Re: MIF to XML/SGML conversion?

Subject: Re: MIF to XML/SGML conversion?
From: "Lech Rzedzicki" <xchaotic -at- gmail -dot- com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:58:28 +0100

Can anyone very familiar with FrameMaker familiarise us with an alternative
methodology for doing such a conversion with a recent version of Framemaker?

In my understanding it's just a matter of mapping styles and structure to
dtd/schema elements - Adobe has it's own proprietary format for such
mappings.

I remember doing such a conversion a couple of years ago - as such it didn't
require any additional tools other than Framemaker itself, but the output
was rather miserable if I remember.

Lech

On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 3:34 PM, Butler, Darren J CTR USAF AFMC 584
CBSS/GBHAC <Darren -dot- Butler -dot- ctr -at- robins -dot- af -dot- mil> wrote:

> Thanx Geoff,
>
> We are familiar with XML and SGML.
> As stated in my post, we already have such an application that we cannot
> use anymore so we are looking for alternatives. Do you have any
> experience or exposure to such a tool? MIF2GO has been suggested.
>
> Best regards,
> Darren
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> techwr-l-bounces+darren -dot- butler -dot- ctr=robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+darren.butler.ctr<techwr-l-bounces%2Bdarren.butler.ctr>
> =robins -dot- af -dot- mil -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot-
> com] On Behalf Of Geoff Hart
> Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 10:03 AM
> To: techwr-l List; Butler, Darren J CTR USAF AFMC 584 CBSS/GBHAC
> Subject: MIF to XML/SGML conversion?
>
> Darren Butler wondered: <<Does anyone know of an application that
> converts MIF to XML and/or SGML...>>
>
> Not an expert on the conversion process, but I do know enough to
> remind you that XML and SGML are not "just another file format". The
> distinguishing characteristic of these two formats, unlike most other
> file formats, is that they are (or should be) structured and governed
> by a DTD. (So is HTML, but the structural aspects of an HTML document
> are so loose and so poorly enforced that you might as well not
> bother.) DTDs focus on the functional relationships between the parts
> of a document, not on the formatting, and if you are like most of us
> (me included), you have probably created documents that only fit this
> criterion about 90% (the number is obviously fuzzy).
>
> So before you attempt the conversion, spend some time making sure
> that your document structure is sufficiently rigorous that XML or
> SGML is an appropriate choice of output format. If this isn't the
> case, you'll need to spend some time cleaning up the structure before
> you do the conversion. For complicated documents, DTD design is not
> for the faint of heart, and requires a degree of rigor in writing
> that few of us apply to our writing.
>
> ----------------------------------------------------
> -- Geoff Hart
> ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca / geoffhart -at- mac -dot- com
> www.geoff-hart.com
> --------------------------------------------------
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Follow-Ups:

References:
MIF to XML/SGML conversion: From: Butler, Darren J CTR USAF AFMC 584 CBSS/GBHAC
MIF to XML/SGML conversion?: From: Geoff Hart
RE: MIF to XML/SGML conversion?: From: Butler, Darren J CTR USAF AFMC 584 CBSS/GBHAC

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