Go to problem

This is more of a nuisance than a problem, but it does indicate that something is wrong with the FrameMaker file. When I use the Go to Page in my client's manuals, the software goes to that page and immediately reverts to page 1. I must repeat the process to get the software to go to the

Keeping Xrefs when converting structured to unstructured

Hello All, I hope there is someone who can help me with this (in my opinion) strange action. For a customer we have created a publication in structured framemaker. This customer now wants this very same publication also in un-structured framemaker. Is there a way to convert my structured

RE: Reasons to structure

If you work in the tech industry and don't have time to learn, your fate is sealed. I know what you are saying, but you are presuming that learning how to use a technology is more important than learning whether or not that technology is cost-effective to me in my current situation. On top of

Re: Reasons to structure

You may want to look over, and play with, the FM DITA plug in. It's a structured tool, obviously, but seems to be a rationally usable tool rather than an entire philosophy. Art On 2/15/07, Gordon McLean [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: If you work in the tech industry and don't have time to learn,

Re: Go to problem

At 20:21 -0800 14/2/07, Howard Rauch wrote: When I use the Go to Page in my client's manuals, the software goes to that page and immediately reverts to page 1. I must repeat the process to get the software to go to the desired page and stay there. Any suggestions? This sounds like the

Re: Figure Numbering Problem

A couple things to check: First, have you verified that no other tags are using the X: numbering track? Having another tag using the same track involved will screw up the numbering in no time. Second, check the numbering properties for the files to make sure that para numbering is set to

Re: Go to problem

Howard, Take a look at this http://www.frameexpert.com/plugins/runaroundnone/ Unfortunately, the link to the Adobe tech note is dead, but apparently the problem still exists in some FrameMaker documents. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thanks. Rick Quatro Carmen

Re: Keeping Xrefs when converting structured to unstructured

Anneke, In structured FrameMaker, attributes on elements manage the connection between the cross-reference and its source. In unstructured Frame, part of this connection is done with a Cross-Ref marker. When you remove the structure, you will not have the necessary Cross-Ref markers, so you

RE: Reasons To Structure

One more reason, at least for my team, and I did not see this in the thread (not directly said, anyway) is that we have a totally diff publishing model here at FedEx. Our model is stood on its head, so to speak. By that, I mean that our small group of writers function as a 'service bureau'. We are

RE: Figure Numbering Problem

Hi, You said that your numbered paragraphs are in text boxes. Do you mean text frames? These won't be in the same text flow as your regular text. Therefore that might account for any pecularities. Best regards Winfried I am having a problem numbering figures in service manuals developed by

Re: Reasons to Structure

All the reasons to use structured FrameMaker that people have submitted focus on the net benefits, which is probably the main reason why you would do this. However, here's a complementary take on it. As a lone writer, I did all the work to write an EDD and convert my unstructured doc to

RE: [BULK] RE: Reasons to structure

Russ West says: It is so important for any tech writer to learn about structured content... The funny thing is, in the majority of cases, we are not in a position to proselytize for or against structured documentation. That's usually decided several pay grades higher by contract deliverable or

RE: List of Figures

Randall C. Reed wrote: I'm doing an LOF that needs to be: Figure Caption tab Figure Number tab Page Number Where the Page Number is a compound running H/F = (FigNumOnly - PageNum) I got $pagenum, but that just gets me the last half. What building block do I use to get both parts

Re: Reasons to Structure

Matt's question is, to some degree, academic and as a result list members have made many valid points, some totally at odds with others. (Isn't that the point of academia? :) In practice, the questions are: What will structure do for *my* problems and what will it cost to implement? I said the

Re: List of Figures

After reading Richard's post, I realized that I need to put my suggestion in context -- I should have said to include the building blocks on the reference page for your LOF, not as part of a running head-footer or a component of a page number variable. So to create the compound listing you want

RE: Reasons to structure

If you work for a company that doesn't accept qualified recommendations for improvement from its staff, you should keep a resume up-to-date. No company can last too long if it doesn't embrace innovation from the lower levels. I think the truth is, actually, that in the majority of cases, tech

