Cross Reference displays wrong Chapter

I have several FrameMaker files that will eventually be combined into one book. In some chapters there are references to outside chapters. At some point another person that was using these files had to switch the Chapter title; for example Chapter 7 became Chapter 6. Now when I open up, lets say Chapter 5, and I set up a cross reference to chapter 6 I got throug the following steps:
I make sure both files are open in FrameMaker, I put my cursor in the spot I want to make a hyperlink > Right click > Cross Reference
When the window Pops up I make the following selections:
Document: Chpater 6
Source Type: Paragraphs
Paragraph type: Heading1
Paragraphs: Page 7
I select the exact paragraph I want referenced
Format: CH XX, #
When I hit replace I am expecting the text on the screen to say something like "CH06, 3-1 Title" but instead it says "CH07, 3-1 Title"
The link goes to the location I want, it goes right to Chapter 6 but the visible text says Chapter 7 which is wrong. I assume this is happening because someone switched those two chapters.
Does anyone know how to edit what the text says or what I need to change in the switched chapters to make it work correctly. Something else I noticed is that the Document option in the cross reference is saying Chapter 6 with the old title, not the latest up to date title.

I think I may be having the same issue. I'm using Technical Communications version 3. I have a huge FM book composed of many books - over 3,000 pages if it were printed. I'm linking to the FM file in RoboHelp (RH). No broken xrefs in FM, but when I go to RH, there are odd xrefs or missing ones. I keep updating both FM and RH without any success. So, I generated a list of cross-reference markers in FM.
This is what I think is causing this. Even though you're supposed to be able to link to the FM file and if all is ok with the FM book (no errors, no broken xrefs), everything should chug along in RH. But, NO, it doesn't. When I put in cross-references in FM, I do them by the paragraph. But then you can also see the actual marker text, which doesn't always agree with the heading text. This is what RH uses. So, if you're having these issues, check the marker text to make sure it matches the paragraph text.
Below is an example where I had updated the heading, but the marker didn't match. FM didn't care and didn't report a broken cross-reference. RH just displayed the xref heading but it wasn't a link. Very frustrating. I'm looking for a way to get the xref markers to match the paragraph headings.
This is the heading: EContent in the PAC Patron Account
and this is the marker text: 28254:Heading 3: 3M eBooks in the PAC Patron Account - Items Out 768
BTW - I saw some snarky answers - just insecure people who want to show how much they know technically. For me, I just want the *******' tool to work! If I wanted to know all the sausage-making, I'd have been a programmer. I actually like to write and fiddling with RH is just tedious! In my experience, programmers are a dime a dozen; good writers are rare.
Make this a snark-free zone and help novices. Lord knows, Adobe's own documentation just doesn't get it. They tell you what something is but not how to do it! Oh, and the UX in RH is so cluttered and confusing! Do you use a pod or a menu item, what is important enough to get a pod? Why are there all these different ways to set up a project? It's like it was designed by hyped-up, overly-caffeinated people with really bad OCD. It's not about the tool, it's about the writers trying to get their jobs done!

Similar Messages

Can I change a cross reference display without having to recreate it?

WHen cross references are to figures on the same page, I let the cross reference point to the paragraph number only ("see View 25"). When it is on another page, I use paragraph number and page ("See View 25 on page 34"). But when my text changes, sometimes text moves, sometimes images move and I need to change the cross reference. It is quite bothersome, I have to rmeove the old one and create a new one, hunting for the cross reference in a list of 150 or so.
Is there a simpler way? E.g. put the insertion point in the cross reference and than some easy way to select a different appearance?

