TechNote

Limitations in Customizing the HTML Export Filter in FrameMaker

What's Covered

HTML Mapping Table

HTML Options Table

Macros Tables

You can customize the HTML export filter in Adobe FrameMaker 6.0 or 7.0 by changing the values in certain tables on the reference pages. For instructions, see chapter 20 of the FrameMaker 7.0 user guide or chapter 19 of the FrameMaker 6.0 user guide. This document discusses limitations of customizing the filter and provides some supplemental information. It assumes that you are familiar with HTML programming.

HTML Mapping Table

Use the HTML Mapping table to define mappings from FrameMaker paragraph tags, character tags, and cross-reference formats to corresponding HTML.

You can discard an unwanted cross-reference by typing THROW AWAY in the Element column of that cross-reference entry. Avoid putting attributes (for example, P LANG="en") into the Elements column because the closing tags will be incorrect.

HTML Options Table

Use the HTML Options table to control encoding and to control the format of equations, graphics, and images in documents you export to HTML.

The Image Format row specifies the file format that FrameMaker uses for exporting equations, graphics, or images. You typically set the value in the Value column via the HTML Options dialog box. (To access the dialog box, choose File > Utilities > HTML Setup, and then click Options.) You can specify JPEG, PNG, or GIF in the dialog box. You can instead specify TIFF (Windows only) or EPS by typing TIFF or EPS in the table's Value column; the TIFF or EPS files incorrectly receive a .gif filename extension, however. For more information, see document 318896 , "How to Export Graphics and Equations from FrameMaker 5.5 and Later."

The Copy Files Imported by Reference row determines whether referenced graphics are linked or copied. You can type either N (No) or Y (Yes) in the Value column. If you type N, graphics that are imported by reference are linked in the HTML code if they're in anchored frames and their format is the same as the Image Format entry. (This behavior occurs even if you resize the graphics in FrameMaker.) If you type Y, FrameMaker creates copies of the graphics from the screen and places the copies into the same folder as the HTML and stylesheet files. (FrameMaker also creates copies of graphics from the screen if the graphics' anchored frames contain other FrameMaker objects [such as lines or circles] or if their file format differs from the Image Format entry.)

The Export Encoding row specifies the character set in which to export character entities. The standard character set is ISO-8859-1; changing this valuecan cause unexpected results.

The CSS Export Encoding row defines the character encoding with which the stylesheet is generated. However, when FrameMaker creates a link to the stylesheet, the link incorrectly declares the stylesheet's character set to be the same as the Export Encoding entry.For example, if the Export Encoding entry is EUC-JP, the link is as follows, regardless of what's in the CSS Export Encoding row:

Macros Tables

You can use the following FrameMaker building blocks in the macros tables, except as noted elsewhere in this section.

Building Block	Description

<$paratext>	The text of the source paragraph.
<$paratag>	The name of the paragraph tag of the source paragraph.
<$paranum>	The autonumbering--including any text--of the source paragraph.
<$paranumonly>	The autonumbering--excluding any text before and after the counters--of the source paragraph.
<$defaulttitle>	The text of the first heading in the current document.
<$nextsubdoc>	The URL of the next HTML subdocument.
<$prevsubdoc>	The URL of the previous HTML subdocument.
<$parentdoc>	The URL of the parent HTML document.

Note: You can also use the <$variable[varname]> building block in macros in the General Macros table. This building block contains the text of the variable. Page 492 of the FrameMaker 7.0 user guide and page 471 of the FrameMaker 6.0 user guide incorrectly state that you can use this building block in any HTML conversion macro.

System Macros Table

Use the System Macros table to add additional content to HTML documents created from the FrameMaker document--for example, to add [Previous] [Next] [Home] links to the beginning or end of each HTML document.

In the Head column, type the HTML code that you want placed into the head section of a HTML document, such as <TITLE> tags, <META> tags, and script definitions.

In the Replace With column, type the HTML code that you want placed into the beginning and end of the body section of a HTML document. For example, you could include the following for the StartOfSubDoc entry to create a centered paragraph containing the default title; links to the previous, parent, and next documents; and a horizontal, magenta rule:

<CENTER><$defaulttitle> |

<A href="<$prevsubdoc>">[Previous]</A>

</CENTER>

Avoid using the <$nextsubdoc> building block in a StartOfLastSubDoc or EndOfLastSubDoc cell because no document exists after the last subdocument. Similarly, avoid using the <$prevsubdoc> or <$parentdoc> building block in a StartOfDoc or EndOfDoc cell because no previous or parent document exists to reference. If you use these building blocks in these circumstances, they refer to the filename "None." Also, be aware that content placed into the following cells is ignored:

-- The Head cells of EndOfDoc, EndOfSubDoc, StartOfFirstSubDoc, and EndOfFirstSubDoc

-- The Replace With (body) cells of StartOfFirstSubDoc and EndOfFirstSubDoc

Cross Reference Macros Table

Use the Cross Reference Macros table to redefine replacement text in cross-references in the FrameMaker document. The entries in the Macro Name column needn't correlate to cross-reference marker names in the FrameMaker document, but they should correlate to entries in the HTML Mapping table; the HTML Mapping table maps FrameMaker cross-reference markers to the macros listed in the Cross Reference Macros table. (Cross-reference entries in the HTML Mapping Table have the prefix "X.")

The Cross Reference Macros table supports four FrameMaker building blocks: <$paratext>, <$paratag>, <$paranum>, and<$paranumonly>.

Character Macros Table

Use the Character Macros table to translate characters into entities: Type a character from the FrameMaker document into the Character column, and that character is replaced in the HTML code with whatever you type in the Replace With column. For example,

Character	Replace With	Comments
	¢
	<IMG SRC="copyright.gif" >	Usually is mapped to "©", but instead we're using our styled graphic.
	®
	°
--	--
-	-
. . .	...