Mapping FM styles in RH7

[Guest]

I am using RH7 in the Tech Comm Suite and cannot figure out how to map the FrameMaker style to styles I have created in a custom style sheet. The list in the Style Mapping window always defaults to the default.css. How can I get the list from my custon style sheet to show up there??? There is nothing about this in the RH online help.

I don't have much prior experience in RH so this might seem like a basic question to some.

~Kim

[lcolby]

The way I did it was to put my custom styles in the "fmstyles.ccs" file. I just added them using a text editor. fmsytles.css is the file that RH actually references in the mapping styles dialog box.

~Linda

[Guest]

I'm still confused. I updated the fmstyles.css file and mapped my styles. All seemed well at first but now that the Frame book has been imported by reference, RoboHelp seems to be using a different style sheet. When I update styles (in the Style Editor, they are not applied consistently to paragraphs with matching tags.

[lcolby]

Well, when RH creates the topic(s) that corresponds to the framemaker file, it also creates a separate css file for EACH fm file that it imports. Each .ccs file has a name that corresponds to the FM file name. It appears to use the mappings you specify but also creates other styles that it uses. If you also use other custom styles (like for links), those are not added to the individual css files that RH creates (making it difficult for your site to have a consistent look and feel). I've been working on this for several days, trying to find an optimum way to do it, and it is a real pain as far as I'm concerned. (It's also driving me crazy the way it codes the html for lists, but that's another story...)

One thing I'm trying now is to create a template for my RH files, and have a custom fmstyles.css file that is used by it. Then, in the Topics list, I select all topics at once, and then apply this template to all (via "Properties" in the context menu). That results in my custom css file being linked to all the topics, rather than the individual automatically generated ones. Of course, if I do an "update" on any of my topics generated from FM files, then that application of the template will have to be done again.

Hope this helps,
Linda

[johndaigle]

Hi folks!
Thanks to Linda for her good info. I only rarely use FrameMaker but TeachingMom may find today's post on the Adobe Tech Comm blog to be helpful.
FrameMaker and RoboHelp Style Mappings
http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/

It is part of a series and is written by the Mahesh Kumar Gupta, product manager for the Tech Comm Suite. Since your question is so timely, you might post a comment on the blog so that Mahesh can clarify and remaining questions you might have.
Thanx,
john

[Guest]

Thank you, Linda and John, but unfortunately my problems with the TechComm Suite seem to be growing. Mahesh's article seemed to be a replica of the poorly written help in RH7 and did not go any deeper. I understand how to set up style mappings, but it seems that applkying a customized and consistent style sheet to every topic in my project is not an option without having to reapply it after updating FM files.

To make matters worse, RoboHelp is now crashing everytime I try to perform an update. When I reopen it, my project contains emply folders which cannot be deleted from the project (the Delete option is greyed out on the context menu)!!! I've tried creating new projects and even reinstalling the TechComm Suite, but NOTHING seems to help. Giving up is not an option--I have a VERY tight deadline to meet and I am wasting hours fiddling with what was supposed to be the answer to getting our print docs online in a hurry.

I wrote to Mahesh Kumar Gupta and hope to get a response soon.

Thanks again!
~Kim

[Guest]

Thank you, Linda and John, but unfortunately my problems with the TechComm Suite seem to be growing. Mahesh's article seemed to be a replica of the poorly written help in RH7 and did not go any deeper. I understand how to set up style mappings, but it seems that applkying a customized and consistent style sheet to every topic in my project is not an option without having to reapply it after updating FM files.

To make matters worse, RoboHelp is now crashing everytime I try to perform an update. When I reopen it, my project contains emply folders which cannot be deleted from the project (the Delete option is greyed out on the context menu)!!! I've tried creating new projects and even reinstalling the TechComm Suite, but NOTHING seems to help. Giving up is not an option--I have a VERY tight deadline to meet and I am wasting hours fiddling with what was supposed to be the answer to getting our print docs online in a hurry.

I wrote to Mahesh Kumar Gupta and hope to get a response soon.

Thanks again!
~Kim

[lcolby]

I have had problems with crashing as well. Usually I have been able to get around it by creating a new project (that will go over well close to deadlines). I'm using fairly small, simple books for testing because of this. Your problem with crashing every time you try to perform an update - is this always with the same Framemaker book/file? Are you converting the table of contents? If you are adding a book, can you try creating a new book, adding your FM files to it, and then try adding that book to a new RH project and see what happens?

Linda

P.S. I feel your pain :-)

[Guest]

Hi Linda,

I'm sorry to hear you are experiencing many of the same issues with RH7, but it is nice to know I'm not alone and somebody else understands! I did try working with a small book and had some success. I'm wondering what is going to happen when I try to get all of our documentation online!

I have been bringing the TOCs in from my FM8 books and I'm not liking the way they look. I would like to eliminate the book title from the TOC and I haven't found any help for this in the RH help. Let me know how you are generating your TOCs.

Right now, I am up against a very tight deadline as Friday is my last day in the office before leaving on a 6-week sabbatical. I am suppose to have an initial system ready to go before I leave. It might be possible if I keep it short and learn some TOC formatting tricks!

Thanks again!!!
Kim

[JainVivek]

For TOCs to import correctly in RoboHelp from FrameMaker, you need to format them in FrameMaker (make the highest level - largest font size, bold), next highest level (lower font size, may be normal, indented to the right) and so on. RoboHelp uses formatting information of the TOC file in FrameMaker - to generate the TOC in RoboHelp.

regards
Vivek