1.1 FrameMaker documents

FrameMaker is a desktop publishing package that creates documents that include text, graphics, tables, and equations. It allows organization in single files or in multiple-file books. Its automatic pagination updates index, table of contents, and cross references. It runs on PCs with Windows, Macintoshes, and a variety of UNIX platforms. The writer has a WYSIWYG interface and wide latitude in page design. The style of the design is specified in paragraph and character tags that define the appearance of the text of the book.

FrameMaker describes the appearance of a document rather than its logical structure. FrameMaker documents are a sequence of independent paragraphs with a flat structure. The list and environment concepts of HTML documents are not really part of FrameMaker. An impression of paragraph hierarchy is achieved only by the formatting of individual paragraphs; that is, by what a paragraph looks like when it is printed on paper.

The FrameMaker paragraph and character catalogs are a collection of formats and not of logical types.

For example, a paragraph tagged with the "Chapter" paragraph format starts and ends with itself. There is no knowledge of the previous or next paragraphs and it is hierarchically at the same level as, and independent of, any other paragraph in the document. However, there is normally the sense that such a paragraph is more important than neighboring ones. This is achieved by the appearance of the paragraph: perhaps large, bold type on a new page.