Importing FrameMaker Files

How to Import FrameMaker Files

1. Select Project > Import > FrameMaker Documents.
2. Select Import into a new project or Import into this project (if you already have a project open). If it is a new project, enter a project name, and select a folder location (if different from the default) and primary output type. Then click Next.
3. Click .

4. Find and select the files you want to import. You can hold the SHIFT key to select a range, or you can hold the CTRL key to select individual items. When you are finished, click Open.

   You can select BOOK, FM, or MIF files.

   Tip When possible, it is recommended that you select a Adobe FrameMaker BOOK file for import and let Flare locate and import all the associated document files within the Adobe FrameMaker book.

5. (Optional) Use other options on the page as necessary. Then click Next.

   	This opens the file that is selected in the list.
   Link Generated Files to Source Files	This creates a connection between the original files and the files that are created as a result of the import. This is useful if you want to continue editing the content outside of Flare, instead of editing in the Flare project. Flare recognizes when changes have been made to the source documents and reminds you to reimport the documents to ensure the Flare project also reflects the changes. If you use this option, a link icon is added to the top of a linked file in the Flare interface. This lets you know that you need to edit the source file, rather than editing this file. If you remove the connection to the source file, this icon no longer displays on the file. Please note that if you have bound the project to source control, the icons used for source control take precedence over the link icon.
   	This removes the selected file(s) from the list.
   	This moves the selected file higher in the list (if you have more than one file to import). The file at the top is used for the name of the content folder holding the imported topics in Flare. Also, the order determines how the imported files are arranged in the Flare TOC that is created as a result.
   	This moves the selected file lower in the list (if you have more than one file to import).

6. (Optional) Split the FrameMaker documents into smaller topics during the import based on styles. Double-click any of the styles on the left, moving them to the right. Then Click Next.

   Example If you have a style called "Heading 2" in your FrameMaker documents, you might want new topics to be created whenever Flare finds a Heading 2 style in a document. So you would double-click Heading 2 and move it to the right side of the page.

7. (Optional) Use any options to further customize the import. Then click Next.

   • Add "Topic Continued" links when appropriate Select this option to place a "Topic Continued" link at the bottom of pages when a long topic has been split into multiple ones.
   • Add "Topic Continued From" links when appropriate Select this option to place a "Topic Continued From" link at the top of continued pages when a long topic has been split into multiple ones.
   • Cross-Reference Format Use this field to specify the format for the "Topic Continued" and "Topic Continued From" links. Flare provides a cross-reference format for you—(continued in {title}) or (continued from {title}). With this cross-reference format, the link contains the words "continued in" or "continued from" within parentheses, followed by the text of the first paragraph in the connected topic. If you do not want the link to use that particular text, you have a couple of options. First, in Flare, you could manually enter a heading in each topic that is connected to another topic included in the split. That text will be used in the link instead (after you update the cross-references in Flare). Another option is to modify the format by clicking the Edit button. For more information see Cross-References.
     • Edit If you want to modify the cross-reference format provided, click this button, which opens the Cross-Reference Format dialog. See Editing Cross-Reference Style Formats.
   • Split Long Topics Select this option if you have long sections in your source documents and want to make sure that they are converted to multiple topics (rather than one very long topic).
     • Threshold Enter the maximum number of characters to be converted to a topic before a new topic is created. Flare will break the topic at the nearest paragraph to the threshold value. That way, a new topic will not start in the middle of a sentence or word, but at the beginning of a paragraph.
   • Avoid Creating 'Empty' Topics Select this option if you want to ensure that new topics are not created when large sections are found in the FrameMaker documents without any content.
     • Threshold Enter the maximum number of empty character spaces allowed in a topic. If this number is exceeded, Flare will not create a new topic from that empty space.

   • Anchored Frames With Images You can use this area to specify how Flare should handle anchored frames that contain images as well as other content (e.g., text callouts).

     • Generate Images Without Callouts If the anchored frame contains an image along with callout text, the original image is imported without the callout text. You might select this option if you have resized the image in FrameMaker. With this option, the imported image is likely to be of a higher quality than it would be otherwise. You can then add a callout to the image once it is inside Flare.

     • Generate Images With Callouts If the anchored frame contains an image along with callout text, Flare creates a PROPS (i.e., properties) file along with the image file when that document is imported. This means that you can open those image files in MadCap Capture to edit those callouts after the import process is completed. See Images.

       Example If you import anchored frame images and tell Flare not to include the callouts, your imported image files will look something like this in Windows Explorer.

       

       On the other hand, if you import the same images and tell Flare to include the callouts, it will look something like this in Windows Explorer.

       

       Note Some FrameMaker elements—such as arcs and nested frames—are not supported with this option.

     • Generate Flattened Images If the anchored frame contains an image along with callout text, a new flattened image will be created as a result. The callout is included, but you cannot edit it.

   • Preserve Image Size This option affects how the size of imported images are handled.

     • Option Selected The original image is imported. However, the <img> tag is modified in the imported file to closely reflect the height and width of the image in the FrameMaker document. This is done regardless of whether you are importing linked or embedded images from FrameMaker documents.
     • Option NOT Selected The <img> tag is not modified in the imported file. Instead, the image is referenced at 100% of its original value.

   • Auto-reimport before 'Generate Output' If you selected “Link Generated Files to Source Files” earlier in the wizard, you will likely make future content changes in the source files. When you make such changes, the source files need to be reimported into the project so that they can be included in the output. You have the option of reimporting the files manually. However, you can also tell Flare to do this for you automatically, so that you do not have to. Select this option if you want Flare to automatically reimport files when you attempt to build output.

   • Approximate Filename Length Enter the maximum number of characters to use for naming new topic files that are automatically created after splitting a long topic. The default is 24.

   • Enable 'Passthrough' Markers Select this check box to include a check mark if you have created passthrough markers in your FrameMaker source documents.A passthrough marker is a special marker that you can insert into your FrameMaker source content when you have information or code that you plan to import to Flare and want left alone (or "passed through," leaving it exactly as you have authored it, rather than processing it). A passthrough marker can be just about anything, as long as supports it in the XHTML code.You can specify how the marker content should be treated when the FrameMaker document is imported. The first option is that you can import the marker content as regular text (which is the default setting). The second option is that you can import the marker content as an XML fragment (e.g., the first part of a bold tag—<b>—but not the second part). The third option is that you can import the marker content as a complete XML tag.  You might use a passthrough marker for various reasons, such as for importing a marker as XHTML or JavaScript code.

     Example You plan to import some FrameMaker documents to Flare and you have locations in those documents where you want to link to CHM files. The problem is that FrameMaker does not allow you to create links to CHM files in such a way that those links can then be imported into another software application.

     Therefore, you create a passthrough marker in the FrameMaker document, providing the beginning "href" tag and path to the CHM file. Like this:

     

     Then you create a second passthrough marker, providing the end tag for the link. Like this:

     

     When you import the FrameMaker document(s), you can specify that the passthrough markers should be imported as XML fragments. In Flare, the link to the CHM file will look and work as it should.

   • Passthrough Marker Format After you enable passthrough markers, click the down arrow in this field and select the type of format that you want to use for the import.

     • text The marker content will be imported as regular text (default setting).
     • fragment The marker content is imported as an XML fragment (e.g., the first part of a bold tag—<b>—but not the second part). If you select this option, you will probably need a second marker in the FrameMaker document to complete the XML tag.
     • xml The marker content is imported as a complete XML tag.
   • Convert equations to MathML Select this option to convert MathFullForm equations (the FrameMaker-specific format) to MathML (the web standard and Flare format). If you disable this option, equations from FrameMaker are converted to images.
   • Convert Table Styles If you have tables in your FrameMaker documents that you have formatted in a certain way, select this check box if you want to create matching table styles as a result of the import. In the Flare project, the new table styles will be named after the format named applied to the table in FrameMaker (e.g., "Format_A.css," "Format_B.css," and so on). You can rename these table stylesheets in Flare after the import finishes. Even if you do not use this mapping feature, the table formatting still comes across when you import the documents. The only difference is that table stylesheets make it easier to maintain the formatting of your tables within Flare. See Styles and Stylesheets.