Thanks for stepping in, Jan. I'm glad the smart page-reference building blocks in Cross-References Pro can actually do what I hoped it could, to solve this riddle for the original poster. I did a quick test, just to be sure it worked as I expected, and it does! It would be great for Adobe to license your technology and build this into InDesign, along with the rest of the extra-strength cross-reference abilities. (Disclaimer: I'm not connected to DTP Tools other than being a happy user.)
As to the unwanted space, perhaps a character style in nested and/or GREP style could apply some kind of width adjustment that would reduce the displacement to an absolute minimum.
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
Jan Macuch wrote:
Hi, sorry for being a little late on this one. Here's a sample of the Cross-Reference PRO format you're looking for is:
See Figure <paranum/> <pagenum usesectionname="true" forcearabic="true" usepage="true" pagetext="on page #" usethis="true" thistext=" " usenext="true" nexttext="on the next page" useprev="true" prevtext="on the previous page" useopposite="true" oppositetext="on the opposite page"/>
The trick is that you include the words "on" and "on the" in the page wording definitions, but insert just emptu space for the This Page setting. There's a glitch that you end up with an extra space after the reference, but you can replace the normal space by a hair space (code ^| ) which makes it quite tolerable.
Jan Macuch
DTP Tools

Cross-reference to chapter in book

I have an eighteen-chapter book, where all the figure numbers, table numbers, and the first- and second-level numbered headings are prefixed with the chapter number. It would be a nightmare if (as is possible) the chapters were to be reordered later in the day. So I put each chapter in a separate ID document, put all the documents in a book, and made liberal use of the 'Chapter number' text variable.
My question is: what do I do with cross-references like 'See Chapter 9'? How can I treat these so that they will automagically update if Chapter 9 gets moved to become Chapter 13? As far as I can tell, using the cross-referencing feature doesn't work with text variables, so I can't just point it at the chapter number at the beginning of the relevant chapter (which is, once again, the 'Chapter number' text variable).
Any ideas?
Also, slightly irrelevantly, I notice that InDesign is prone to crashing if I try and cut text containing a text variable. Is there a known bug?

I have an eighteen-chapter book, where all the figure numbers, table numbers, and the first- and second-level numbered headings are prefixed with the chapter number. It would be a nightmare if (as is possible) the chapters were to be reordered later in the day. So I put each chapter in a separate ID document, put all the documents in a book, and made liberal use of the 'Chapter number' text variable.
My question is: what do I do with cross-references like 'See Chapter 9'? How can I treat these so that they will automagically update if Chapter 9 gets moved to become Chapter 13? As far as I can tell, using the cross-referencing feature doesn't work with text variables, so I can't just point it at the chapter number at the beginning of the relevant chapter (which is, once again, the 'Chapter number' text variable).
Any ideas?
Also, slightly irrelevantly, I notice that InDesign is prone to crashing if I try and cut text containing a text variable. Is there a known bug?

Cut and Paste Cross References

As some of you know, I'm updating a book composed of chapter files, with cross references between chapters. This used to be incredibly buggy, with crashes and broken references common. Some of that is improved in CS5.5, but a couple of big issues remain, and I'm wondering if anybody has any suggestions.
Two problems:
You generally can't cut and paste a cross reference. I have text that says "see page 27". I want to move this somewhere else in the same document. Cut it. Paste it. The paste comes in looking like this: "see <?>" -- and you get a broken link in the Hyperlinks panel. That really limits text editing. It doesn't always happen. Sometimes you'll paste and your cross reference works. But that's rare. And you can never copy and paste. That always breaks.
Cross references refer to absolute file pathnames. I'd like to rename some chapter files. But I dare not because I assume that all cross references to destinations in those files will break.
Anybody have any suggestions for either of these things? Number 1 is a real work-stopper right now.
Many thanks,
Steve

