Make anchored graphics frames act as containers

Question

If I choose Object/Anchored Object/Insert and make the inserted frame a graphics frame (with above line positioning), it doesn't act as a container. That is, if I put a graphic into the frame or create one with the drawing tools -- say a line diagram -- and then make edits to surrounding text that causes the text to move up or down, the *frame* moves with the text it's anchored to, but the graphics inside it *don't* -- with enough editing, they could move right outside the frame, like ghosts passing thro' walls. Since almost every time I want to put a graphic onto the page it bears some specific relationship to the local text, this behavior is unhelpful, to say the least.
I can't figure out what the point of graphics frames that don't hold their contents in place could be, so I wonder if this is a bug. If so, please fix it. But if ID is behaving as intended, please add the option to preserve the position of graphics inside the frame *relative to the frame boundaries* (as opposed to relative the page boundaries).
Thanks.
PS: I did try to group the frame with a line diagram inside it but that seems impossible. I also know you can paste graphics into body text directly -- I watched AMC's video at Adobe -- but when the graphic in question has different pieces that relate to specific words above or below it, you really can't build it off-site then paste it in -- especially if the result of doing that limits your options for adjustments.

Answer 1

I believe we've covered this issue thoroughly. There's nothing wrong with your intention, but there is something missing about the containership behavior of ID's anchored frames that works fine in FM.
I think it's a bug. Others may think it's a personal wish that isn't supported. My thinking is that ID's frame objects are already packed with smarts about content type and fitting abilities, that the developers simply overlooked providing the ability to add new objects freely into a frame that's already got content (like FM can.)
Apparently designers don't encounter this need anywhere nearly as often as those who author annotated documents in Word, FM, or other similar tools that permit working in the isolated environment of a frame - adding, removing, resizing, rearranging text objects and graphic objects at will - as if it were a blank page environment. So, there have been few reports of problems in this area.
The main reliable anchored-frame solution for this particular problem is to create and revise the content outside of any frame, then group, select, and copy the composite object and paste it at the cursor insertion point, or save it as a separate ID file and place it as an anchored object.
Perhaps you've already explored using an unstroked table for this particular need. The baselines of text in your example seem to be aligned across the horizontal rows, and the divider lines also seem aligned on horizontal rows. The divider lines could be created by several means - underlines in cells, graphic lines in anchored frames in cells, or horizontal cell rulings.
The whole arrangement requires painstaking attention no matter how it's constructed, so the fussiness of working with a table wouldn't seem to add something that might not be needed with a different method. Because tables can break across frames, you'd need to set all rows to keep together.
Again, I strongly suggest formally reporting this quirk as a bug to be fixed and/or a feature request.
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices