Typical Conversion Process

Each set of unstructured FrameMaker files will likely have its own specific conversion requirements. The process described here outlines the tasks in a typical conversion.

This section breaks the conversion process into general tasks, and within each task are steps that may apply to your conversion process.

Do not use this as an absolute guide. Your files may require additional processing or may not need everything that is indicated. Additionally, each of the commands provided by this plugin can be customized in many ways; be sure to read the documentation carefully to ensure that you’re getting the most from the tool.

Remember: It is important to fully understand the conversion process and what each FM2DITA command is doing to your files. Blindly running commands, will likely result in problems that are hard to debug.

When an FM2DITA command is used, it reads default settings from the fm2dita.ini file. The fm2dita.ini file is located by checking the current directory (the directory with the file or book being processed), then each parent directory. If this INI file is not found, it reads from the default file in the Pubs-Tools folder (use Pubs-Tools > Open Pubs-Tools Folder to locate this folder).

Tip: We encourage you to purchase the FrameSLT plugin from West Street Consulting (weststreetconsulting.com). The NodeWizard feature in this plugin is invaluable for performing various types of cleanup in the structured FM files.