Okay, guys -- I've made some progress. And I really appreciate your support, now, and in the past.
Upgrading from 7.5.2 to 7.5.3 -- no improvement,
Save a new copy of the file via Save As -- no improvement,
Export as IDML and then just double-click the IDML to open it -- worked! (Is that the correct procedure? Anything else I need to do?)
It's still just about suicidal to try and edit text in any story containing multiple cross references to chapter files that aren't open. And adding a new cross reference is super-slow, during which time you're sure you're going to crash. But with the imported file, the new cross ref held.
One other point of confusion: new cross references display differently than ones created in older versions of the software. The old ones have dark grey boxes around them. New ones have light blue boxes. No mention of this in the help file that I could find. Even if you update an old cross ref, the dark grey remains. Only starting from scratch produces light blue.
Something corrupted that file, which IDML got rid of. It was corrupted by doing little more than adding or updating a bunch of cross references, and doing some minor text editing. No images in the file, so that had nothing to do with it.
Chapter file sizes, since you asked, are anywhere from 3 to 40 mb. The file I was having problems with is only 2.5 mb. The book contains 22 chapters. Long ago I converted it from one big file to separate chapters. Easier to manage, chapter numbering works more logically and chapter starts are easier to handle. But cross references worked a lot better with the single file.
In any event, problem solved for the moment, so thanks very much again. But Adobe really needs to look at this. It's been broken for way too long.
Steve

Cross reference that diplays only paragraph number

I need to create cross-references to numbered paragraphs. The auto number for the paragraphs includes not only a number, but a text character that is part of the number format. For example, a numbered list like 1) 2) 3) and so forth, where the cross reference display only the 1, 2, or 3, and not the closing paren.
FrameMaker has a building block <paranumonly> which ignores any characters other than digits in the auto number. InDesign doesn't seem to be able to do that. That is why I'm posting on the scripting forum. Perhaps there is a script that can do this?

In support of Niels' response, I'd written almost the same thing, but 1.__AG__, entered a more objective response (well put, AG!) before I sent my impressions.
I agree with Niels that
The reader might appreciate a more direct numbering system (the milspec standard of 1.2.2.2.2.1 would be the equivalent section to your 1B2b2a example
The tags used would be easier to navigate if they used a 1List 2List 3List convention, and that the punctuation used in numbering is a bit confounding at first glance
The xref format is straightforward if all levels are displayed at that point
Sadly, and as always, we can help with everything but the politics of your situation!
I do like Niels' suggestion of using the Running H/F to display the current section, if you're forced to use the numbering scheme as-is!
Best of luck navigating this with the powers that be.
-Matt

Creating and updating cross-references in a book

Hello everybody,
I created a book of several files. Now I would like to create and update cross-references from one chapter to another. What do I have to do? (I use Framemaker 8).
Thank you for your help.
Bye
Vreni

For creating cross-references between chapters, open the chapter documents and insert cross-references as is done for any normal document using menu command "Special->Cross-Reference".
For updating all cross-references throughout the book, you can use the menu command "Edit->Update Book".
Regards,
Tarun Garg
Adobe Certified Expert, FrameMaker
http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/framemaker/

Display cross-references' linked documents filename in the xref panel

Our company creates technical manuals consisting of five chapters, all named the same, except with a different prefix. For example the "ABC Widget" manual has an introduction chapter named "ABC 1 - Introduction", a safety chapter named "ABC 2 - Safety", etc. Many times I re-use documents for creating subsequent manuals using the "Save As" command. So the "ABC 1 - Introduction" chapter would be saved as "EFG 1 - Introduction" for the "EFG Widget" book. For all the internal xrefs it saves a whole lot of time since all of the xrefs are preserved. But for cross-document references it creates a problem. For example, if the "ABC 1 - Introduction" chapter has a xref to "ABC 2 - Safety", when I save the Introduction chapter as "EFG 1 - Introduction" it will still retain the xref to "ABC 2 - Safety".
Right now, the only way to see if there are xrefs pointing to latent docs, is to check each one manually. If the xref panel displayed a column indicating the filename of the linked documents, I would be able to tell at a glance if that xref was pointing to the wrong document.
Thank you.
ID CS5, MAC

