Conversion with Conditional Text in Table

I'm taking the first steps in converting Unstructured Frame to Structure. One document is pretty clean except for one issue: my structure breaks around conditional text in tables. (The tables have a f3ew issues oftheir own, but the conditional text seems to compound the problem) I'm not sure how this should be dealt with. The structure tags are shown in the view below.
And here is the Structure View:
Is this something that can be set up with a qualifier, and if so, How? Also, in the conversion map table, Is there any order dependency, as well, concerning where the Conditional Text element appears?

Jane,
As far as I am concerned I do not see anything unexpected. You get dotted lines in the Structure View apparently because the element <B1_Body1> seems not to be allowed in the Element <CELL>. It looks like you worked with the defaults of the Conversion Table. Have you created your own EDD and imported the Element Definitions? Is <B1_Body1> a legal element inside <CELL>?
From my experience the Conditional Text feature works very much in parallel to the element structure. It comes from the format-based world and the structure has no means to handle text conditions. If you want to work with text conditions in the future, you would use »attribute-based condition management« as made possible through the plug-in AXCM or FrameMaker’s built-in feature »Filter by attribute«. There is no built-in method to change text conditions into certain attribute values – but it is possible to automate this move via the FDK or FrameScript or ExtendScript (from FM10).
- Michael

Similar Messages

Creating Online Documentation With Conditional Text

I'm fairly new to conditional text and was curious if it was possible to create a document that can be hosted online with conditional text. The document versions need to contain links specific to each company referencing the document. For example, if Microsoft wanted to access their version, the documentation would provide links to their own documentation that relates to the subject being discussed. However, if Adobe wanted to access the same document, it would give them their own links as opposed to Microsoft's links. If it is possible, what method does Frame use to distinguish between the user accessing the documentation? Would users be authenticated through User ID and Password?
Thank you in advance,
John

Hi Van,
Thank you for your response. I was thinking that the way conditional text worked is that it basically created three different versions (files) housed as one file and the versions could be somehow referenced individually from within the main file. Obviously this is not the case, but it still would have made the process of hosting the documentation online fairly easy. I'll look into Air and see if it can kind of work like what I was looking for, but if all else fails, we could always just host each of the seperate versions.
John

Conditional Text in Table - Problems with row height adjustment

Hey there,
I’m german but I try to express my problem in english as good as I can. Not always easy with the different menu names. Hope you get what I want to say! :-)
As you can see in my attached screenshot, I placed text in a table.
Text height is set to: minimum 1,5 … so it adjusts to the amount of text.
This is what I want - it should adjust the height to the marked/aktivated conditional text.
It always adjusts the hight when I blind out the first line oder lines in between (e.g. line 2+3 of 4).
But if I want to blind out the last line(s), there is a ¶ at the end and a extra blank line with the #.
I know, the # stands for the following hidden Text, but why does it work with the red/green text.
There is also text hidden (green), but the mark # is right after the last word - not in a new line.
Has anyone a solution for this?
Thanks in advance!

That's ok so far. A paragraph sign at the end of a text forces a new line.
To change that do the following:
For every condition you need another condition just for the paragraph sign that comes immediately after the condition. Not after every paragraph of one condition, but at the end of every consecutive numbers of paragraphs of the same condition.
So in your third example you'll need two conditions more:
1. One for the paragraph sign at the end of condition "meaasurements"
2. One for the paragraph sign at the end of condition "price 2"
Whenever you make the other conditions invisible, you also have to turn off the new conditions that only control the paragraph signs.
See the following screenshots:
Uwe

How to build a document with conditional text

So, I created a condition for a feature that is new to my document and until it's stable, I want to hide that text. No problem. I selected the condition and from the Show/Hide Conditional Text pod, I moved it over to hide. When I created the conditional text, I gave it a background color of gray so I could easily distinguish the conditional text from the non-conditional text. However, if I leave the conditional text visible and go to generate a PDF, the gray background style appears on the conditional text in the PDF. Is there something I'm missing here when it comes to building a PDF? I don't want the style I see in the FM file to appear in the final PDF. I only want that background color as an indicator while I'm editing it. I don't want to have to remember to change the style every time I want to build with the condition visible. Here's a screenshot from the PDF. The bits in gray are what I had applied the condition to.
After selecting the book file, I tried both doing a Save as PDF and a Print Book but both options ended up with my conditional text having the gray background style in the final output.

