How do I exclude one cross reference format?

Version: TCS2: Framemaker 9, Robohelp 8, both fully patched.
I have a gazillion cross-references to figures (images) in my Framemaker manual. Due to executive decision, these images are not being ported over to Robohelp-- I set their paragraph style to not import at all.
However, I cannot figure out for the life of me how to get Robohelp to IGNORE the cross-references of the type called "Figure." For that matter, I can't get Robohelp to give those a style, like "Hidden" that I could then use CSS to hide.
How do I get Robohelp to excluse/not import all cross-references of a specific format?

An alternate approach might be to create a new FM template that has those cross-references re-defined to nothing (i.e. no content except for a thin-space character - FM needs something there, but a thin space shouldn't be hardly noticeable). Then have this template applied when importing the FM content into RH. This would effectively not show those cross-refs.

Similar Messages

Removing some chapters and cross-reference formats in the conversion

Hi everyone!
I am using Frame and RH to single source creating PDFs and online help. I create the PDFs from FrameMaker, and Webhelp from RH. I use the RH linking functionality.
Is there any way to exclude some FM chapters from being converted, without using the Exclude option in FM, and instead using an option available in RH?
Also, is there a way to exclude certain cross-reference formats from being converted at all? I don't want to convert them to Paratext, I just want them to not appear in online help output at all (things like "procedure 1-1").
Thanks.
Sue

I think the only ways to exclude stuff would be to use the Exclude option in FM (as you mention - I've never tried it with RH) or to create a different book that only has the chapters you want to bring over to RH. I do something like that when I do my printed PDFs - I create a "Print-Only" book in which I go through and set the page numbering and conditional text expressions.
To exclude the cross-ref format, I've seen a hint that says to just put a space overtop of the style in the Conversion Settings. It still comes over, but just as a blank space.

Changing cross-reference formats - what do my options mean?

Hi all, using TCS2 on Win 7 64 bit.
I have a question about changing a cross-reference format. I have one that is "<paratext>" right now - the " included. So my xref says (for example):
For more information, please see "Appendix 1".
I want to change this to that it doesn't show quotation marks anymore. I know the HOW of doing this, my question is once I have made the change, a dialogue box appears asking me which cross-references this change should apply to. My options are:
Internal Cross-References
References to All Open Documents
References to All Documents
I don't know which one I should chose. I am working in a book structure that has a bunch of FM files imported to form chapters. Each file file uses this old style xref so I need to update the xref format in each file (I think I need to do this one by one) and in some instances my xrefs are within the same doc, sometimes they are to other files within the FM book. So I think I need to pick 'References to All Documents' but it says there is no undo so I'm seeking advice first!
Many thanks in advance,
Adriana

adrianaharper wrote:
Hi all, using TCS2 on Win 7 64 bit.
I have a question about changing a cross-reference format. I have one that is "<paratext>" right now - the " included. So my xref says (for example):
For more information, please see "Appendix 1".
I want to change this to that it doesn't show quotation marks anymore. I know the HOW of doing this, my question is once I have made the change, a dialogue box appears asking me which cross-references this change should apply to. My options are:
Internal Cross-References
References to All Open Documents
References to All Documents
I don't know which one I should chose. I am working in a book structure that has a bunch of FM files imported to form chapters. Each file file uses this old style xref so I need to update the xref format in each file (I think I need to do this one by one) and in some instances my xrefs are within the same doc, sometimes they are to other files within the FM book. So I think I need to pick 'References to All Documents' but it says there is no undo so I'm seeking advice first!
Many thanks in advance,
Adriana
Internal means only within the current document. All open, and all, are self-explanatory.
Your question shows that you're not sure what will happen when all instances of the cross-references that use the format are changed, either because you can't remember what you created in your own book, or because you're working on a book created by someone else, or that you collaborate on with others.
Don't let "no undo" scare you off. You can undo the result by saving all the files, before you do the changes. From within the book window, hold Shift while clicking the File menu - Save changes to Save All Files in Book. Or, from within any open file, hold Shift while clicking the File menu - Save changes to Save All Open Files. After you save the files, performing any non-undoable operation like changing the cross-reference format only makes the changes, but doesn't save the affected files. These actions are undoable by holding Shift while clicking the File menu again; from within a book window, Close becomes Close All Files in Book, and from with an open file, Close becomes Close all open files. When prompted to save, click Don't Save. Alternatively, from within each open and changed file, File > Revert prompts for confirmation, and if you choose to continue, the last-saved version of the file reopens.
If you want yet another safety layer, copy the whole file structure that will be affected to a safe location. If the set of assets is sprinkled all around the system, Bruce Foster's inexpensive FM plug-in "archive" will copy the whole collection into one place: http://home.comcast.net/~bruce.foster/products.htm.
HTH
Regards,
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