Hi Van,
I fear, I expressed myself not very clear. I try again.
We have DITA structured documents. However, lastest status often was saved in the FM document. The xml documents often are not representing the final status.
When I open the FM8 document in FM9 everything looks pretty good.
But: When I want to save the document as xml with FM9, I'm getting errors regarding the cross references.
The cross references which were created in FM8 - doesn't matter, if a valid xml document or a FM document - always look the same.
(BTW: I don't think that in structured documents cross references always refer to elemts with a unique ID.)
example from xml which was created with FM8:
<xref href = "#id08B4A0R30E9" type = "fm:Chapter">"..."</xref>
the only difference in the FM document is that the element is called fm-xref there, as it's not an external url.
in FM9 those cross references are totally different.
example from xml which was created in FM9:
<xref href = "#id08B4A0R30E9" class = "- topic/xref">"..."</xref>
When saving the FM documents with the cross references from the first example as xml in FM9 (we don't have FM8 anymore), I get an error that the attribute type is not defined.
When having a xml document that was last changed with FM8 and opening/ saving this with FM9, there is no error.
At the moment I do not know how to solve this issue.
And also I'm not sure weather the same problem might accour again with change from FM9 to FM10 or else.
It is a great effort to make new cross references just because we upgraded from FM8 to FM9. (And of course always at most inconvienent time.)
As we are thinking of upgrading to FM10, it would be good to know before, if there are any similar issues to expect.
Or if there is an fix for FM9 or FM10 to avoid this at all.
Regards,
Anna

Cross reference in ID CS4 goes to wrong destination in Acrobat

I am creating a 108-page document in ID CS4 with lots of cross references (a new feature in CS4 after using the scripting work-around in CS3). I created a new cross-reference type which is only the page number of the destination in an invisible box.
Now that the document is finished, I created a PDF. The version of Acrobat on my PC is Acrobat 9 Pro Extended.
Most of the cross-references work as expected. A handful, though, while they show the correct page number in the text, when clicked in Acrobat Reader take the user to the wrong page. For example, the text says "see page 88" but a click takes the reader to page 99.
I have opened this pdf in Reader on multiple PCs: same problem. I have erased the old X-ref and re-added it: same problem. I tried installing the recent InDesign 6.0.1 update and replacing the X-ref and re-exporting to Acrobat: same problem. If I temporarily use a different X-ref type that includes the paragraph text, I see the correct text. Bottom line: everything seems OK EXCEPT when clicking in Reader.
Any thoughts on what to try to make this problem go away?

Try opening the PDF in Acrobat, and examining the links with the links tool. That may help you figure out the problem. It will show the specific text anchor to which the link is pointed. From my experience, it just references to a page number, unless you link to a specific text anchor within ID.
I had a similar problem in Framemaker, and I couldn't resolve the issue unless first deleting the marker from the destination and letting FM regenerate it.

Cross References Will Not Display Page Number

Got some documents created in InDesign CS3 (MAC). When bringing them into CS4 (Windows) and trying to create a paragraph cross-reference the page numbers will not display. All the other text in the cross reference ("paragraph", the word "page", etc.) displays correctly. Even the cross reference under the "hyperlinks" toolbar shows nothing (instead of the usual # indicating a page number).
However If I copy some of the same pages into a new document and create a cross reference in it the page number displays correctly. But since it's over 300 pages I really would hate to have to do that!
Any ideas?

Is it maybe because CS3 does not include the cross references function (not a feature until CS4)?
That's a real problem if we use an outside source to create a lot of our documents and they're working in a previous version.

How to create ebook chapter cross-references with inDesign CS6?

Hi, I'm creating a fairly technical ebook, and would like the reader to be able to easily link "See Chapter X for more information" with Chapter X. My problem is that all the "See Chapter X for more information" phrases are set up as a character style... it doesn't seem that I can easily cross-reference because I didn't set these phrases up using paragraph styles (which doesn't make much sense to me as each cross-reference would need to be a new paragraph).
I think I just need to anchor the "See Chapter X for more information," phrases, but that isn't proving to be easy to position, the text anchor boxes are showing up in crazy places... having a hard time figuring out how to position anchored text.
Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance.