No, you have misunderstood the problem. Yes, If I want to hide the condition so it doesn't print, that works great. But, once the feature is active (or say I have two customers, one that has the feature and one that doesn't), If I want to print the document with the conditional text visible, then I want the text but I don't want the background style that shows up in FM. The conditional style should only appear in FM, not the generated PDF.
I worked for years with Madcap's Flare and you could set the color of the conditional text in order to distinguish what text was conditioned and with what condition (different colors for different conditions). However, when you generated the output, those colors never showed up. The only thing that displayed was the text that was set to be visible. That's what I was expecting from FM. And the FM tutorials I have taken, that's what they stated should happen. Here's a transcript from the FrameMaker 10 tutorial on Lynda.com:
When we go down to the Conditional Text pod, you'll notice that we have a number of radio buttons for In, Not In, As Is, and then we also have our tags down below. So this is going to be in the US version. So we'll click the US tag. We'll change the radio button to In. You'll see the status change over here to In, and then we'll apply that by clicking the first button in our group of buttons here to apply it. Now, you'll see something change here in the document and if we deselect our text, you can see it's now blue with the overline and that's how we decided the style and color would appear for our US tags. That's not how it's going to print. It's just for our own visual purposes.

Is there a tutorial/primer for working with conditional text and page numbering in book folders?

I'm ramping up on FrameMaker 9 and have been experimenting with using folders in book files. I like being able to add Frame files to the folder to organize content. But I also need to use conditional tags. In one version of my book, the entire contents of some files in one folder are hidden using conditional text. I can't figure out how to set the numbering for each file so that the page numbers adjust appropriately in this scenario. Or is it even possible to do this?
Can anyone recommend an advanced tutorial for using folders in Frame 9?

Michelle,
It would be easier to maintain if you create a different book file that omits the entire "conditionalized" set of files.
See these Adobe TechComm blogs for some more background info on using hierarchical books and numbering behaviour:
http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2009/05/xml_authoring_projects_using_hierarchical_books.ht ml
http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2009/06/numbering_in_hierarchical_books.html

Data merge with conditional text

I'm new to InDesign scripting. Very new, in fact. I'm willing to learn, but my main motivation at present is to solve a particular issue. Surely this issue has come up before. I'd love to know if anybody has encountered it or if it is possible to accomplish through scripting.
I want to merge data onto a gift pledge card. The exact text on the gift card will depend on the data being imported. For example, somebody who has given in the past will receive a message such as, "Thank you for your gift of $xxx." However, a person who has NOT given into the past will receive the message, "Please consider giving this year." The condition is the field prior_gift. If it's above 0, then the first message is displayed.
This seems like a natural use for scripting, but, in my searches so far, I've found no references to using conditional text and data merges together in scripting. So, would this be a relatively simple task to accomplish?
Thanks for any help you can give!

the data merge feature with indesign only brings in text which was in the original data file itself - it doesn't know how to parse or interpret it to behave differently upon seeing certain results. that is, it doesn't run database queries such as if-else statements - it will only import text which was originally in the data file.
however, there are plug-ins to indesign that CAN do this but they cost BOATLOADS. are you printing this yourself or are you sending this to a commercial printer? if the latter, have you discussed your print solution with the printer, as they may have a plug-in that can do this type of data merging, and all you would have to do is provide the printer with a packaged native file, along with the data and instructions as to what has to change... and for goodness sake see a proof of it!!!

Conditional text and table numbers

I have a source doc from which I am going to generate two user guides (I am new at this). I have two conditional tags set, which I plan to show/hide as required to generate the final PDFs.
First snag: I have a products specification table, which is different for each guide. Using auto numbers, I have created the first table (1-1).
Then I add the second table (prod specs for the other product). It of course shows up as table 1-2 (and all sequential tables will be misnumbered). Using the Show/Hide command, I see the correct table.
How do I get correct sequential table numbers for each end document?
Thanks very much.