Colour confusion in cross-reference format -- help!?

(FrameMaker version 8.0p277)
We recently applied revised templates to our documents and I am not having problems with my cross-reference formats.
When setting an xref to a heading/table/figure on another page, I want it to say (for example) "Figure 2-3 on page 17", where "Figure 2-1" is blue, and "on page 17" is the default text colour (for these docs, that would be black).
When I insert an xref and choose a display format as described above, the text appears properly (blue, then black).
However, when I update the book, many of the xrefs (but not all) change to all blue text. (For example, Figure 2-1, 2-2, 2-5 are okay, but 2-3 and 2-4 appear all in blue.)
Here is the xref format definition for figures:
<bluetext>Figure\ <$paranumonly><Default ¶ Font> on page\ <$pagenum>
where <bluetext> is a character format (all 'as-is', except Color is set to Blue).
So far, I am the only one who has had this problem (three other writers using Frame 8 as well), but I'm the only one working on this particular set of documents.
Anybody have any hints as to how to resolve this? I have found limited success with copying/pasting the encompassing content (for example, if xrefing to a heading in a cell of a given table row, copy and paste the entire row, then delete the original row fixes the problem. *Sometimes*. Same for table xref (replace entire table), figure xref (replace figure and caption and some surrounding body text), heading (replace heading plus some surrounding body text).
I'm at a loss.
Thanks

And... I think I have it (sorry to have dragged you all along for the ride :-)
With the Character Designer displayed, moved cursor through text. Found that the Character Tag field changed to <Blue> after the last character of the offending x-refs. <Blue> was an old tag used in the previous template. It does *not* appear in the character font catalog (and does not appear in the drop-down character tag list either).
Solution (it seems):Select the text section and apply the DefaultFont format (everything goes black). Then update the book. Most of the xrefs display correctly. Some, however, remain all black. Double-click the xref and then click Replace, and it now has the proper format.
Will go through doc and do updates -- if more problems arise, will let you know!
(As an aside... if somebody can explain what is actually happening in a clear way, that would be great :-)
Thanks again.

How can I set a cross reference to a Picture

Hello,
I have a question regarding the new function: How can I set a cross reference (dont know the exact english name since I use the German version; in German: Querverweis) in Indesign CS4 to a picture? So far, I could only do it with a kind of workaround by putting an invisible text frame above or below the picture and referencing to that one.
Any suggestions?
Tschens

Or put it inside a text frame as an inline graphic. You've basically figured it out.
Peter

How can I get XML cross-references to translate to Structured FrameMaker?

I've been using Structured FrameMaker from the beginning, and have designed many EDDs, and about 10 years ago I did some translation of SGML into Structured FrameMaker (7.2) which worked well.
Now, (with FrameMaker 10), I've had to design an EDD to translate XML documents into Structured FrameMaker.
In my EDD I've a CrossReference element called XRef; this has an attribute of ID, which in turn has a value of IDReference and has Special AttributeConrols of ReadOnly.
My target elements in the EDD all have an ID attribute with a value of UniqueID.
My XML document's target xref element has an attribute of linkend, and in XML this works as I'd expect.
When I pass the XML file through the EDD/Template, everything works except that I get an ID = no value, which, of course, results in no display of the cross-reference data in the document.
Oddly, in structured FrameMaker, my element of link, with an attribute of linkend, works as it should, and displays the data. It may not be important, but the value for linkend is IDReference not UniqueID, and this displays correctly (I changed this attribute's value to Unique ID in my EDD and it made no difference to the XRef value in my document).
After making all these EDD changes, I've been careful to save the changes, import them to all files in my book and finally update the book.   Everything hangs together - except, of course, that the cross-reference doesn't work.
I'd sincerely appreciate any help or advice other users might have because I'm quite frankly stumped.