Hi Conrad,
I'm running CS 5.5 so can't be sure of the differences with your version.
The problem here is simply one of ID terminology.
I suspect what you want to do is this:
1. Select your destination text with the type tool. The destination text is what you want the reference to link to. Then, in the Hyperlinks control menu menu, choose "New Hyperlink Destination" and give it a simple and unique name.
2. Find the text that you want to connect to the destination text. Select it and in the same control panel choose "New Hyperlink..." You'll have the choice of selecting from (what will ultimately be) a number of text anchors.
I hope that makes sense. I quickly checked to see if ID exports a working cross-reference in EPUB and it does, although I didn't have time to examine the HTML.

Preserving Chapter Cross References when going to Structured Framemaker

Hello,
I am trying to preserve all of my cross references that link from chapter to chapter, within the same book. If I convert files one at a time, then FrameMaker has trouble finding the link in the destination chapter - because that chapter has not yet been converted to Structured FrameMaker.
I have not tried Batch Processing, but I am sure I would get the same results.
With that said, what must I do to these external chapter cross references, so that they convert over to Structured FrameMaker?
Thanks in advance for your response.
Regards,
Jim

Jim,
Like Russ, I have had to redirect the cross-references manually following conversion; HOWEVER, I have also noticed that existing IDs in the unstructured version seem to get put into the converted element as an attribute. In other words, if my EDD defines a Title element with an Id attribute and the unstructured document contains a title paragraph that is the target of a cross-reference, then upon conversion the corresponding Title element has TWO attributes, one is named Id and the other ID. Id has no value, but ID does. The structured document does not validate and I have to delete the ID attribute to make it validate.
This leads me to believe that had I named the attribute ID in my EDD, then it would be assigned a value upon conversion; however, I have never tried this. If I had, FrameMaker would likely create the Title element with two attributes, both named ID!!!
Take it for what it is worth,
Van

Cross reference not working properly in epub exported from IDCC

Hi,
I'm not sure whether this is a known issue within ID so forgive me for bringing it up if it is. I couldn't find any satisfying answer on this forum, hence my question.
It seems that cross references between the xhtml-docs created from split ID document during the epub export don't work properly. They link to the text anchors specified as relative links. My editor uses software compliant to many e-reader platforms that removes all the relative links between the xhtml files within any epub and replaces them by absolute hyperlinks (http://). The result is... broken links all over. Their specification asks for the the anchor entires in the content.opf file instead of the relative links. Is there a way to work it out in InDesign and have the content.opf file contain the navigation to the anchors in xhtml files within the epub?
I'm working with IDCC 9.1 btw. Would appreciate any help...
Kind regards, Kasia

Hi,
   Not sure exactly where you gone wrong.
   If you want the running sum to start from beginning for each YEAR and each LINES. Use this
           =RunningSum([Sales revenue]; ([Year];[Lines]))   => Need Square brackets around Year and Lines. This forum site doesn't display square bracket correctly
   If you want the running sum to start from beginning only for each LINES (regardless of YEARS). Use this
            =RunningSum([Sales revenue]; ([Lines]))
   Not sure why you added ROW in your functions. Hope this help. Works for me, just tested using my efashion with the same structure are yours.
Regards,
Ken
Edited by: Ken Low on May 9, 2011 8:15 AM
Edited by: Ken Low on May 9, 2011 8:17 AM

Cross-Reference to Multi-Level Paragraph

Hi,
Is it possible to create a cross-reference that does something like this:
'1.B.(1)(a)2) on page XXX' from the following:
I have created a cross-reference format as follows:
<$paranum[1. Heading]><$paranum[A. Text/Heading]><$paranum[(1) Text/Heading]><$paranum[(a) Text/Heading]><$paranum[1) Text/Heading]><$paranum[a) Text/Heading]> on page\ <$pagenum>
This works if I cross-reference from 'text10' to 'text9', which returns - '1.B.(2)(b)2)a) on page 6001',
and 'text10' to 'text2' returns '1.B. on page 6001'.
It fails when I go from 'text10' to 'text13' giving '1.C.(4)(b)2)b) on page 6001' instead of just '1.C. on page 6001'.
Any help on what I'm doing wrong?