Re: Figure Numbering Problem

You won't like my answer, but it's the only solution I've found to the problem you describe. You need to make a copy of the file, delete all anchored frames, then open the copy and working file side by side. In the copy, use find to locate each anchored frame. For each anchored frame, create a

Re: Figure Numbering Problem

This may be being caused by having a mixture of graphic frames and anchored frames or text frames poorly placed in anchored frames. I use a similar system for academic books and reports. Graphics are placed in anchored frames with a text frame within it for the caption. In doing a limited test, I

Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Hello, Am using FrameMaker 7.0 with Windows XP. Coincidentally my question is also related to numbering and list as it is with some others in the list now. I have a big book with 5 Guides which in turn have some 10s of chapters as .fm files. I have to build a List ot Tables

RE: Reasons to structure

I'm on the FM-DITA mailing list Art, and was invovled about a year or two ago when it was just starting out. I still keep on top of things, but in my last place we switched to AuthorIT as it meet our needs. My current position already has a structured FrameMaker setup, so I've missed the chance

RE: Figure Numbering Problem

Howard Rauch wrote: Figures are automatically numbered using a Figure tag for which the automatic numbering format X:Figure n+ (developed by the client). Most are smaller in-column figures with a ruling line around the figure frame. In previous versions of the manuals, the client had

Re: Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Well, The correct way to do it is to use the method you're reluctant to use: TableTitle with T:Table n+: format and use 'Continue from Previous File in Book' for Paragraph Numbering So long as no other paragraphs use the T: numbering track and you change the method in the book file to set the

Re: Figure Numbering Problem

At 09:36 -0600 15/2/07, Michael D. Conner wrote: Sometimes, however, I've seen problems with figure numbers not incrementing correctly. It seems to occur because the text frame with the caption is not quite correctly placed within the anchored frame. I can cure this by cutting the text frame,

RE: Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Radha Padmanabhan wrote: I have a big book with 5 Guides which in turn have some 10s of chapters as .fm files. I have to build a List ot Tables for each guide. My problem is how to serially number the tables across a specific set of chapters. That is, I have to serially number the

Re: Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Combs, Richard wrote: You say you have too many tags to check, but surely only a few have autonumbers. And most of those are probably numbered list formats that are restarted by some mechanism other than the start of a new chapter. Do these guides have numbered figures or headings? It really

FrameScript 4.1 Release 2

Please Do Not Reply to This Email* FrameScript 4.1 release 2 is now available to download. This update is free to all FrameScript 4.x registered users. A new FrameScript registration key is not required provided the end user's FrameMaker serial number has not changed. Below

Re: Figure Numbering Problem

on 2/15/07 12:21 PM, Combs, Richard at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Don't put the figure caption in a text frame inside your anchored frame -- as Winfried noted, that puts it in a different text flow. This is incorrect. A text frame inside an anchored frame has the same Flow Tag as the text

Re: Figure Numbering Problem

Michael D. Conner wrote: on 2/15/07 12:21 PM, Combs, Richard at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Don't put the figure caption in a text frame inside your anchored frame -- as Winfried noted, that puts it in a different text flow. This is incorrect. A text frame inside an anchored frame has the

RE: Figure Numbering Problem

Michael D. Conner wrote: on 2/15/07 12:21 PM, Combs, Richard at [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Don't put the figure caption in a text frame inside your anchored frame -- as Winfried noted, that puts it in a different text flow. This is incorrect. A text frame inside an anchored frame

oversized drawings, schematics in book

Hello- I'm working on a Service Guide where I need to include a significant number of schematics and Engineering drawings. Does anyone have a reader-friendly and easy way to include oversized schematics and drawings in a FrameMaker book? I'll be receiving the files in PDF format (size is

Re: Figure Numbering Problem

Very strange. I should have done more testing. I swear that the only instance I checked before spouting off is the way I wrote. In rechecking, I found subsequent text frames in anchored frames didn't have flow tags. I checked another report and couldn't find any text frames in anchored frames

