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Archive for December, 2009
A curious case of broken cross-references
0888 days
Sometimes, when you insert a cross-reference to a paragraph, the first word in the paragraph is conditional. The cross-reference marker that FrameMaker inserts then also becomes conditional and takes the condition tag settings of the first word. This marker is hidden when you hide the conditions of the first word. As a result, if the condition-tag settings of the cross-reference and of the cross-reference marker differ, you end up with a mysterious unresolved cross-reference!
Consider the screenshot below. Here, the first word in the cross-referenced paragraph is conditional. However, since all conditions are currently displayed, the Cross-References pod in FrameMaker 9 shows the corresponding cross-reference as resolved.
Now, consider the illustration below. Once the condition for the first word of the cross-referenced paragraph is hidden, the Cross-References pod indicates that the corresponding cross-reference is broken.
To avoid this situation, select just the cross-reference marker at the beginning of the source paragraph, and make it unconditional. This way, the marker will always be visible. The cross-reference will now be resolved regardless of the conditions visible.
See this Help article to understand how you can apply or remove conditional tags to text. For greater insight into issues that you may face while working with conditional text, see this overview article, especially the Planning conditional documents section.
Fix broken cross-references in PDF files
1891 days
It can be challenging to fix broken cross-references in long documents — 500 pages, for example. Resolving the cross-reference(s) in the source FrameMaker file and then generating the PDF all over again isn’t the only way out. With Acrobat, you can easily fix broken cross-references in the PDF itself. Here’s how:
- In Acrobat 9, click Tools > Advanced Editing > Link Tool.
- Double-click a highlighted cross-reference.
- On the Action page in the Link Properties dialog, select Go to a page view from the Select Action drop-down menu. Click Add.
- Scroll to the destination page for the link and click Set Link.
See http://bit.ly/1Xpucp for the Adobe Help article on creating links in PDF files.
Adobe Community Publishing System
0895 days
Mallika Yelandur, my colleague from the Adobe Learning Resources team, has an interesting post about the Adobe Community Publishing System on her blog.
An excerpt:
“Adobe Community Publishing System (CPS) is an AIR application that lets anyone with an Adobe ID publish content to Adobe.com.
While the Help pages support only plain-text commenting, CPS lets community members contribute tips, movies, code snippets, and more with easy-to-use templates. Contributions are moderated by community experts. Plus, everyone in the community can rate and comment on contributions.
Tips to help you get started with the Community Publishing System are here.
Download the Top Ten FrameMaker Tips brochure
2896 days
The Adobe booth at the STC India Conference had free brochures sharing our top ten tips for FrameMaker, RoboHelp, and Acrobat. You’ve already read the FrameMaker tips in some recent blog posts.
Download the complete brochure from this link. Feel free to pin it to your cubicle wall. As always, your suggestions and queries are most welcome!
Top Ten FrameMaker Tips – Part 3
1899 days
1. Track changes as you go
Track the changes in text as you edit your FrameMaker documents.
In FrameMaker, select Special > Track Text Edits and use the options under this menu to quickly enable, preview, accept, or reject changes. See this feature in action here.
2. Optimize The Settings For Generating PDF Files
Use the PDF Setup dialog box to optimize the size of the generated PDFs, control SWF fi le and 3D object embedding, and create tagged PDFs to enable importing PDF comments. See this link for more information.
3. Make Change Bars Invisible In Interim PDFs
If you want to preserve change bars in the source but hide them in an interim PDF, set their color to white in the Change Bar Properties dialog box. Turn them back to black when you edit the source.
In FrameMaker, select Format > Document > Change Bars. See this earlier blog post for more information.
4. Import PDF Comments
Directly import comments from the PDF document that you set up for shared review. The FrameMaker content gets updated with the edits and comments. Choose the comments that you want to incorporate and discard the rest!
In FrameMaker, select File > Import > PDF Comments.
See this feature in action here. For the earlier blog post about this feature, see this page.
Top Ten FrameMaker Tips – Part 2
1908 days
5. Manage Content Changes Across Document Versions
Use the Compare Documents feature in FrameMaker to create a consolidated document in which changes between versions are highlighted with inserted and deleted conditional tags. This feature is especially useful in collaborative environments that make use of a source control system.
- Open both versions of the document.
- In the newer version, choose File > Utilities > Compare Documents.
See this article in FrameMaker online Help for more information.
6. List And Manage Conditional Text
Use the Conditional Text pod and panels to easily manage complex usage of
conditional text:
- In the Conditional Text pod, double-click the condition tag.
- In the Conditional Text panel, sort, edit, or delete text, tables, and graphics tagged with the condition you selected.
For more information, see this Help article.
7. Launch PDF Reviews From Within FrameMaker
Launch a shared review with just a click.
- Select File > Save As PDF (Send for Review).
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