Russ,
Sorry about the delay in replying; got sidetracked trying to fix some FrameMaker 10 problems; on occasion, it laughs and crashes if we copy an element in a document and paste it to somewhere illegal. This doesn't happen all the time, but it might be something someone might do, so it was interesting to know.
Anyway, back to cross-references.
In our r/w rules we have:
"linkend" is fm attribute "ID";
Can we also have a similar line under the cross-reference element as:
element "xref"
     is fm cross-reference element "XRef";
     attribute "linkend" is fm property cross-reference id;
     attribute "role" is fm property cross-reference format;
At the moment the second line is:
.....attribute ID is fm property cross-reference id;
I tried adding the attribute "linkend" is fm property cross-reference id; (so that I had both linkend and ID) bit but this made no difference.
In general use cross-references work, in that it picks up data in one place in the document, e.g. WorldWideWeb, and repeats it elsewhere.   So in our xml file we have a link element with an attribute linkend which, when it's processed (ignoring the handshake code used to link the two - which could be something vague like 12345vvdog), repeats whatever is the target.
Conversely, for a cross-reference, in xml they use an xref element which also has a linkend attribute (similar mysterious secret handshake behind the scenes) which is deemed to point to a list of references.   This looks like it might be the stumbling block in that it links to an area in the xml document which is used as an internally generated list of references. Apparently this is only built when the xml book equivelent is finalised, so is not, like the link and linkend coupling described above.
I've passed this back to the xml people, and they are investigating a different way of preparing their cross-reference to a list of references (I'm now thoroughly confused with all these references - good thing the weekend's just around the corner).
I appreciate all you help and advice, I'll admit that this is a lot more difficult to understand than straight-forward EDD element creation along with their respective attributes.   Life used to be so much more simple back then!
In sum, what I thought I was doing was allowing an ID attribute with a value of IDReference in my elements, this was deemed to allow for FrameMaker cross-referencing.   In Structured FrameMaker, on its own, this works just fine; it all fell flat on its face when trying to import xml.   I tried to see whether the xref element's ID attribute could also be a UniqueID, but as just about everyone has said, this is a silly idea.   I was just trying stuff to see whether it might make a difference - you'll not be surprised to see that it didn't!
For the moment, I have attributes called ID with a value of IDReference, and I understand you're all suggesting to leave it at that.
If I understand correctly, I could eventually use an IDRef attribute if I wanted a UniqueID value to be used, though I'm not sure what a UniqueID is used or useful for, so will file that for future use.
Again, thanks for the advice and help.
Chris

Suppressing variables and cross-reference formats

Hi all,
I'm hoping someone can help me with the following two questions:
I am using TCS 3 (FM 10 and RH 9) and have my FrameMaker content linked in Robohelp.l
1) Is there any way of suppressing a variable from being included in Robohelp (example, the Table Continuation variable), without having to conditionalize each instance of this variable? If conditionalizing is the only way to do this, is there a fast way to conditionalize all instances of the Table Continuation variable? (faster than doing it manually by searching and replacing).
2) Is there a way to suppress a cross-reference format from being converted to the Robohelp procedure.
Thanks.
Sue

#1 - not sure about
#2 - definitely yes - in the Conversion Settings screen in RH, when you select the FM xref, you see in the field for RH and a little sample of what it will look like - the trick is that you can type over the text to specify what you want to show - I use "<$paratext>" to change one of my "print" xrefs (xxx on page yyy)

Creating a list of cross-reference formats

Is it possible to create a list of used/unused cross-reference formats?
I've been able to create a list of paragraph tags used in a book file, which was very helpful in my current project. I was hoping there would be something similar for the user-defined cross-reference formats. I've also created a list of the cross-references, but I'm looking for a list of the actual formats.
Using FM10, unstructured

