second, in a post about the beta test announcement from Adobe, he explains what makes this news so important:

• The announcement technically meets the earlier promise of a new release by July 2007.
• Adobe is adopting a more open culture, which is likely due to influence from the Macromedia merger. By announcing an upcoming release, Adobe may lose a few sales over the next couple of months, but they also freeze purchasing decisions -- it's unlikely that new customers will purchase a competitive product before they see details on the new release.
  

On a cautionary note, Michael points out that Adobe is unlikely to recruit a significant number of new beta testers because it requires too many resources. And meanwhile, he (and I) are waiting to see what, if any, product details are announced next week at STC (see sneak peek announcement).


PS Translations (and errors) are mine.

Labels: FrameMaker

1:45 PM Permalink | |

 
Apocalypse Now
posted by Sarah
Last week, I suggested that The end of the world is approaching because Adobe had made some comments about upcoming release.

Today, I suggest we all hide in our backyard bunkers, because of this:

The FrameMaker product team is looking for volunteers to participate in FrameMaker Prerelease Beta 2.

It's a publicly announced beta for FrameMaker 8. No details on new features or other information, and I do not know whether participants will be required to execute a non-disclosure agreement.

Off to buy canned food and water purification tablets...

Labels: FrameMaker

11:55 AM Permalink | |

 
The end of the world is approaching
posted by Sarah
What other explanation is there for Adobe, nicknamed The Cone of Silence, making this announcement:

If you are planning to attend the [STC] Conference [in Minneapolis], you now have added incentive. We will be providing technology sneak peeks of the features of the next versions of FrameMaker, RoboHelp and Captivate.

For details, see Vivek Jain's blog entry on the Adobe TechComm blog. No mention of a requirement for a non-disclosure agreement, so I assume any information shared at these sessions will be public.

I won't call Adobe "transparent" just yet, but this reduction in opacity is quite welcome.

Update (May 3, 2007): Over at Core Dump, a post on the same topic entitled Hell is Freezing Over.

Labels: FrameMaker

9:59 AM Permalink | |

 
Pre-New Year's Resolution
posted by Sarah
Remember, Publishing Fundamentals: FrameMaker 7 is currently available as a secured PDF through the Adobe Document Center. Access will expire at year-end.

To access the book, click here. For access details, read Alan's original post.

Labels: book, FrameMaker, secured PDF

4:53 PM Permalink | |