> ... FrameMaker help refers to these as "series labels."
Thanks for the further clarification, Mike.
Just poking around on this, it's unclear exactly how many different series labels one can have. Some sources say we're limited to 53:
default(no letter), A: to Z:, a: to z:
Some sources say it's 63:
default(no letter), A: to Z:, a: to z:, 0: to 9:
which also seems to work.
Curiously enough some other single characters appear to work as well. I just tried @:, #:, non-breaking hyphen (\x15) and generic currency symbol (\xdb) for example (this is in FM7.1, entered as \x hex codes). I suspect most basic Frame roman single "standard" characters might work, which would imply a possible 255 or so counters. Two-letter labels just get treated as literal text, as would any multi-byte Unicode I suspect.
Adobe has no published "best practices" for series labels, but if one searches around the web, a common theme develops on conventions. Any shop would be well advised to pick a convention, and (note to self) write it down, for example:
B: body (ordinary paragraphs)
C: call-outs
F: figures
H: headings (volume, chapter, section, etc.)
O: outline
S: steps
T: tables

Pagination with conditional text

Hello,
We have an classroom book we want to put conditional instructor information into but I'm stumped on how to maintain pagination so that the instructor pages do not have page numbers and the instructor's versions will have the same page numbering (while physically having more pages, due to instructor material) as the student version with the conditional instructor text turned off.
Thanks for any help, sorry if I'm missing the obvious.

mt.mz. wrote:
Hello,
We have an classroom book we want to put conditional instructor information into but I'm stumped on how to maintain pagination so that the instructor pages do not have page numbers and the instructor's versions will have the same page numbering (while physically having more pages, due to instructor material) as the student version with the conditional instructor text turned off.
Thanks for any help, sorry if I'm missing the obvious.
In earlier versions, a FrameMaker bug permitted a trick page layout that employed two independent text flows - Flow: A, and Flow: B; each flow always appeared on a left or right page, and adding new content automatically flowed A content to a new A page, and new B content to a B page. The usual purpose was an instructor's version of a manual with the instructor's material on one page and the student material on a facing page, and each flow of conditionalized content could be shown or hidden without displacing the other. The trick was also employed to use auto-numbered paragraphs to simulate page numbers, so that the pages of each flow were identical. The bug was fixed around FM version 5 or 6, so that strategy became extinct.
One alternate strategy that could work for your design - one inserted non-flowing page at a given location - is to create from individual files. One set of files would be the single page instructor materials. The other set of files would be created by breaking the student content into appropriate chunks of pages. Add the files to the book in the order you need. Manually restart the page numbering for each file in the book to suit your needs.
An alternate strategy would be to redesign the pages with a wide column for student material, and a narrow column for instructor material; each column is an independent text frame with a different text flow. Showing or hiding the instructor material will not affect the flow of the student material. A similar strategy would be to use two text frames on one page; the upper one covering most of the page, and the lower one covering a smaller part of the page.
HTH
Regards,
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

PDF output with conditional text

I need to create two PDFs from my project, each displaying a different conditional build expression, but I can't figure out how to do it. Selecting PDF Output doesn't show options like, for example, WebHelp does, unless I've missed something in the setup. Is this possible? My reviewers want to review hardcopies although I've tried to convince them that they should look at it as it will be displayed online.

Hi there
See if the video linked below helps.
Click here
Cheers... Rick

Can I export just the "show" conditional text to a mif?

