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Subject:Re: Webworks (FrameMaker to HTML OLH) From:LDurway -at- pav -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 29 Oct 2002 13:55:09 -0600
You can do it in 8 days. The length of the doc doesn't
really matter. What takes time is learning where the
knobs & switches are in WWP. I know WWP 6.0 but haven't
had a chance to evaluate 7.0, so if my comments seem
whacky, it's because I'm out of date here.
In 6.0, here's what I would recommend to get you acquainted
with WWP's main features. (I hope these notes apply to 7.0 as well.
I assume you're using 7.0. If any WWP users out there find
errors in what I've written, please post.)
Build the project using the wizard. When prompted to
perform the conversion, don't bother at this point.
Once the project's built, open it. The Files tab is
selected by default. If there are files in your book
that you don't want included in the help, right click
them & select Delete. In my case, I remove my title/notice
file, making my TOC file first in the list. If you have a
back cover, you may want to remove it. I have my IX file last.
Right click on the top line, "FrameMaker and Generated
Files." Select Properties. You do a lot of your setup work
here. Select the Output tab and indicate which files are the
TOC & IX (the hhc file should be marked TOC, & hhk should be
Index).
Still in the File Properties window, select XREFs. Alter the text
as needed. I changed all mine to "<$paratext>". Keep in mind
that page numbers don't make sense in an HTML doc.
Now select the Mappings tab. Here's where you map your Frame
paragraph styles to the default HTML Help paragraph styles.
To keep a paragraph from appearing in the final output, set it
to "NoOutput" (not "unmap", which restores it to the default).
If you leave a paragraph as is, it comes out looking pretty
much the way it did in your Frame manual--same indents, etc.
For now, you might be able to get by leaving paragraphs set to
the default.
After Mappings, close the File Properties window. Save the
project.
Now convert & generate the manual. When it's done, open the hhp
file that is listed in the project's Files display. That should
bring up Microsoft HTML Help Workshop. Compile & display.
The first thing you see (in 6.0 anyway) is that the WebWorks
logo & contact info are tacked onto each page at top & bottom.
To remove these elements, open template.asp, which appears in
the Files display under Support Files. Right-click template.asp
& select View. In the middle of the file is a blockquote
section that contains, among other things, the $DATA variable.
Leave that blockquote chunk alone. Modify the stuff before &
after it as desired.
I hope these suggestions get you through the more mysterious
parts of WWP. You can figure out the style designer stuff
yourself. Once you learn a few tricks about WWP, it's amazing
how quickly you can whip out a presentable help file.
> To experienced FrameMaker/Webworks users:
>
> I have a contract to produce HTML Online Help from
> Frame Documents. I have chosen Webworks Professional
> to produce this, based on their marketing material and
> reviewing the Webworks standard edition that comes
> with the FrameMaker CD. With a document of about 215
> pages, I estimate 8 days to produce the help file.
>
> As I am used to the Framemaker to RTF to Winhelp form
> of development, would this be a reasonable time
> estimate? Very little re-writing is being done and
> very little formatting of the topics will be done.
> Just a quick conversion using the Webworks templates.
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