Re: oversized drawings, schematics in book

Kara, Are you printing the guide or delivering in .PDF format, or something else? Do the drawings have to stay full-size or can you reduce them, like to 11x17 so they'd fit better? My first thought is to create an FM document template with 11x17 pages. Then create a discrete FM file for each

Re: Reasons to Structure

Jeremy H. Griffith wrote: Isn't that a tad harsh, Russ? My point, which you appear to have missed, is that (as Richard said) semantic markup is good, *and* that you can do it in unstructured Frame. Do you deny this fact? Wholeheartedly. Semantic markup only exists if it is expressed in a

Re: Figure Numbering Problem

First, thank you to all who have responded so far. I haven't yet had an opportunity to evaluate and implement your suggestions, but I certainly will. I had thought of doing what Eric Dunne suggested, but had held off trying that solution. Second, I should have identified the location of the

RE: Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Thanks for all your suggestions. I think I'll better get to analyse the paragraph formats and use the T:Table n+ cum 'Continue Paragraph Numbering from Previous File' format. In addition to the one big book, I do have separate books for each guide to generate lists. I'll handle the

RE: Reasons to structure: another point of view

I've written documentation in the Detroit area for over 20 years and although I know structured Frame and use a custom XML format with Epic Editor/Manager in my present position, I find that most employers here hardly know what FrameMaker is, let alone anything about structured Frame and/or

OT: Formatting Readmes with Groff/Latex

Okay, I'll rise to that bait. Nothing like a nice cheerful OT war. I'll concede LaTeX's learning curve, and that its PDF support and font management sucks. But it does absolutely gorgeous equations. Easily. And it's got no bugs. And its bibliography engine is pretty cool. It's not the tool for

color change in pdf file

Hi Framers I seem to be stuck in a strange problem. I have defined Navy color in Frame : "Process", "100, 100, 42, 0" when i create the pdf with windows based framemaker 7.1 : things work fine when i create the pdf with solaris based framemaker 7.1: the color definition seems to have changed. It

Reasons to structure

Jeremy, I don't think that is harsh at all. What I think is harsh is the constant discouragement from learning and professional development from certain members of this list. It is so important for any tech writer to learn about structured content, and I do not think I am any smarter than

Keeping Xrefs when converting structured to unstructured

Hello All, I hope there is someone who can help me with this (in my opinion) strange action. For a customer we have created a publication in structured framemaker. This customer now wants this very same publication also in un-structured framemaker. Is there a way to convert my structured

Reasons to structure

"If you work in the tech industry and don't have time to learn, your fate is sealed." I know what you are saying, but you are presuming that learning how to use a technology is more important than learning whether or not that technology is cost-effective to me in my current situation. On top of

Reasons to structure

You may want to look over, and play with, the FM DITA plug in. It's a structured tool, obviously, but seems to be a rationally usable tool rather than an entire philosophy. Art On 2/15/07, Gordon McLean wrote: > "If you work in the tech industry and don't have time to learn, your fate is >

"Go to" problem

At 20:21 -0800 14/2/07, Howard Rauch wrote: >When I use the "Go to Page" in my client's manuals, the software goes to that >page and immediately reverts to page 1. I must repeat the process to get the >software to go to the desired page and stay there. Any suggestions? This sounds like the

Figure Numbering Problem

A couple things to check: First, have you verified that no other tags are using the X: numbering track? Having another tag using the same track involved will screw up the numbering in no time. Second, check the numbering properties for the files to make sure that para numbering is set to

"Go to" problem

Howard, Take a look at this http://www.frameexpert.com/plugins/runaroundnone/ Unfortunately, the link to the Adobe tech note is dead, but apparently the problem still exists in some FrameMaker documents. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thanks. Rick Quatro Carmen

Keeping Xrefs when converting structured to unstructured

Anneke, In structured FrameMaker, attributes on elements manage the connection between the cross-reference and its source. In unstructured Frame, part of this connection is done with a Cross-Ref marker. When you remove the structure, you will not have the necessary Cross-Ref markers, so you