When I export a document with conditional text to a pdf, just the conditional text that is set to "show" (and the unconditional text) appears in the pdf. That's good, but I want the same thing when exporting a mif. There are two reasons for this:
(1) We have an in-house tool that parses a mif and extracts data from certain tables to populate a database. The tool doesn't parse pdfs. And the tool won't always handle conditional text correctly, particularly conditional text table rows. The tool would work fine if the conditional text were already "resolved" during the export to mif.
(2) I'd like to use the Boolean logic for conditional text that is available in FM9, but I need to furnish files to other groups in the company that use FM7. Their FM7 wouldn't display conditional text properly if it depended on anything other than OR logic. But they would be happy to accept mif files that didn't have any conditional text because it had been "resolved" when I generated a mif7 file for them.
I've tried various ways to convert a pdf into a mif file, but no process seems to preserve the formatting and the editable text. I'd be willing to accomplish this in some round-about fashion involving Framemaker, Acrobat Pro and/or some other tool.
But the happiest outcome for me would be to discover that FM9 already has the ability to export just the "show" conditional text and the unconditional text to a mif.
Or can this be done by making a copy of the document and then somehow automating the deletion of the "hide" conditional text and the conversion of the "show" conditional text to unconditional?

Or can this be done by making a copy of the document and then somehow automating the deletion of the "hide" conditional text and the conversion of the "show" conditional text to unconditional?
Writing a custom script to filter the MIF to parse out the conditions is non-trivial. You can try a Google search for an existing filter or script that does the job. However, if there is no such thing, then you're on the right track, getting FM to do the hard part - filtering the conditionalized content correctly. For example:
* In a copy of the original file, delete the condition(s) you want to hide; during the deletion, you have the option to delete the corresponding text. Then save as MIF to a descriptive name, or save as .fm to a new name, then open and save that file as MIF. Close the source file without saving.
* Reopen the source file and do the same process from this fresh instance, deleting the condition(s) you want to show. Save as above.
* Within FM itself, however, there's no way to automate this process. With one of the free FM utilities - dobatch from cudspan, or dzbatcher from datazone - you can script opening and saving an FM file as MIF. Search Google for dobatch, cudspan, dzbatcher, or datazone.
* To automate setting the conditions, a keystroke-macro recorder might serve, otherwise you'd need the commercial FrameScript product, and a customized script if there's no existing script for this purpose. For FrameScript info, check with Rick Quattro at frameexpert.com.
* If you're using Structured FrameMaker and have the expertise available to customize an EDD, you could take advantage of the "filter by attribute" feature, but it's not trivial to adopt Structured FM just for this narrowly-focused need.
HTH
Regards,
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

Selecting conditional text in book crashes FM 9

You never know when it will occur or on which files .... I am in a book file and select several files, select View > Show/Hide Conditional Text, and change my condition settings, then click Apply.
Framemaker crashes. Sometimes three, four times in a row.
Yes I've made new files, etc., etc., and some others in our group have the same problems with conditional text in some books. This is not consistent behavior so that's why we scratch our heads.
I have 4GB of memory and an empty hard drive, so that's not the issue. We work off a network but the same thing can happen if I save a book locally.
What on Earth could be happening?

Some files are new. Some files were ported from previous versions. Because the crashes are always different, it isn't always the same files or books where crashes occur. One never knows what will trigger the crash or when, as I mentioned. I've rebuilt files and had them crash, but someone else can use them (and change the same setting) without problems.
There's no discernible pattern.
Crashes for team members occur consistently at the book level. I seem to be the only person who can set conditions at the book level (though not consistently, as you can see). Crashes can occur for me at the book level or when I have a file open. Typically a file that crashes at book level also crashes with the file open.
I am trying to change one condition for these companion volumes (a set of three books that share some files). I successfully changed the condition a couple of hours ago.
Our network isn't backed up until very early in the morning and it's afternoon here -- that's not the issue. Nobody else is working on this project so that's not the issue.
Our templates have all of our conditions already defined so theoretically there shouldn't be conflicts. As I recall, a conflict triggers a notification when you update a book, and I successfully updated the companion book and printed to PDF a couple of hours ago.
Content doesn't seem to matter. The files in question consist of headings and tables. There are no graphics or linked files. The most sophisticated thing in them is cross-references (some conditional).
I just successfully changed the condition on all of the files in that chapter except one. The file that crashes Frame is very simple (no graphics or linked files, just cross-references) and it is one of the files that successfully switched conditions just a few hours ago.

