Adobe Community: Message List - Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 19:48:55 GMT

Done. I'll post the response here. Thanks very much.

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:56:26 GMT

There's no way that I know to break up a FM doc into smaller chunks other than by cutting & pasting into new docs.

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:54:44 GMT

Hi Gina

I might be mistaken, but wouldn't this be a question better suited to the Madcap forums? It would seem that you need to ask the Madcap folks how to create the Frame content the way you want.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links

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Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 15:50:24 GMT

I was able to successfully import my RoboHelp project into Flare 7, then create FrameMaker output as an .fm and .book from Flare. Now that I have these in FrameMaker, the .fm and .book files are one 400+ page file each. How do you split the files into separate files? I'm just learning FrameMaker, but I've been using RoboHelp for 11 years. I've searched everywhere and can't figure this out. My goal is to then convert these FM files to DITA XML in FM.

Thanks.

Gina

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 21:08:31 GMT

Jeff,

Thanks very much for responding so quickly. I'm watching RJ's videos on structured authoring on Adobe's Web site and imported some test Word docs generated from RoboHelp 7 into FrameMaker 10.

Gina

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:56:29 GMT

Short answer is - there isn't any direct route.

Consensus in this thread is to go:

RH > Word, Word > FM

to get content from RH to FM.

Your CSH can be maintained when you go the "normal" route from FM to RH by using FM markers to tell RH how to build a MapID table.

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker (TCS 3)

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:13:00 GMT

I have a similar problem. I need to import my RoboHelp 7 content into FrameMaker 10. Our other tech writers are using FrameMaker 9 to create and edit DITA content. (They don't have RoboHelp.) They are using the DITA Open Toolkit to produce output (PDFs and WebHelp). Is using Microsoft Word (I have 2007) the best way to import my RoboHelp files into FrameMaker (other than copy/paste)? I need to get my RoboHelp files into DITA XML format (which I know must be done manually). Is Word really the only viable way to import the RoboHelp content into FrameMaker? I know that you can link RoboHelp 9 to FrameMaker 10 in order to publish Webhelp (one of RJ Jacquez's videos showed this). I can't use Robohelp to create and edit content anymore because it doesn't support creating and editing using DITA. I also have context-sensitive help in my RoboHelp files and trying to figure out how to retain it if I import the RH files into FM. All of the tech writers here would like to be able to use one tool for single sourcing, e.g., FrameMaker. I'd like to upgrade to TCS 3 (I'm on 1) so I can use RoboHelp to generate the WebHelp from FrameMaker. Can anyone show me the best way to get my RoboHelp content into FrameMaker?

Thanks!

Gina

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 21:24:20 GMT

Kelly, I recommend

Using the Printed Documentation to Word to produce a Word file (see Peter's site at www.grainge.org/ for best practices)
Open the Word file into FrameMaker to create a base document for your FM template. This file will contain your base paragraph and other catalogs.
Create your template file by modifying the definitions (If you'll be importing more than one document, DO NOT change the names of the formats. If desired, contact Rick Quattro for an inexpensive conversion of tag names via FrameScript)
Import (File > Import > File, not File > Open) any other word files into this template.

-Matt

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 06:44:25 GMT

I'm coming in late but the root problem here is Kelly wants good printed documents because too much work is required if the output goes to Word. Whatever the deficiencies of Word for Kelly, surely she is going to have to deal with them in Word or FM as the first stage in the proposed workflow is going to be generating to Word?

Maybe if Kelly could tell us what the deficiencies are, there could be a way of generating what she wants direct into Word or with minimal tidy up.

The Printed Documentation pages on my site have not yet been updated for RoboHelp 9 but the changes are minimal and most all of the content is still valid.

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:16:17 GMT

Hi Rick,

If Robo generates clean Word contentt, then there shouldn't be much of a problem. The key is consistency in naming of the paragraph and characer level styles/tags.

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:04:19 GMT

Kelly,

If everything has been tagged consistently, the conversion should be relatively painless and quick. No need to procrastinate.

Select a representative Robo-generated Word doc (i.e. one that has most style used) and then use FM to Open (don't import) the Word file. It will create a document with all of the styles defined in the Word document only. Use this is document as your base template and tweak the styles as required for your page layouts in FM. Then after you open in FM other generated Word documents, import the base template into these to ensure a consistent layout. Keep in mind that importing FM style formatting is additive, i.e. exactly named styles are replaced and differently named ones are added. It's important to maintain your base template file.

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 20:22:49 GMT

Hi Arnis

Soooo, as RoboHelp should be creating a well formatted Word document, things should work out pretty well, no?

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links

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Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day!

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RoboHelp eBooks

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:14:25 GMT

Thanks Arnis -- yes, styles have been applied consistently in Robo. Looks like I will be going the Robo==>Word==>Frame route. :-(

I plan to procrastinate as long as possible, so if anyone else comes up with a better idea, lay it on me!

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:06:55 GMT

Kelly,

FM treats PDFs as graphics (i.e. it converts a PDF page internally to EPS format). So, unfortunately, you have to import each page one at a time and place it as a graphics object. If there's a lot of content, you may simply be better off merging at the PDF level.

However, importing Word content isn't as dire nor painful as some have mentioned, depending upon how well constructed the Word document is. If styles have been applied consistently, then it might be worth a shot. If the document is all tagged as Normal and the visual appearance is all due to formatting overrides from the toolbars/ribbons then it might be a really frustrating exercise. Importing as plain text and re-tagging is always another option.

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:49:34 GMT

Sorry, no idea - I've never had to bring a PDF into a FM doc. I just know that it can be done (with what results - I have no idea). You may end up just copying & pasting as text into your FM doc and applying styles afterwards.

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:54:21 GMT

Hi Jeff,

I can see how I can import individual pages of a PDF into Frame, but how do I bring a whole PDF into Frame? Thanks!

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 20:50:22 GMT

That method's probably a sure way to heartache in FM (Word imports a lot of crap into FM). I'd suggest going from RH to Word then PDF and then pull the PDF into FM. Check the frameusers.com mailing list for RH to FM suggestions (do a Google search on site:frameusers.com).

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 19:15:29 GMT

Unfortunately, Robo does not do everything we need -- and it is too work-intensive to create decent-looking printed doc from Robo (in my humble opinion). So the idea is to BECOME Frame-centric. All the doc is already written in Robo, so starting with Frame is not an option.

The best way I can think of (converting Robo to Word, and Word to Frame) is going to be a lot of work considering the amount of doc to be converted. I just want to make sure there's not an easier way before I go down that road. Thanks!

Re: Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:55:54 GMT

Hi Kelly

The thing is, most often folks are either Frame centric or RoboHelp centric. Seldom do we see folks taking RoboHelp and moving that to Frame.

As I understand it, if you are Frame centric, that is the approach you would take. Adobe's recommended workflow seems to be as follows:

Start with Frame. Make all edits using Frame. From Frame you create your PDF output if you like. You link Frame to RoboHelp to create help type outputs.

Of course if you are RoboHelp centric, you ignore Frame is even there and only work with RoboHelp.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links

RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form

Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day!

Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training

SorcerStone Blog

RoboHelp eBooks

Converting from RoboHelp to FrameMaker

forums_noreply@adobe.com — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:37:44 GMT

So far all the posts I've read here deal with converting from FrameMaker to RoboHELP, but what is the best way to do the reverse? I have a RoboHTML project in RH7 that I need to convert to Frame 9. Do I have to generate printed documentation from my help project into Word format, then convert from Word to FrameMaker? Thanks in advance for any tips you can offer!