Reasons To Structure

One more reason, at least for my team, and I did not see this in the thread (not directly said, anyway) is that we have a totally diff publishing model here at FedEx. Our model is stood on its head, so to speak. By that, I mean that our small group of writers function as a 'service bureau'. We are

"Go to" problem

>> When I use the "Go to Page" in my client's manuals, the software goes to >> that >> page and immediately reverts to page 1. I must repeat the process to get >> the >> software to go to the desired page and stay there. Any suggestions? As others have mentioned, it sounds like you've hit the

Trouble with cross-references - RESOLVED

Thanks to all who offered suggestions for fixing my x-ref problem. Once I followed Richard's instructions for managing the unavailable fonts messages, the x-ref messages went away. Richard, I turned off Remember Missing Font Names, saved and closed everything, turned Remember... back on, and

List of Figures

I think you're looking for <$paranumonly> or <$paranum[Figure]> Art On 2/14/07, Randall C. Reed wrote: > I slept through this part of Professor O'Keefe's lecture on using > building blocks when making generated lists, so I'm stumped on what > should be very easy: > > I'm doing an LOF that needs

Figure Numbering Problem

Hi, You said that your numbered paragraphs are in "text boxes". Do you mean text frames? These won't be in the same text flow as your regular text. Therefore that might account for any pecularities. Best regards Winfried > I am having a problem numbering figures in service manuals > developed

Reasons to Structure

All the reasons to use structured FrameMaker that people have submitted focus on the net benefits, which is probably the main reason why you would do this. However, here's a complementary take on it. As a lone writer, I did all the work to write an EDD and convert my unstructured doc to

[BULK] RE: Reasons to structure

Russ West says: "It is so important for any tech writer to learn about structured content..." The funny thing is, in the majority of cases, we are not in a position to proselytize for or against structured documentation. That's usually decided several pay grades higher by contract deliverable or

List of Figures

Randall C. Reed wrote: > I'm doing an LOF that needs to be: > > tab tab > > Where the Page Number is a compound running H/F = ( - > ) > > I got <$pagenum>, but that just gets me the last half. > > What building block do I use to get both parts of the running H/F? That's not what you

Reasons to Structure

Matt's question is, to some degree, academic and as a result list members have made many valid points, some totally at odds with others. (Isn't that the point of academia? :) In practice, the questions are: What will structure do for *my* problems and what will it cost to implement? I said the

List of Figures

After reading Richard's post, I realized that I need to put my suggestion in context -- I should have said to include the building blocks on the reference page for your LOF, not as part of a running head-footer or a component of a page number variable. So to create the compound listing you want

Reasons to structure

If you work for a company that doesn't accept qualified recommendations for improvement from its staff, you should keep a resume up-to-date. No company can last too long if it doesn't embrace innovation from the lower levels. I think the truth is, actually, that in the majority of cases, tech

Figure Numbering Problem

You won't like my answer, but it's the only solution I've found to the problem you describe. You need to make a copy of the file, delete all anchored frames, then open the copy and working file side by side. In the copy, use find to locate each anchored frame. For each anchored frame, create a

Figure Numbering Problem

This may be being caused by having a mixture of graphic frames and anchored frames or text frames poorly placed in anchored frames. I use a similar system for academic books and reports. Graphics are placed in anchored frames with a text frame within it for the caption. In doing a limited test, I

Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Hello, Am using FrameMaker 7.0 with Windows XP. Coincidentally my question is also related to numbering and list as it is with some others in the list now. I have a big book with 5 Guides which in turn have some 10s of chapters as .fm files. I have to build a List ot Tables for each

Reasons to structure

I'm on the FM-DITA mailing list Art, and was invovled about a year or two ago when it was just starting out. I still keep on top of things, but in my last place we switched to AuthorIT as it meet our needs. My current position already has a structured FrameMaker setup, so I've missed the chance

