Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!agate!ziploc!hodges
From: hodges@toaster.SFSU.EDU (John Hodges)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.next
Subject: Re: EDITABLE graphics translation posting response
Message-ID: <1079@toaster.SFSU.EDU>
Date: 28 Dec 90 01:10:11 GMT
References: <1064@toaster.SFSU.EDU> <9Jaku1w163w@questor.wimsey.bc.ca>
Organization: San Francisco State University
Lines: 67

In article <9Jaku1w163w@questor.wimsey.bc.ca> aberno@questor.wimsey.bc.ca (Anthony Berno) writes:
>> to buy FrameMaker for the Mac, read the .eps file on the mac into the FM and
>> see if it will take it there, and then save it locally in maker interchange
>> format (mif). Then bring it to the NeXT and open using FrameMaker. Another
>> way is to read it on the Mac with something like Photoshop which likes EPS
>> and TIFF files and then save it with that program. I have read both formats
>> on the NeXT with no problem. Cricket-Draw may read the EPS files, and the
>> EPS it writes is readable on the NeXT.  EDITABLE? Forget it.
>> 
>> 	JBH
>
>
>EEEEEEK! That's a rather pricey way to import eps files to the NeXT.
>
>Why not buy that DataViz product, I think it's called "Mac Link Plus"?
>
>Then, you can transfer all sorts of things with ease. I'm pretty sure that
>eps files are quite easy to send off to the NeXT with this system, and
>it will also translate Microsoft Word files into WriteNow format.

My posting was based on the following configurations: Mac II at home running
FrameMaker, NeXT at work running FrameMaker. DataViz product works with a
direct serial line, or a direct modem, not a networked connection. Apologies
for inaccuracies. Now, for the DataViz product. I have used DataViz and the
product is not suitable for transferring files between UNlike applications.
For example, the filter between Word and Writenow leaves out many things from
Word that Writenow does not support. This is a general problem with any
filter, something which has oft been discussed in this forum. The Word files
that I attempted to port using DataViz had to be redone. That is not a very
strong positive for the product. Moreover, the company was VERY difficult to
work with. I had a question about how well (IF) the product would work with
a network, and none of their people knew anything about networks. I have had
enough problems transferring Word documents using FrameMaker, mostly the same
sort of problem (one application has more/different capability than another),
but FM has far superior filters to DataViz. I must admit, I have never tried
to transfer an EPS file using this product.

Regarding the original posting, it seemed that the poster had already TRIED
several means of transferring the EPS file to FM, so I offered a couple of
solutions known to have worked in the hope that they were not on his list.
I should think that your solution would have been closer to the top of his
list.

For others of you who have not had the pleasure to try transferring a Word
4.0 document to FrameMaker, here are a couple of glitches that I have
reported to Frame. Microsoft supports format sheets which are hierarchical
in that they can inherit properties from one another. If you read the Word
document with FM, the formats will be retained, however, since FM does not
support hierarchical style sheets, any small changes to a style, used
throughout the document, will show up as new styles (normalA, normalB,
normalC,...,normalN). This is survivable, however, after a while the filter
appears to 'give up' and starts to confuse styles in dramatic ways, usually
screwing up the document. Of course, since FM does not support tables, all
tables get munged. Dates are screwed up usually. Things like that. Often
the page layout is affected also. Despite these problems, Frame's filter
does an admirable job. I might add that postscripts which are included in
a Word file are imported into the Frame document, the only problem that
I have seen is a warning message claiming that some things might have gotten
confused by the filter. Generally, this appears to be associated with the
file size and the style sheets. Personally, I think that resolving the
hierarchical nature of style sheets, both for paragraphs and fonts, might
resolve these issues.

I also think that many other changes can be made to FM, but this response
is getting a bit wayward....

	Jack Hodges, SFSU