Can Framemaker 12 save files down in Framemaker 11 and 10 ? Is it backward compatible?

[Guest]

Can Framemaker 12 save files down in Framemaker 11 and 10 ? Is it backward compatible?

Thanks,

[Arnis_Gubins]

Saving in MIF format allows for backwards compatibility in all versions of FM.

FM12 specifically can backsave to FM11 binary format. Typically, every new version of Fm has beeen able to save back to the prior versions binary format.

[Bob_Niland]

As long as the newer FM document is only using older features, it is usually backward compatible. When opening a MIF, older versions of FM just ignore any tags they don't support. If the newer document is using new features, then you have backward mobility instead.

There's a separate problem (Unicode) when MIF'ing back to 7.2 or below, but that wouldn't arise in your case.

[Anjaneai_Srivastava]

Hi !!

Welcome to Adobe Forums.

As indicated be Gentlemen above, you can use the File -- Save as and in the drop down list you can choose MIF 7.0 or FM 11 format. See below:

You can select MIF 7.0 incase you want to save the file in a version earlier than FM 11. In case you have used any feature that was not a part of that particlaur version, it would be lost.

Thanks,

Anjaneai

[Bob_Niland]

> You can select MIF 7.0 incase you want to save the file in a version earlier than FM 11.

Actually, since there is support for export as MIF7 or MIF12, would you not:
use MIF12 to port back to FM8, FM9 and FM10,
use MIF7 only to port back to FM7.2 or earlier, and

use .fm(11) to port back to FM11?

[Anjaneai_Srivastava]

Yes, we can do that.

But I have been able to port the MIF 11 to version 7.1 successfully.

I personally prefer the MIF 12 only the newer version of FM (12/11) and for rest I go by MIF 7 to get the work done.

Certainly, the format vs version comparison that you have given would work too!

[Julia_the_TW]

Hey,

And how you do for saving an FM12 BOOK to FM10 BOOK?

Thanks!

[Bob_Niland]

> And how you do for saving an FM12 BOOK to FM10 BOOK?

.book files can be saved as MIF also.

We use a convention of .book.mif

I don't know what FM12 does for default MIF names.

[Mammamakkie]

Hello,

I have to save down from Framemaker 12 to Mif 7, but the Framemaker 7 user complaints she cannot open my files.

I am not aware that I was using Framemaker 12 features that didn't exist in Framermaker 7. What are the alternatives?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Do you have access to any other versions of FM between 7 and 12? Are you employing Unicode fonts? That may be where your issue lies.

[Mammamakkie]

This is a book that was originally created in Framemaker 7. I converted it to Framemaker 12 so I was able to update the content, but then I had to save it back to Framemaker 7.

Neither me or the Framemaker 7 user has access to any inbetween versions.

The font we use is Times New Roman and the files contain graphics and photo's (jpg, eps, tif, png, gif).

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Times New Roman may be your problem – you’re probably using the Unicode version of it & FM7 doesn’t support it yet. Try doing a sample of text using a non-Unicode font set and seeing if the FM7 user can open that MIF7.

[Bob_Niland]

> Times New Roman ... you’re probably using the Unicode version of it ...

Port a legacy font from the FM7 machine to the FM12 machine, such as Type1 Times, and convert the document to that on the FM12 machine.

This may not completely solve the problem, as FM8 and later, when opening a pre-FM8 document, appears to convert some things to Unicode code points (even to the point of synthesizing a Unicode encoding of a legacy font, see Re: Adding the Trademark symbol to a document). Saving back to MIF7 probably does not convert the code points back, and FM7 may well complain, or crash, or something.

If the problem is limited to certain special characters, like ™, there may be work-arounds, like invoking them only as Variables.

This Unicode border between FM7.2 and FM8 may prove to be one-way for many documents, rather like the spikes at the exit of rental car lots. Do not back up. Extreme document damage may result.

[Mike Wickham]

"Do not back up. Extreme document damage may result."

LOL.

Mike Wickham

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

LOL too – I’ve got to save that one off to use again ;>)

[Arnis_Gubins]

What is the specific (error) message that FM7 generates when trying to open the FM12 MIF file format? When reading MIF content, FM ignores any commands that aren't in the version being used, so something from the FM12 versions should be showing in FM7. I can easily open any number of FM12 MIF saved in either v.12 or v.7 MIF format in FM7.0, 7.1 and 7.2 and not lose content.

Perhaps the user is trying to open the binary?

[Mammamakkie]

Hello, I am not a Framemaker-expert. I only have to update the text, so I don't do anything intelligent with the lay-out. And to be honest, I cannot follow the above line of discussion.

But I had expected that if the programm is able to save down, it would simpy kill anything that the lower version cannot digest.

The message is: "Filenames ending in .mif cannot be saved in Document format." So that doesn't offer any clues.

[Bob_Niland]

> But I had expected that if the program is able to save down, it would simply kill anything that the lower version cannot digest.

In general, it's the other way around. FM99 saves all markups to MIF. When FM01 opens it, FM01 ignores markups it doesn't know about, which would be pairs of things like:
<FutureTag
  <other markups>
> # end of FutureTag
and everything in between the unknown tags, I suspect.

In the specific case of being able to choose an earlier MIF, then yes, some newer tags might not be written, but I'm thinking that this down-versioning might be merely limited to avoiding writing Unicode to a MIF7. You might get "?" instead.

> The message is: "Filenames ending in .mif cannot be saved in Document format." So that doesn't offer any clues.

Yes, that's a big clue. It means you are trying to save to a file with a ".mif" extension, but in Save_as_type: you selected "Document 12.0" instead of "MIF".

[Mammamakkie]

Hello,

not sure, maybe I did select 12 accidentily. But this was only one of several tries. I tried again making sure I saved in the right version, and also tried an additional copy without graphics. My colleague now says that she cannot save the mifs in version 7.0 fm.  She can only save them in version 6.0 fm, preceded by the message :

"By saving this document in the previous format, you will lose all new features in the current release. OK to continue?"

We will continue the exercise after the Christmas holiday. If someone has more suggestions of what we can try, they are most welcome!

Otherwise we will lobby a bit harder to get her an upgrade to version 12.

For now, thanks a lot for your efforts and contributions! 

Best regards, Margaretha

[Mammamakkie]

Hello again,

I just would like to report that my colleague will upgrade to Framemaker 12, which will solve the problem for us.

Thanks to everybody who contributed for your help and suggestions!

Best regard,

Margaretha