Figure Numbering Problem

Howard Rauch wrote: > Figures are automatically numbered using a Figure tag for > which the automatic numbering format X:Figure (developed > by the client). Most are smaller in-column figures with a > ruling line around the figure frame. In previous versions of > the manuals, the client

Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Well, The correct way to do it is to use the method you're reluctant to use: "TableTitle with T:Table : format and use 'Continue from Previous File in Book' for Paragraph Numbering" So long as no other paragraphs use the T: numbering track and you change the method in the book file to set

Figure Numbering Problem

At 09:36 -0600 15/2/07, Michael D. Conner wrote: >Sometimes, however, I've seen problems with figure numbers not incrementing >correctly. It seems to occur because the text frame with the caption is not >quite correctly placed within the anchored frame. I can cure this by cutting >the text frame,

Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Radha Padmanabhan wrote: > I have a big book with 5 Guides which in turn have some 10s > of chapters as .fm files. I have to build a List ot Tables > for each guide. My problem is how to serially number the > tables across a specific set of chapters. That is, I have to > serially number

Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Combs, Richard wrote: > You say you have too many tags to check, but surely only a few have > autonumbers. And most of those are probably numbered list formats that > are restarted by some mechanism other than the start of a new chapter. > Do these guides have numbered figures or headings? It

FrameScript 4.1 Release 2

Please Do Not Reply to This Email* FrameScript 4.1 release 2 is now available to download. This update is free to all FrameScript 4.x registered users. A new FrameScript registration key is not required provided the end user's FrameMaker serial number has not changed. Below

Figure Numbering Problem

on 2/15/07 12:21 PM, Combs, Richard at richard.combs at Polycom.com wrote: > Don't put the figure caption in a text frame inside your anchored frame > -- as Winfried noted, that puts it in a different text flow. This is incorrect. A text frame inside an anchored frame has the same Flow Tag as

Figure Numbering Problem

Michael D. Conner wrote: > > > on 2/15/07 12:21 PM, Combs, Richard at richard.combs at Polycom.com wrote: > >> Don't put the figure caption in a text frame inside your anchored frame >> -- as Winfried noted, that puts it in a different text flow. > > This is incorrect. A text frame inside an

Figure Numbering Problem

Michael D. Conner wrote: > on 2/15/07 12:21 PM, Combs, Richard at > richard.combs at Polycom.com wrote: > > > Don't put the figure caption in a text frame inside your anchored > > frame > > -- as Winfried noted, that puts it in a different text flow. > > This is incorrect. A text frame

oversized drawings, schematics in book

Hello- I'm working on a Service Guide where I need to include a significant number of schematics and Engineering drawings. Does anyone have a reader-friendly and easy way to include oversized schematics and drawings in a FrameMaker book? I'll be receiving the files in PDF format (size is

Figure Numbering Problem

Very strange. I should have done more testing. I swear that the only instance I checked before spouting off is the way I wrote. In rechecking, I found subsequent text frames in anchored frames didn't have flow tags. I checked another report and couldn't find any text frames in anchored frames

oversized drawings, schematics in book

Kara, Are you printing the guide or delivering in .PDF format, or something else? Do the drawings have to stay full-size or can you reduce them, like to 11x17 so they'd fit better? My first thought is to create an FM document template with 11x17 pages. Then create a discrete FM file for each

Figure Numbering Problem

First, thank you to all who have responded so far. I haven't yet had an opportunity to evaluate and implement your suggestions, but I certainly will. I had thought of doing what Eric Dunne suggested, but had held off trying that solution. Second, I should have identified the location of the

Query on Tables Numbering and List of Tables

Thanks for all your suggestions. I think I'll better get to analyse the paragraph formats and use the T:Table cum 'Continue Paragraph Numbering from Previous File' format. In addition to the one big book, I do have separate books for each guide to generate lists. I'll handle the LOT

Reasons to structure: another point of view

I've written documentation in the Detroit area for over 20 years and although I know structured Frame and use a custom XML format with Epic Editor/Manager in my present position, I find that most employers here hardly know what FrameMaker is, let alone anything about structured Frame and/or