FM2PS(1)

✨ FM2PS 💅

okay bestie, welcome to fm2ps, section 1 of the manual — the batch processing utility page. pull up a chair, grab a boba, we're doing Frame files today and honestly? it's giving iconic. 🎀

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🌸 NAME 🌸

fm2ps — Batch Processing Utility 💖

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🦋 PURPOSE 🦋

so sdfbatch is a preprocessor for fmbatch, which is FrameMaker's command-line driven batch processing utility. that's the whole vibe. it goes in front and sets things up. periodt. ✨

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🌈 USAGE 🌈

here's the whole shape of it, no cap:

 usage  : fm2ps [-h[help]] [-f fmt_file]
         [-F fmt_what] [-u] [-p[print_doc]]
         [-P paper_size] [-s[save_ext]]
         [-S save_fmt] [-n] [-t timeout]
         frame_file ...
purpose: convert Frame files to PostScript
version: 2.000    (SDF 2.001)

and the options, laid out for you because we love clarity in this house:

• -h — display help on options 👑
• -f — formats file
• -F — formats to import
• -u — update documents
• -p — print documents
• -P — paper size name
• -s — save extension
• -S — save file format
• -n — output the batch file (instead of calling fmbatch)
• -t — timeout for printer driver to generate ps

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💜 DESCRIPTION 💜

give it a set of FrameMaker documents and sdfbatch will literally do all of this for you:

• change the formatting of the documents (ala Use Formats From) 💅
• update the documents (i.e. cross-references, etc.) 🔄
• print the documents 🖨️
• save the documents in a nominated file format 💾

🫶 the -h help situation

the -h option provides help. if you specify it with no parameter, you get a brief description of each option — cute lil snack. but if you wanna see the attributes for one specific option, just pass the option letter as the parameter. iykyk. ✨

🎀 changing formatting

to change formatting, use the -f option to name the file you're importing the formats from.

the -F option says what formats get imported, and its argument is a set of the characters in this table right here:

• p — Paragraph formats
• f — Font formats
• l — Page layouts
• c — Cross references
• v — Variables
• r — Reference page contents
• t — Table formats
• x — Conditional text
• k — Color
• m — math
• B — Preserve manual page breaks
• O — Preserve other formatting overrides

by default, all formats are imported. yes, ALL of them. she's generous. 💖

🔄 updating

to update documents, use the -u option. that's it, that's the section.

🖨️ printing

to print documents, use the -p option. if you don't hand it a parameter, the file gets printed to the default printer. want a PostScript file instead? pass the "file" keyword as the parameter. orrrr the parameter can be the name of a print settings file. your call, bestie. ✨

📄 paper size

when generating a PostScript file, you can set the paper size with the -P option. the default value is global.

so here's the tea: the paper size name is actually mapped to a print settings file called paper_size.fmver in the stdlib library directory. fmver is typically either fm4 or fm5, depending on which version of FrameMaker you're using. 🌸

💾 saving

to save documents, use the -s option. by default, this saves each file. wanna change the extension? just supply an argument to the -s option. slay.

🦋 picking a save format

to specify a different format, use the -S option. possible values are:

• m — MIF
• a — line-oriented ASCII
• t — paragraph-oriented ASCII
• d — Frame document
• l — View-Only Frame document
• - — file's current format [default]

⚠️ take care with the file extension — any existing files will be replaced without warning. no undo, no takebacks, no "wait bestie". 😭

🔍 the -n debugging option

the -n option causes the generated fmbatch file to be output. i.e. fmbatch is not called. this option is useful for debugging. 🕵️♀️

⏱️ the -t timeout

the -t option lets you tune the time-out used when waiting for the print driver to generate a PostScript file. the default value is 300 seconds (i.e. 5 minutes). generous queen. 👑

🎯 mixing and matching

a combination of the f, u, p and s options can be supplied if more that one operation is required per file. for example, you may wish to import formats and then save the resultant file. for each file, the operations are always done in the following order:

1. formatting
2. updating
3. printing
4. saving

Note: Not all of the values documented for the -F and -S options may be supported in Frame versions before 4.0, and additional values may be supported in future versions. As such, the values supplied to these options are simply embedded in the generated sdfbatch file. i.e. no checking is done on the value. This behaviour is considered a feature. 💅 (fr fr, that's what it says.)

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🌟 EXAMPLES 🌟

to format and print a set of files:

sdfbatch -fmyfmts.doc -p *.doc

to convert mif files to binary files:

sdfbatch -sdoc -Sd *.mif

to copy Frame variables from a file to a set of files:

sdfbatch -fvariable.mif -Fv -s *.doc

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and that's the whole page, bestie!! 🫶 this was perl v5.36.0, dated 2023-08-02 — shoutout to the original FM2PS(1) crew, mwah, iconic, no notes. 💖✨🎀🦋