In support of Niels' response, I'd written almost the same thing, but 1.__AG__, entered a more objective response (well put, AG!) before I sent my impressions.
I agree with Niels that
The reader might appreciate a more direct numbering system (the milspec standard of 1.2.2.2.2.1 would be the equivalent section to your 1B2b2a example
The tags used would be easier to navigate if they used a 1List 2List 3List convention, and that the punctuation used in numbering is a bit confounding at first glance
The xref format is straightforward if all levels are displayed at that point
Sadly, and as always, we can help with everything but the politics of your situation!
I do like Niels' suggestion of using the Running H/F to display the current section, if you're forced to use the numbering scheme as-is!
Best of luck navigating this with the powers that be.
-Matt

Cross reference markers are deleted for content in text insets

Cross reference markers are deleted for content text insets. I currently have a chapter that is built from several Import by Reference files. I added an introductory paragraph with cross reference links to heading 2 titles in these text insets. Everything works and saves normally, although the cross reference markers disappear from the chapter when files are checked out a few days later. An extra Heading 2 is also added to the end of the document.
Steps to reproduce:
1. Create a chapter composed of several text insets.
2. Create a list of cross references to headings in these text insets at the beginning of the chapter.
3. Check in/check out the files from a source control product.
What went wrong?:
The cross reference markers are gone, resulting in broken cross references. An empty Heading 2 is also added to the end of the document following the final text inset
What should have happened?:
The markers should remain and the heading 2 tag should not be applied to the document.
Product version:
Product: FrameMaker
Version: 7.2
Platform information:Windows XP
Hardware: Dell Latitude D620
OS Version: Windows XP Professional Version 2002, Service Pack 3.
RAM: 1GB

Thanks for the information, Van. We did try several techniques including adding the insertion point immediately after the text inset before the normal paragraph tag, but none seemed to consistently work. I will investigate this scenario futher, though, in light of your comments.
We have managed to determine a workaround for this issue by avoiding a string of text insets. For some reason, using multiple text insets without separating them with normal text causes most of the problems after we add the files to our source control system. The situaton is not ideal, but it does work for the time being anyway.
Steve

How do I move a .fm to another folder without breaking the .book cross-references?

Simplified situation:
I currently have mybook.book containing:
   chapter1.fm
   chap2.fm
   appendixA.fm
   apdxB.fm
I'd like to reorg the files such that mybook.book contains:
   chapters\chapter1.fm
   chapters\chap2.fm
   appendices\appendixA.fm
   appendices\apdxB.fm
If I move the files into folders with Windows Explorer, it will of course break the cross-references. I thought I could simply use right-click Rename on the file enteries within the book in FM to move them, but it won't allow the / or | chars. How can I accomplish this reorg without breaking the cross-references?
Thanks,
Dave

TWDaveWalker wrote:
oh well, looks like I'll have to develop a procedure for the staff. Does anyone have any non-mif suggestions for a smooth procedure?
Not sure what the problem here is. You need neither a 3rd party plugin nor any MIF editing. Simply do it this way:
Create the required folders (chapters/appendices) within your current book folder
Open the book
Open the chapter files and do a "Save as" into the \chapter subfolder
Open the appendix files and do a "Save as" into the \appendices subfolder
Delete the book file entries and re-fill the book with the newly saved files
Every "Save as..." keeps xrefs intact, including the new path in the document's references. This reqires some steps, yes. But I think it's still better than doing edits to MIF files by someone who is not experienced doing this.
Edit: Sorry, it's not a easy as I thought. I forgot that this is done in several steps, and previously saved files don't recognize path changes of files saved afterwards. So this is no solution.
Bernd
Message was edited by: Be.eM
Reason: wrong approach, typing faster than thinking

Cross Reference displays wrong Chapter

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