PamelaAnnG wrote:
Is it possible to create a list of used/unused cross-reference formats?
I've been able to create a list of paragraph tags used in a book file, which was very helpful in my current project. I was hoping there would be something similar for the user-defined cross-reference formats. I've also created a list of the cross-references, but I'm looking for a list of the actual formats.
Using FM10, unstructured
Hi, Pamela:
Search Google for "squidds AND FrameMaker" with quotes and capital AND to find their commercial Toolbox tool that seems to claim it can do this. It's not cheap, however.
The free way is to:
* Save a FrameMaker file with FIle > Save As > MIF.
* Search Google for terms like "FrameMaker MIF manual online pdf" without quotes, and search within it for "cross-reference formats" without quotes to see how the formats are encoded.
* Search Google for "mifbrowse.zip" to find a tool that can help you find the term in a FrameMaker file you save as MIF. Open mifbrowse and use File > Open to locate the MIF file, or drag the MIF file from a Windows Explorer window into mifbrowse's left pane. Click Search and type in the term you've found in the MIF manual, that identifies the beginning of the collected formats.
* Copy and paste the format definitions. You may need to translate some of the notations in the formats. I can't remember where to look for them, but if you have trouble, start a new thread with some of the puzzling notations and ask where to find translations.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

TCS2 - FrameMaker Cross-reference formats completely ignored...

In RoboHelp I have changed all my cross-reference formats to <paratext>. However, this mapping seems to be completely ignored. What file drives these styles? I can run a template in FrameMaker to strip out the page numbers and autonumbers, but this setup should work in RoboHelp.
Anyone having the same problem?
Thanks,
[email protected]

I think you need to use <$paratext> in the FM to RH mapping (via the edit button)

ID CS4 - How to accurately identify existing cross references?

Hi there,
I'd like to know how I can accurately identify an existing cross reference.
I've assumed responsibility for a large document with many figures and many more to be added. I've been adding cross references that use my "figure" paragraph style. All of my cross references point to locations within the same document.
I am encountering older formatted text that looks like it might be a cross reference but I can't be certain. I've been using the non-printing visible rectangle to clearly identify cross references I've added. The previous authors did this in one or two locations but apparently not consistently.
What does it mean when my cursor is placed in a bolded word and when I select the Type>Hyperlinks & Cross-References menu and none of the fly-out menu options are available? Does this mean I've placed my cursor within an existing cross-reference?
If so, is there any way to change the format of an existing cross-reference so that it uses the visible rectangle?
Thanks,
Peter H.

@Pete47 – you could try the "Wps HyperlinkInspector" by Werner Perplies:
http://www.weepee.de/forum/indesign/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=59
Unfortuantely, it's all in German, but ask Werner for an English version…
I discovered some problems with its UI on Mac OSX, but if you are on Windows it should work fine.
The trial version is restricted to 25 hyperlinks…
Since "Wps HyperlinkInspector" is using "nodes" [+] you can expand, expect problems if you are testing with the current version of inDesign CC. There are some severe bugs with ScriptUI right now (e.g. you cannot expand "nodes").
Uwe

Cross-reference formatting

Hello:
In one of my documents, I've increased the font size of the body tag but now my cross references look smaller than the surrounding text. They appear to be wrapped in a body tag but the font and point size pull-downs in the toolbar appear blank when you click on a cross reference. I'm sure that it must be something easy but I can't seem to figure out why this occurs. Can someone enlighten me AND give me a fix? I'm using v8.0p277.
Thanks for your assistance!
Kimberly