   • Reimport Table Styles This option displays only if you are working in the Import Editor, rather than the wizard. This option is useful after you have already imported FrameMaker documents and converted the formatting in your tables into at least one table stylesheet in Flare. You can use this option to determine whether tables should be imported again as table styles when you reimport. You might want to keep this check box selected for some reimports, but other times you might want to deselect it when reimporting.

     Example You want the formatted tables in your FrameMaker documents to be converted to table styles when you perform the initial import into a Flare project. Therefore, in the import wizard, you turn on the "Convert Table Styles" option. As a result, let's say that Flare creates a new table style and calls it "FormatA.css."

     After the initial import, you realize you want the tables to look a little different. Therefore, in the Flare project, you modify the properties of the FormatA.css table stylesheet.

     Awhile later, let's say you want to reimport the FrameMaker documents. The problem is that you've already changed the table stylesheet in Flare. You probably want to keep the tweaked table style so that you don’t have to modify it again after the import.

     This is where the new "reimport" option comes into play. It determines whether or not a second new table stylesheet will be created, based on the old look from the tables in the FrameMaker documents.

     Here's one scenario. Let's say that before you reimported the FrameMaker documents, you selected the "Reimport Table Styles" option in the Frame Import Editor. And during the import when you were prompted, you selected not to overwrite the existing FormatA.css table stylesheet. In that case, Flare keeps your tweaked stylesheet in the project, but it also creates another table stylesheet called "FormatA1.css" that has the old look and feel. All of the reimported content now links to the FormatA1.css stylesheet instead of FormatA.css.

     Here's a different scenario. Let's say that you perform the same steps described above, except this time you deselected the "Reimport Table Styles" option in the Frame Import Editor. In that case, the second FormatA1.css file is not created. The imported content is linked to the FormatA.css table stylesheet that you previously modified, since it already exists in the project.

8. (Optional) Specify whether the imported topics should be associated with a stylesheet and/or styles from your FrameMaker files. Then click Next.

   • Stylesheet If you already have a CSS file that you want to associate with the imported files, click the Stylesheet button. Then navigate to the stylesheet and select it.
   • Preserve FrameMaker Styles This retains any style formatting from your FrameMaker documents so that you can continue to use that look and feel in Flare. For example, if you use a style called "Heading 1" in your source documents and that style is blue, it remains blue after you finish the import to Flare and the new style is created. Also, selecting this option affects which mapping styles are available as you continue to make your import selections. If you select this option, you can map the FrameMaker styles to new Flare styles that keep the name of the FrameMaker style (e.g., Heading 1 becomes h1.Heading 1 in Flare).
   • Don't Preserve FrameMaker Styles This does not keep the style formatting used in the FrameMaker documents. For example, if you use a style called "Heading 1" in your source documents and that style is blue, that color (and any other settings for that style) are not kept after you finish the import to Flare. You will still have styles associated with your content, but it will not look like it did in the source documents. Also, selecting this option affects which mapping styles are available as you continue to make your import selections. If you select this option, you can map the FrameMaker styles to new Flare styles that either keep the name of the FrameMaker style (e.g., Heading 1 becomes h1.Heading 1 in Flare) or do not (e.g., Heading 1 becomes h1 in Flare).

   • Conversion Styles This opens the Import Styles Editor, which lets you specify how to convert each property of the FrameMaker styles. If you do not enter a property value, the value from the FrameMaker document is used. If you enter a property value, it overrides the value from the FrameMaker document. This button is used only if you have selected "Preserve FrameMaker Styles."

     Example You might use this button, for example, if you need to change a cross-reference format coming from FrameMaker into something more meaningful in Flare. There are some cross-reference building blocks in FrameMaker that do not have an equivalent in Flare. In cases such as these, the formats are preserved after conversion to Flare. However, the formats may therefore appear to be broken, but they are preserved to let you know that there was some formatting in a cross-reference style that Flare did not understand; you can then make changes to the cross-reference style in the stylesheet. Therefore, if you already know ahead of time that you have a cross-reference style that will need to be modified for use in Flare, you can use the Conversion Styles button and change the cross-reference format to something that Flare understands.

