APP: More questions

[ptc-1908075]

Some addiional questions have occurred to me about using APP:
- Chapter 2 of the APP Users Guide is about the APP User Interface. How is it accessed?I saved a sample XML document as a .3d file, but it opened in Arbortext Editor as ASCII text.


- Does APP have anything like the FOSI formatting pass reduction feature?


- FOSI uses cache files to speed up formatting after a document has been formatted once. Does APP have anything similar?


- Does APP have anything like the FOSI formatting faults feature?


- Are there any books out or in the works about APP?
Thinking about FOSI publishing solutions I know about, some additional questions come to mind:

- Is is true that APP does not support run-in titles? Run-in titles are required in milspec documents.


- Can APP write an external ASCII file with or without markup?

- Can APP formatArbortextuser-defined tags (UDTs)?

- Can APP test and use the value of an ACL variable? For example, a user selects a custom menu item such as File->Print->Glovebox Size, which sets $booksize=glovebox to tell the stylesheet to use different formatting specs than when $booksize=standard. (An ACL variable is used when the doctype does not have an attribute for this purpose, or it is not desirable to store the setting with the document.)


- Does APP support Arbortext pseudo-attributes? A pseudo-attribute may be used instead of the ACL variable in the above example. (A pseudo-attribute is used when the doctype does not have an attribute for this purpose, and the pseudo-attribute setting should be saved with the document.)


- Can APP detect when a warning is too deep for the column depth, and in some way change the warning to a smaller font size and leading amount, repeating the process until the warning fits or no smaller font and leading can be used? With FOSI, when the warning must be edited, a message ito that effect is displayed in the Edit window.


- When page numbering continues from one volume to the next, but the volumes are not published at the same time, is there a way to provide APP with the appropriate page number initialization when each volume is published?


- "Print/PDF Output via APP" in the Styler Users Guide describes APP limitations in Styler, which impact tables and graphics as well as other areas in Styler. For example:

"Settings made in the Minimum field for the Allow space to varyoptions are ignored - space will be stretched between thePreferred and Maximum values."Can APP source edits make a difference?What about native APP?


- According to the Styler Users guide, Sylerdoes not support security classification.What about APP source edits? Native APP?


- Accordingto the Styler Users guide,Styler does not support formatting of equations created byArbortext’s equation editor.What aboutAPPsource edits? Native APP?



- Accordingthe Styler Users Guide,Styler does not support Touchup PIs. Can Touchup PIs be supported with APP source edits? Native APP?


- It appears that Styler for APP does not support overlays? What aboutAPPsource edits? Native APP?


- Styler does not provide for a generated List of Effective Pages. Can an LEP be generated with APP source edits?Native APP?


- Can an APP-generated index be exported for additional processing and then imported for additional processing and output by the formatting engine?


- Styler says "advanced parameters" for indexing are available only with FOSI and XSL. The Styler Users Guide says to search Arbortext Editor Help for "Useparams and other customizations," which yields the extract below.Will APP source edits handle these capabilities? Native APP?

Useparams and other customizationsDepending on the content and placement of the index savetexts and various useparam settings, it is possible to customize the behavior of index entries. A useparam is set in the usetext that outputs the index string. If multiple useparams are set they should be separated by a space as in the following example. <usetext source="index.app" userule="2"&lt;br"/> useparam="index_levels=5 mergeinhibit=-3"></usetext>
Topics covered in this section:
| | • | Specifying more than 4 levels in an entry (index_levels) |


| | • | Specifying a maximum number of page references (maxlocators) |


| | • | Controlling merging of page numbers (maxunmerge) |


| | • | Controlling merging of entries (mergeinhibit) |


| | • | Allowing empty headings in entries (allowemptyheadings) |


| | • | Allowing empty headings in entries – FOSI technique |


| | • | Specifying behavior of spaces (keep_all_space, keep_leading_space, keep_trailing_space, keep_embedded_space) |


| | • | Specifying behavior of leading punctuation (sortleadpunc) |


| | • | Specifying behavior of markup in page locators (locmarkuppriority) |


| | • | Specifying a language for sorting (language) |


| | • | Sorting by a subsequent level heading |


| | • | Specifying placement of see and see also references (seeorder) |


| | • | Allowing page numbers and/or see also references with see references (allowseenotalone) |


| | • | Renaming preliminary and final index markup |


| | • | Eliminating page numbers for upper level entries |


| | • | Eliminating page numbers for entries altogether |


| | • | Forcing page ranges using <ixstart> and <ixend> |


| | • | Generating running head1ers |


| | • | Generating “(contd.)” at column breaks in an index |


| | • | Specifying Korean_mode index options |


| | • | Specifying Chinese_mode index options |


| | • | Changing index formatting for materials published onlinez
|


I hope this is helpful! Please let me know any questions you may have.
Suzanne Napoleonwww.FOSIexpert.com"WYSIWYG is last-century technology!"

[GarethOakes]

Hi Suzanne,

I didn't see any responses to your post yet so I'll answer here. Apologies for brevity but I don't have a lot of spare time at the moment. I hope this helps.

// Gareth Oakes
// Chief Architect, GPSL
// www.gpsl.co

> Chapter 2 of the APP Users Guide is about the APP User Interface. How is it
> accessed? I saved a sample XML document as a .3d file, but it opened in
> Arbortext Editor as ASCII text.

APP Desktop will open 3D files in an interactive fashion.

> Does APP have anything like the FOSI formatting pass reduction feature?

Yes, there are a few mechanisms to help reduce formatting passes.

> FOSI uses cache files to speed up formatting after a document has been
> formatted once. Does APP have anything similar?