Very slow PDF generation when conditional text is hidden in FM 9.0

I am working on 96-page chapter of a larger book. A 7-page section of the chapter needs to be hidden until the next release, so I hid it with conditional text. After doing this, the "Save as PDF" printing process goes from taking 6-7 seconds to taking several minutes. If I unhide the conditional text in the same session, printing is very quick again.
I have no problem generating very PDF files with the PDF printer in other applications (Word, PowerPoint). The issue is specific to FrameMaker and the use of conditional text. What might be causing this?
I am using FrameMaker 9.0p255 and Distiller 9.0.
- Chris

Hi Jeff,
These were good suggestions to try. Saving the document first has no effect on PDF generation.
However, I did find that printing to the Adobe PDF printer remains fast when the conditional text is hidden. That's quite an interesting finding! I did also notice that these two methods of PDF generation aren't identical:
"Save as PDF" opens an Adobe Distiller window, while printing to the Adobe PDF printer opens a different "Creating Adobe PDF" progress box (looks like it's from the printer driver itself).
"Save as PDF" generates a 1188k PDF file, while printing to the Adobe PDF printer generates a 1049k PDF file.
"Save as PDF" defaults to placing the PDF in FrameMaker's working directory, while printing to the Adobe PDF printer defaults to saving to the last place to saved a printed PDF file (awkward when working with multiple directories, as I often do).
When I do a "Save as PDF", FrameMaker does still spool to the PDF printer. It is this spooling that takes a long time. Once spooling is complete, then the Distiller window opens and the PDF is created very quickly.
I would still like to get "Save as PDF" working since it knows where to place the PDF file. No solution to the runtime yet, but at least there is progress...

How to create conditional text? (based on selected option, different text displays)

Hello, and thank you in advance for any assistance.
I need to create a .pdf with conditional text. Ideally, the user would select (via checkboxes) certain options, and only the text relevant to those selections would be included in the .pdf. Is this possible in Acrobat? If so, how? If not, what tool accomplishes this?
Many thanks.

Sorry 'bout that ! I was responding from e-mail and as you can see it's not working quite right. This is what I had wrote;
Tools ? What do you mean tools ? Adobe Acrobat is your tool. :-)
If you don't know javascript then you should entertain learning some if
you wish to "extend" Acrobat. That's the nature of the beast.
You may find some precompiled javascripts; but if you want customization
then you'll either have to pay someone to do it or yeah, learn javascript.
Check out Acrobatusers.com they have an excellent Acrobat Javascript section.
Best Regards,
Steve
Message was edited by: S.D.A.

Frame 8 crashes when showing all conditional text

When I try to Show ALL conditions in my Frame 8 file, Frame crashes. I just recently installed CS4 on my system, but other than that, nothing has changed. I have had no problems with conditional text and this file before. Wondering if anyone has had this issue and knows a workaround or fix. Thanks, sandra

Good, then you're all patched up, that's great.
I don't use conditional text at all, but several folks around here do and will be along to offer some help.
Can you identify whether this crash is a result of adding a new condition recently? Had showing all conditions had previously worked?

Conditional text to Acrobat

Dear,
For our educational works (typesetting) we use conditional text for adding the solutions.
At the end of the job we have to make 1 pdf with solutions and 1 without solutions.
We don't use normal layers in Indesign because you have the problem that you can't anchor layers. So when there are a lot of corrections you always have to move your layers also, that's too much work.
The big advantage of normal layers is that, when you make a pdf, acrobat takes that layers into the pdf.
So then we can choose with the layer option of Acrobat that we want to view the answers or not (same like in Indesign).
When we work with conditional text we don't find any option in Acrobat where I can switch off the conditional text.
I'm afraid Acrobat 'flattens' the indesignfile...
So my worry is that we now have to make a script for putting conditional text as a layer in Indesign at the end of the job and then make an e-pdf.
Or is there a way in Acrobat I can see the 'layers' of conditional text like I see them in Indesign?
Thanks in advance!

I don't think you can do this in Acrobat, but you should be asking this in the Acrobat forums. Here's a link:
http://forums.adobe.com/community/acrobat/creating__editing_%26_exporting_pdfs

Conversion with Conditional Text in Table

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