FrameMaker's "FilterPak" contains programs that convert document and graphics files from one format to another. Documentation can be found on-line in the "Using Frame Filters" manual which can be found in "Online Manuals" on the Main Menu page of the Help window.
Document files that can be converted to a format understood by FrameMaker include WordPerfect, Microsoft Word for the Mac, troff, and IBM Document Content Architecture (DCA). Graphics files include Macintosh PICT, Hewlett Packard Graphics Language (HPGL), and AutoCAD Interchange Format (DCF). (Note that FrameMaker does not need a filter to read a FrameMaker document created on another platform. Just make sure the transfer is done in binary mode.)
The filters convert the files produced by other applications to a format which FrameMaker understands. In most cases this is the Maker Interchange Format (MIF). Some of the graphics filters can convert to EPSI (Encapsulated PostScript Interchange) format and image (bitmap), in addition to MIF. Each filter preserves as much of the original document's formatting as possible, but it's likely that you will need to do some touching up after the conversion.
Before converting a file, transfer your file to a workstation in binary mode, giving it a name with the proper suffix from the table below. (For example, a WordPerfect file might be named myfile.wp.) To convert the file to MIF, you can either issue a command from a UNIX window or convert it directly from FrameMaker.
Converting directly in FrameMaker is easier. After you have added the appropriate suffix to the filename, you can choose Open from the main menu as you normally would. FrameMaker will use the appropriate filter.
To convert the file in a UNIX window, you need to know the name of the desired filter from the table below. For example, the command to convert the WordPerfect file myfile.wp to a MIF file called myfile.mif would be:
wptomif myfile.wp myfile.mif
You can then open myfile.mif from FrameMaker.
Note that to convert a graphics file to EPSI or image format, you must use a UNIX window.
The table below shows the complete list of filters available.
Application Name Suffix Filter Name
WordPerfect * .wp wptomif
DCA .dca dcatomif
Interleaf .iaf iaftomif
Word (Mac) .w3 .w4 .msw wordtomif
troff .m .man .ms .me trofftomif
PICT .pct picttomif
CGM .cgm cgmtomif
EPSI .epsi epsitoimage
CalComp960 .c960 .cc c960to **
IGES .iges .igs igesto **
DXF .dxf dxfto **
HPGL .hpgl hpglto **
* Using the miftowp filter, you can also convert FrameMaker documents to WordPerfect 5.1 format.
** Where ** can be image, mif, or epsi.
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