Content Transformations - Folio Infobases

Folio Flat File (FFF) to XML

Folio Infobase Transformation to XML

The Folio Views technology has long been a foundation for many organizations, that publish content in electronic form. Although Views remains a powerful application, its proprietary architecture and the fact that it won't be directly supported in the future means that infobases will need to be converted to other formats. NetLogex specializes in the transformation of Folio Flat Files to XML.

FFF to XML

Transform the infobase FFF to XML:

The netLogex Approach

Inventory the FFF

Analyze and inventory the structure of the Folio flat File (FFF).
Identify all FFF unique tags; determine the disposition and conversion requirements.

DTD

Develop a comprehensive Document Type Definition (DTD) based on the FFF Definition file (DEF) and structure of the infobase.
In contrast to FFF files, XML structure is hierarchical, represented by a nested tree structure. The flat architecture of Folio infobase file is converted to a containerized, hierarchical architecture.
The Folio DEF file content is used to guide the architecture of the XML as represented in the DTD.
Level Definitions are used to define nested section-type elements.
Paragraph Styles that are used to demark structural content are converted to elements or attributes as appropriate.
Transform the flat file (FFF) definition file ( *.DEF) into a DTD:

Use of the XML DOM

NetLogex uses the XML Document Object Model (DOM) to instantiate the DTD with the FFF content.

In-Line "Formatting"

In-line formatting constructs that have structural meaning (e.g., bolding to provide emphasis) are preserved.

Special Characters

Special characters (e.g., the Greek alpha "α") present an interesting challenged in that such characters are not specifically identified in an infobase but are rather produced using a font <FT> tag and a Font, Family and Character Set (such as Symbol) to render the special character.
NetLogex identifies such constructs and converts them to an appropriate entity substitution using standardized ISO character sets and character mappings (e.g., ISO 8879 and Unicode).
Example:
The FFF markup <FT:Symbol,SR,SY>a</FT> which presents the Greek small letter alpha, will be replaced with the entity &agr; in the XML file, which is in turn converted to the Unicode character O3B1 when the XML is parsed, based on the entity declaration in the DTD:
<!ENTITY agr "α"> <!-GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA -->

Subsequent Transformations

Once the FFF content is converted to XML, there is virtually no limit as to what can be done with the content. See Content Transformation for Print Publications and Output to Other Devices for additional information.

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