9. (Optional) Map paragraph styles from the FrameMaker documents to Flare's paragraph styles. Then click Next.

   Your FrameMaker style will adopt the name of that style. To map a style, click the style in the FrameMaker Styles column on the left, click a style in the Flare Styles section on the far right, and then click the Map button. If you previously elected not to preserve the FrameMaker styles, it is recommended that you map to a standard CSS parent style—e.g., map your first-level heading style to h1, not to h1.(FrameMaker Style).

   The style is added to the Flare Styles column. When you are finished importing the documents and the new Flare project is loaded, the content that had been associated with the style in the FrameMaker document will now be associated with a new style that you mapped it to.

   Example — Preserve Styles

   Let's say you have a style in your FrameMaker source document called "Heading1" that is using Arial 14 pt and is red, like this.

   Hello

   During the process of importing your FrameMaker document using the Import FrameMaker Wizard, you select the option to preserve your FrameMaker styles.

   

   The next page of the wizard looks something like this:

   

   When you finish importing, the content that was associated with Heading1 in the source document is still using Arial 14 pt and is red, just like it was before in FrameMaker. However, the style is now called "h1.Heading1." In the world of cascading style sheets (CSS)—which is what Flare uses for controlling the look of content—you've created a class of the h1 style (h1 is the standard style for first-level headings). But because you wanted to keep the look of the FrameMaker style, Flare added it as a child under its parent, h1.

   If you make any future changes in Flare to the h1 style, they will trickle down to the h1.Heading1 child (unless the child style has explicit settings that conflict with the parent). You can also apply style properties directly to the h1.Heading1 child. So while it is generally a good idea to use standard CSS parent styles (such as h1) when possible in Flare, the mapping performed in this import process—and the subsequent creation of a child style—lets you keep the Arial 14 pt red look.

   Example — Do Not Preserve Styles

   Let's say you have a style in your FrameMaker source document called "Heading1" that is using Arial 14 pt and is red, like this.

   Hello

   During the process of importing your FrameMaker document using the Import FrameMaker Wizard, you select the option to not preserve your FrameMaker styles.

   

   The next page of the wizard looks something like this.

   

   

   When you finish importing, the content that was associated with Heading1 in the source document is no longer using Arial 14 pt, red. Instead, it looks something like this.

   Hello

   Also, the style is now called "h1." (Keep in mind that, even if you had mapped the style to "h1.(FrameMaker Style) in this case, the formatting would still be removed.)

   So although the formatting was not retained, you were able to map to the standard CSS style for first-level headings—h1 .

10. (Optional) Map character styles from the source documents to Flare's character styles. Then click Next.

    Your FrameMaker style will adopt the name of that style. This works the same as the feature for mapping paragraph styles, except it has to do with character-level styles. To map a style, click the style in the Framemaker Style column, click a style in the Flare Styles section, and then click the Map button.

    The style is added to the Flare Styles column. When you are finished importing the documents and the new Flare project is loaded, the content that had been associated with the style in the FrameMaker document will now be associated with a new style that you mapped it to.

11. (Optional) Map cross-reference (x-ref) styles from the FrameMaker documents to Flare's cross-reference styles. Then click Finish.

    In this way, you can have your FrameMaker style take on the appearance of the Flare style that you map it to. To map a style, click the style in the FrameMaker Style column on the left, click a style in the Flare Styles section on the far right, and then click the Map button.

    The style is added to the Flare Style column. When you are finished importing the documents and the new Flare project is loaded, the content that had been associated with the FrameMaker style in the FrameMaker document will now be associated with a new style that has the appearance of the style that you mapped it to.

    What happens if you do not map a style? In the case of cross-reference styles, they are automatically added as style classes under the MadCap|xref style. For example, let's say you import a style called "PageOnly" from your source document and do not map it to anything. In that case, it will be called "MadCap|xref.PageOnly" in the resulting project.

12. When you are finished previewing the files to be created, click Accept.