Yes, APP does this in-memory. Basically it caches the state at the top of each
page. Interesting sidenote: because of this, pages can also be worked on
independently using the "page freeze" features. This feature may also be used
to implement support for looseleaf workflows (dot-pages, point-pages, etc.).

> Does APP have anything like the FOSI formatting faults feature?

Not familiar with this feature of FOSI. If you mean a formatting log, then yes.
If you mean intelligent handling of formatting problems with retries, then yes.

> Are there any books out or in the works about APP?

PTC publishes all the substantial works regarding APP.

> Is is true that APP does not support run-in titles? Run-in titles are
> required in milspec documents.

Run-in titles are supported by APP.

> Can APP write an external ASCII file with or without markup?

Yes. UTF-8 and UTF-16 are also supported encodings.

> Can APP format Arbortext user-defined tags (UDTs)?

If the UDTs are embedded in the markup that APP processes, then yes.

> Can APP test and use the value of an ACL variable?

I don't believe ACL variables are exposed inside APP. You would have to store
the variable somewhere and have APP load it.

> Does APP support Arbortext pseudo-attributes?

If the pseudo-attribute is embedded in the markup, then yes. APP does not
require validation of XML documents against DTD/Schema.

> Can APP detect when a warning is too deep for the column depth, and in some
> way change the warning to a smaller font size and leading amount, repeating
> the process until the warning fits or no smaller font and leading can be
> used?

Yes two features support this: "copy fit" and "try tables". You can also
manually implement this functionality using "line references".

> When page numbering continues from one volume to the next, but the volumes
> are not published at the same time, is there a way to provide APP with the
> appropriate page number initialization when each volume is published?

Yes. You can also aggregate index entries and cross-reference targets across
multiple volumes.

> "Print/PDF Output via APP" in the Styler Users Guide describes APP
> limitations in Styler, which impact tables and graphics as well as other
> areas in Styler. For example:
>
> "Settings made in the Minimum field for the Allow space to vary options are
> ignored - space will be stretched between the Preferred and Maximum values."
> Can APP source edits make a difference? What about native APP?

Basically the way APP assigns space is to format at the "bare minimum" and
expand from there. There is no concept of "preferred" space. You can prioritise
where space should be applied (eg. above/below headings preferred over
inter-paragraph space). The H&J system is also very well developed.

> According to the Styler Users guide, Syler does not support security
> classification. What about APP source edits? Native APP?

What should security classifications do? If it changes something on the page
then yes that is supported, if it is something to do with encrypting or
whatever then the answer depends on the requirement.

> According to the Styler Users guide, Styler does not support formatting of
> equations created by Arbortext’s equation editor. What about APP source
> edits? Native APP?

No, nothing except Arbortext supports equations made by Arbortext. The rest of
the world has moved on to MathML, which is supported in APP.

> According the Styler Users Guide, Styler does not support Touchup PIs. Can
> Touchup PIs be supported with APP source edits? Native APP?

Yes, you can implement support for most touchup PIs in APP. If memory serves
then I disagree with the Users Guide. I believe a subset of the Arbortext PIs
are already supported by the Styler/APP integration e.g. .

> It appears that Styler for APP does not support overlays? What about APP
> source edits? Native APP?

Styler might not support them but APP itself does support overlays/underlays.

> Styler does not provide for a generated List of Effective Pages. Can an LEP
> be generated with APP source edits? Native APP?

Yes, List of Effective Pages can be automated with APP. I think anyone who has
worked with looseleaf systems will appreciate this is not a trivial exercise.

> Can an APP-generated index be exported for additional processing and then
> imported for additional processing and output by the formatting engine?

Yes and you can go one better and do the manipulation inside APP itself via
Perl, XSLT or Javascript code.

> Styler says "advanced parameters" for indexing are available only with FOSI
> and XSL. The Styler Users Guide says to search Arbortext Editor Help for
> "Useparams and other customizations," which yields the extract below. Will
> APP source edits handle these capabilities? Native APP?

Indexing in APP works differently than in FOSI. The indexing feature in APP is
very powerful and customisable. Index page numbers can be true page numbers or
a custom scheme (eg. compound numbering). You can also achieve "true" index
layout for complex entries (where the terms must hold a right margin and the
numbers hold a left margin and right-align after turnover).

[ptc-1908075]

Thanks, Gareth. I'm sure many will find this information -- albeit unofficial -- helpful.Suzanne

[ChrisWestern]

Hi,

Good going to answer all these technical specifics Gareth! 😉

Just one point to add about documentation for your info, (as the former 3B2 Senior Tech Doc Author @ Advent3B2)

'Most' of the main technical documentation/user reference content is published, all be it in a help center format from which you cannot always find items through standard global searching (as many docs stored only as PDF). Nore has the main ToC been organised particularly well which does not help anyone. Therefore to get the most from it you do need to know a little about what feature area your looking for, hence training/mentoring & support.

Some of the detail and content in previous documentation archives was left out when the new format help center came in in APP V9.1, but this can still be accessed in past installers and some online repos! One useful resource for new UI Desktop users that was never updated from 3B2 version 6 is the traditional user reference manual, also still available from reputable resellers!

PTC have not had much in the way of up to date training material for user consumption since they aquired Arbortext+APP in 2005-6, hence it was left to specialist partners to create and maintain this material and provide the service, in many cases on their behalf. However i believe something new is in the pipeline from PTC Arbx Product Management, aimed at new users learning V11 exclusively through the newer JS FOM API, expected sometime this year.

For the past x number of years we have writen and maintained our own set of extensive training/reference materials on all of the traiditional and JS FOM areas for both new and existing users migrating to new versions.

Best Regards
Chris

______________
www.tformat.com