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FrameMaker DITA Feature Comparison

This document provides a comparison of the DITA features in the default FrameMaker 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 2015, with those in DITA-FMx 1.1 and 2.0.

Updated 11 September 2015 (DITA-FMx 2.0.04)

Table 1. DITA Map Support
Feature FM8 FM9 FM10 FM11 FM12 FM2015 FMx 1.1 FMx 2.0
Keyspace management n/a n/a YES YES YES YES n/a YES
Support for ditaval-filtered keyspaces n/a n/a NO NO NO NO n/a YES
Automatic keyspace switching n/a n/a NO NO NO NO n/a YES
Automatic keyspace regeneration n/a n/a NO NO NO NO n/a YES
Support for key element references n/a n/a NO NO NO NO n/a YES
Support for key-based glossary term references n/a n/a NO NO NO NO n/a YES
DITA map authoring (structure application provided) YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Tree-structured collapsible structure view YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Tags-on/tags-off view YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Drag and drop interface YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Edit referenced topics and maps by clicking topicref YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Visual notification of missing references LIMITED LIMITED LIMITED LIMITED LIMITED LIMITED YES YES
Create and edit relationship tables YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Open all referenced files in map YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Insert new topic as topicref YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Update all topicref labels in map YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Topicref label options (title, file name, or both) NO NO ONLY IN RESOURCE VIEW ONLY IN RESOURCE VIEW ONLY IN RESOURCE VIEW ONLY IN RESOURCE VIEW YES YES
Search for content in referenced files NO NO NO NO YES YES YES YES
Generate a FM book (for search and spell check) that contains all referenced XML files NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Generate a report of all referenced files NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Generate a ZIP archive of files referenced by map NO NO NO NO NO YES YES YES
Visual labeling of linking and collection-type attribute values NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Auto-open DITA map in document view NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Table 2. New File Creation
Feature FM8 FM9 FM10 FM11 FM12 FM2015 FMx 1.1 FMx 2.0
Create new topic or map based on type YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Automatically generate file name based on title text and building blocks NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Specify custom template for new topic or map NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Insert prolog data on file creation NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Create a DITA map and topic files from FrameMaker file NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
New DITA file from "File" menu NO NO YES YES YES YES YES YES
Ability to overwrite an existing file on file creation NO NO YES YES YES YES YES YES
Ability to create new topic folders based on topic type on file creation NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Table 3. Topic Authoring Support
Feature FM8 FM9 FM10 FM11 FM12 FM2015 FMx 1.1 FMx 2.0
Support for DITA 1.3 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a LIMITED

model only

n/a NO
Switch between DITA versions without restarting FrameMaker n/a n/a NO NO NO NO n/a YES
Tree-structured collapsible structure view YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Tags-on/tags-off view YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Drag and drop interface YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Dynamic "conref" creation and management YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Support conref ranges n/a n/a YES YES YES YES n/a YES
Support coderef element n/a n/a NO NO NO YES n/a YES
Automatically assign IDs to required elements YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Dynamic "xref" creation and management YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Support xref and fm-xref YES YES NO NO NO NO YES YES
Support imagemap development NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES
Support FM variables NO NO NO NO NO NO LIMITED YES
Support image “alt” text NO NO NO NO NO NO LIMITED YES
Automatically add author and date to draft-comments NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES
Auto smart-spaces NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Auto smart-quotes NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Context sensitive Help for element structure NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Limit the number of files opened when resolving references (results in faster reference resolving) NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Provide support for multiple selection of filtering attribute values NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Dynamic "link" (in related-links section) creation and management NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Strip XML padding from pretty-printed files NO NO NO YES YES YES YES YES
Supports "pgwide" tables NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Properly round-trips column widths in simpletable and choicetable elements NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Automatically, insert/update prolog data on file save NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Determine where an element or topic is referenced (Where Used command) NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Validate manually updated ID attributes NO NO NO NO NO YES YES YES
Convert conrefs to text NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Support index-see, index-see-also, and index-sort-as elements NO YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Provide custom management of index-see, index-see-also, and index-sort-as labels in index entries NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Support indexterms as markers and as a container (to allow for complex element nesting) NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Whitespace normalization for easier transfer between XML editors NO NO NO YES YES YES YES YES
Support graphic overlay objects (callouts and "Frame-art") NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Support multiple marker types NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Support optional columns in properties tables NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Display only the available element types when inserting a conref or xref NO NO YES YES YES YES YES YES
Support topic-based DTDs rather than "ditabase" if needed NO NO YES YES YES YES YES YES
Supports inline tagging anywhere within codeblock NO NO NO NO NO YES YES YES
Optionally use GUID IDs NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Automatically set the @status for new and changed elements NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Support separate sizing of images when rendered in FM vs. the DITA-OT NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Preserve forced line breaks NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Preserve table cell rotation NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Store document dictionary entries NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Restore previous view settings NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Integration with Bluestream XDocs CMS NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Table 4. Open Toolkit Output Support
Feature FM8 FM9 FM10 FM11 FM12 FM2015 FMx 1.1 FMx 2.0
Generate output from the DITA Open Toolkit LIMITED

Extra plugin needed

LIMITED

Extra plugin needed

LIMITED

Extra plugin needed

LIMITED

Extra plugin needed

YES

Integrated

YES

Integrated

YES

Integrated

YES

Integrated

Support for multiple DITA-OT environments NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Specify ditaval file for DITA-OT output NO NO NO NO NO YES YES YES
Easy integration with DITA-OT NO NO NO NO YES YES YES YES
Integrated ditaval file creation/management NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Table 5. FM Book (PDF) Output Support
Feature FM8 FM9 FM10 FM11 FM12 FM2015 FMx 1.1 FMx 2.0
Generate a single FM document from all topics in the map YES YES NO YES YES YES NO NO
Map to book (aggregates all topics into FM chapters for PDF output) YES YES NO

Creates separate FM files for each topic

YES

With proper setup

YES

With proper setup

YES

With proper setup

YES YES
Map to book output can be generated at any location in the file system NO NO NO

FM files are created in topic folders

YES YES YES YES YES
Support “per-project” control of generated book formatting and properties. NO NO NO NO

All output uses the same INI file settings

NO

All output uses the same INI file settings

NO

All output uses the same INI file settings

YES YES
Apply filtering to generated book based on ditaval file NO YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Integrated ditaval file creation/management NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Generate related links from reltable NO YES YES YES YES YES YES YES
Attribute values on topic referencing elements in map are passed on to topics in the generated FM files NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Option to move indexterms in prolog to topic title NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Automatically apply numbering and pagination to generated FM files NO NO NO YES YES YES YES YES
Automatically generate FM lists (toc, index, etc.) from "booklist" files NO NO NO NO

Added via INI file

NO

Added via INI file

NO

Added via INI file

YES YES
Automatically include FM binary files in generated book NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Option to move figure titles so they follow the image NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Use "real" FM table titles (for tables that wrap pages and include the Table Continuation variable) NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Support table row and cell shading NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES
Support table indenting based on parent element NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES
Automatically apply a custom template to each bookmap component NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Automatically run a custom FDK client or FrameScript during the book-build process NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Run pre and post book-build command line scripts NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Import attributes and metadata from map as variables and conditions NO NO NO NO NO NO YES YES
Add PDF metadata (PDF Doc Info) to generated book NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES
Apply change bars and other formatting based on the value of the @status attribute NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES
Apply master pages to generated files NO NO NO NO NO NO NO YES