Assuming that you have a character tag around the cross-refs, e.g. one named "SpecialLinkColor" that turns text to Magenta:
In MIFBrowser, or in a text editor, you'd be looking first for the section called "FontCatalog", which is the MIF-speak term for the Character tags catalog.
Then look at the properties that are listed within the FontCatalog for the "Font" that has the FTag name of "SpecialLinkColor".
So for example if SpecialLinkColor chartag is only supposed to change the color of the text it's applied to, the only property of the tag should be "FColor = 'Magenta" [along with the default properties of the FLocked= and FSeparation=]
There should be nothing else like FFamily=xx or FSize=xx.
If there are other properties like FSize, then that means that the character tag is applying all of those properties to the text.
If this is the case then would need to change the character tag to only apply the color (or whatever) property.
Changing a character tag takes a little more finesse, so let's start with just determining if there are character tags applied to the text and then what the character tag properties are, then we'll address how to globally change it to apply only the one property rather than the font size etc etc.
BIG reminder, please be sure to make a good backup of your files before creating the MIF or looking at it in a text editor, so that "inevitable things" don't go bump.

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.

How Can I Avoid Losing Cross-References?

We have multiple .book files that contain multiple .fm files, many of which contain cross references. Is it possible to work with those files outside of their network location (i.e from a flash drive) without losing the cross references? My employees frequently take work home or work remotely; however, we do not have remote access to our network, so they either e-mail the necessary .fm files or save them to a flash drive to work from. But when they return to the office and "save as" those files, the cross references become unresolved. Is there a way to avoid this?

> They are taking single .fm files home with them ...
How are they "taking" them?
Safe way:
Save and close all files on the office system.
Use file browser or command line to copy the files of interest to the transport medium.
Open the files at home, edit. Do not attempt to fix any broken Xrefs.
Save in place at home (not to transport medium)
Copy to transport medium.
This preserves the original filepath references, which should survive the trip even though unresolved at home.
Fail ways:
Save to transport medium at office, and.or
Save to transport medium at home.
Doing this re-writes the Xref filepaths relative to the current directory hierarchy. Unless you mimic the office tree at home, doing either of the above will make some or all Xrefs unresolved.
When you save an FM document to a new filepath, it revises the <XrefSrcFile 'filepath'> data structures to point to the new locations of Xrefs (and other imported content) relative to the new location. If you don't want this to happen (sometimes you do, sometimes you don't), then copy or move the closed document.

How may I exclude one add-on from checking for updates, while allowing all others to be able to check for updates?

I have an add-on that I do not wish to update; as I am satisfied with the version I am using, and I am dissatisfied with the updated version.

@cor-el, et al,
I have set the Automatic Updates to 'off'. That is not helping.
Perhaps I am not clearly explaining what I wish to accomplish?
I '''''NEVER''''' allow any automatic updates on this machine; not Windows, not my AV, and certainly not Firefox or any of the extensions.
Therefore, I hope that everyone understands that I want to exclude a certain extension from updating, '''''period'''''.
No automatic update, no manual update, no update of any kind what-so-ever, at all, in perpetuity.

Cross reference + GREP + excluding text

I would like to know if anyone has a solution to the following problem.
I have a paragraph style which I use to label tables within my document. In the paragraph style I have set up numbering (under Bullets and Numbering) so that each heading appears as "Table 1.1 School Children in HK" or "Table 1.2 School Children in China" the code I have entered in the 'number' field of the paragraph style appears below:
Table ^H.^#^/
I have inserted the word 'Table' prior to the rest of the code so that the label is correct.
When I create cross references I select 'Cross Reference Format' to be 'paragraph number' the problem is, however, that the word 'Table' is picked up as part of the 'paragraph number' because of the settings in the Paragraph Style. The end result looking like this:
The result is fine if you are cross referencing a single table per sentence, however, if you are dealing with multiple tables in plural this is a problem. What I would like to achieve is this:
Does anyone know if there is a way to achieve this by editing the 'Cross Reference Format' so that the word 'Table' disappears when the cross reference is generated? Perhaps with GREP?
I would really appreciate your help.

Hi Tom,
Im following standard English conventions (UK, if you will) and the format at the moment is a wee bit clunky when you have to write something like 'Table 7.1, Table 7.2, Table 7.3, Table 7.4 and Table 7.5.....' as will be the case later in the document. The other arrangment of 'Tables 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, 7.4 and 7.5.....' is much shorter and easier to read - brevity is essential in this document because of limited word count.

How do I exclude one cross reference format?

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