FrameMaker(R) 7: The Complete Reference [With CDROM]

I used it a lot when I was new to Frame, and it saved me untold grief and anguish! Now that I'm a bit more sophisticated, I've moved on to the Advanced Features. Again, this book is invaluable. I hope the author comes out with another book totally devoted to structured Framemaker and XML. That's still a bit of a mystery to me!

I bought this book when FrameMaker 7 first came out, and it has been an invaluable reference ever since. Absolutely every question I've ever had about FrameMaker is answered in this book.It's also very well organized and easy to find information. I often refer to it when I've forgotten some tidbit that I don't use regularly (like special index entry formats), and I can always go right to the information.I highly recommend it as a general reference to FrameMaker if you are already using FrameMaker and familiar with it. If you are new to FrameMaker and want to just get started with it, check out the Adobe classrooms in a book series--they are great introductions.

If you need information about the new structured interface of FrameMaker 7 (which was known as FrameBuilder and FrameMaker + SGML in previous versions), this book is for you. I haven't seen another book that explains using structure as clearly as the Complete Ref. does. With Adobe combining the Frame + SGML (structured) and the Frame (unstructured) interfaces into version 7, people's interest in structure has increased, and this book can be a big help for people making the transition from the unstructured to the structured side. A previous reviewer says the Adobe documentation explains Frame better; I have to disagree. Adobe's Classroom in Book, for example, devotes very few pages to creating structured environments.Even if you don't plan to switch to structure, this book has great tips for building really great features into templates. I've been using Frame since 1994, and I learned a few things.

I bought this book with some amount of trepidation. I needn't have worried -- FrameMaker 7, The Complete Reference is one of the best instances of the Complete Reference series. Too often the Complete Reference series of books consist merely of an item-by-item listing of menu options with no additional insight or explanation offered. Think of trying to learn the English language by reading a dictionary and you'll get the idea. Happily, the FrameMaker 7 Complete reference is a different story. It provides a comprehensive list of the Windows, Apple, and UNIX variations of FrameMaker's menus and commands, but also adds a lot of value in terms of explanations and examples. In addition to information helpful to a new user of FrameMaker, there are some truly esoteric features and tips that even I -- a daily user of FrameMaker for nearly five years -- found informative and helpful. The book also contains the best single source of information about FrameMaker 7's new Structured Document commands that I've found so far. If you're a serious user of FrameMaker, and are looking for a third-party book to augment Adobe's documentation, this is a book you'll use and enjoy. Seriously.

This book provides very good explanations of features in Framemaker 7. The explanation of structured Frame was especially helpful for me, not knowing anything about it. I really liked the suggested uses for the some of the features in Framemaker7. This book has been and invaluable reference for me.