ADOBE FRAMEMAKER 10
MIF Reference
231
When the sales representative clicks Publish, a database procedure scans the database, retrieves the requested infor-
mation, and writes a MIF file that contains all of the information in a fully formatted document. The final document
looks like this:
The data from the database is published as a FrameMaker table. The database procedure makes one pass through the
records in the database and writes the contents of each record in a row of the table. The procedure then creates a
TextFlow
statement that contains the text that appears above the table and creates an
ATbl
statement to refer to the
table instance.
You can set up a report generator like the previous example by following these general steps:
1
Create the template for the final report in FrameMaker. Design the master pages and body pages for the
document and create paragraph and character formats. You can include graphics (such as a company logo) on the
master page.
2
Create a table format for the report. Specify the table position, column format, shading, and title format. Store
the format in the Table Catalog.
3
When the document has the appearance you want, save it as a MIF file.
4
Edit the MIF file to create a MIF template that you can include in your generated MIF file (see
“Including
template files” on page 44
). The MIF template used for this example is in the sample file
coffee.mif
.
5
Use your database to create any custom dialog boxes or report-generating procedures.
6
Create a database query, or procedure, that extracts data from the database and writes it out into a MIF file. Use
a MIF
include
statement to include the document template in the new document.
The database user can now open a fully formatted report.