FrameMaker has recently been upgraded to version 5.5.3 on the RCS UNIX workstations. In addition to some bug fixes, this version includes:
To use this new version, issue the following commands in a UNIX window:
setup frame-new maker &Alternately, you may click on the FrameMaker option on the RCS Applications menu.
When you use the new version to open an older document, the program will convert it to Frame 5.5.3 and generate a message to that effect.
However, please note that the older version of Frame (5.1) cannot open a Frame 5.5.3 document. Therefore, if, while using Frame 5.5.3, you know you will want to open the document later with Frame 5.1, you can save it as a MIF file. Frame 5.1 will be able to open the MIF file, although any new features will not be available.
Also note that FrameMaker 5.5.3 saves a file as PDF by first creating a PostScript file, and then calling Adobe Acrobat Distiller to convert it to PDF. However, because Distiller is not available for SGI systems, the PDF feature is unfortunately not available on SGIs. If you work on an SGI and want to save your Frame file as PDF, first save the file as PostScript, and later run Distiller on an IBM or a Sun.
You may use Adobe Acroread, available on all RCS UNIX platforms, to view a PDF file. To do this, issue a command similar to the following from a UNIX prompt, where somefile.pdf refers to the specific file you wish to view:
acroread somefile.pdf &
FrameMaker 5.5.3 will become the system default at the beginning of the Spring 1999 semester, and you will no longer have to set it up. You will still be able to access the current version of FrameMaker, FrameMaker 5.1, on these platforms until Friday, February 12, by entering the command setup frame-old from a UNIX prompt before running the program.
FrameMaker has extensive on-line help; to access it, click on the HELP button at the top of the FrameMaker window. Printed manuals have also been ordered; when they arrive, they will be placed in the ACS Help Desk areas, as well as in the computer manual reference collection, located on the first floor of the Folsom Library.
If you have any additional questions about using Frame, please contact the ACS Help Desk consultants, or direct electronic mail to consult@rpi.edu.