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Before You Begin
This manual is for anybody who develops structured FrameMaker templates and XML or
SGML applications. It is not for end users who author structured documents that use such
templates and applications.
XML and SGML
FrameMaker can read and write XML (Extensible Markup Language) or SGML (Standard
Generalized Markup Language) documents. XML and SGML are two types of document
markup languages, and FrameMaker handles these markup languages in similar ways.
However there are differences between the two, and this manual covers these differences
whenever necessary.
When discussing the similarities between them, this manual refers to XML and SGML data
as markup data or markup documents. Otherwise the manual refers to XML and SGML
specifically to draw attention to the differences between these markup languages.
Developing structured FrameMaker templates
End users of FrameMaker can read, edit, format, and write structured documents—the
structure is represented by a hierarchical tree of elements. Each structured document is
based on a template that contains a catalog of element definitions. Each element definition
can describe the valid contexts for an element instance, and the formatting of element
instances in various contexts.
To support these end users, you create the catalog and accompanying structured template.
Developing XML and SGML applications
When the software reads markup data, FrameMaker displays the data as a formatted,
structured document. When the software writes a structured FrameMaker document, the
software can save the document as XML or SGML.
For the end user, this process of translation between FrameMaker documents and markup
data is transparent and automatic. However, for most XML or SGML document types the
translation requires an XML or SGML application to manage the translation. You develop
this application to correspond with specific document types. When your end user opens a
markup document with a matching document type, FrameMaker invokes the appropriate
structure application. If there is no match for a document type, the user can choose the
application to use, or open the markup document with no structure application. A structure
application primarily consists of:
Structure Application Developer's Guide
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