EXCLUSIVES

By Scott Dewbre

FrameMaker 7.0 ($799.99 byAdobe) represents a streamlining of the FrameMaker product line and a new direction for the industry - standard technical publishing application. This could breathe new life into a workhorse product that has been largely overlooked by the Macintosh community.

SGML + XML

Previously, FrameMaker users had to choose between the standard product and an enhanced version that included SGML tools and functionality. With version 7.0, Adobe has eliminated the Frame + SGML product, rolling all of its SGML features into the standard package. New for version 7.0 is a host of improved tools for working in XML, including the ability to import, validate and export XML files and DTDs. CSS style definitions can be automatically created by FrameMaker, which also supports XML namespaces and Unicode characters. Sample XML applications come bundled with FrameMaker 7.0 to provide support for three industry standards: DocBook 4.1, xDocbook 4.1.2, and XHTML.

Improved Standard Features

For technical writers who use FrameMaker every day, the biggest news in version 7.0 is master page tag and element mapping. With this feature, you can tie master page usage to a particular paragraph tag or element, which will automate some custom page layout chores that had to be done by hand previously. Also, with version 7.0, you can rearrange custom master pages in any sequence. Because FrameMaker is designed to assemble elements created in other applications, import filters are of critical importance. For version 7.0, Adobe has updated the Microsoft Office text import filters to support RTF 1.6 and the latest versions of Word and Excel. In addition, FrameMaker now supports SVG graphics, PDF 1.4 and Adobe Illustrator 9.0 file imports. Speaking of graphics files, FrameMaker 7.0 allows resizing of an imported graphic based on its original size. This means an end to the time-consuming chore of jumping between applications to tweak an illustration so it fits into the page layout correctly.

The Bottom Line

High-end publishing software typically needs lots of processing power, memory and disk space, all of which is true for this product. FrameMaker 7.0 requires a G3 or G4 processor, between 128MB and 256MB of RAM, and around 240MB of hard drive space. Because FrameMaker is a PostScript printing application, you will need a PostScript printer for the most accurate print results. FrameMaker 7.0 will run under any version of OS 9 and will run under OS X in Classic mode. This is the most glaring omission in Adobe¹s latest version of Frame: it is not OS X native. While by no means a breakthrough, FrameMaker 7.0 contains enough new features to justify the upgrade price. Its main failing comes from its lack of support for OS X, which may cause some existing users to stay with FrameMaker+SGML 6.0 and wait for Adobe to introduce an OS X native upgrade.

Item: FrameMaker 7.0 Manufacturer: Adobe Systems Incorporated Price: $799.99 ($208.99 upgrade) www.adobe.com/products/framemaker/
main.html Pros: Industry-standard tool for complex documents, extremely powerful XML authoring tools Cons: Not OS X native at this time.