RH and FM conditional text

I am evaluating alternatives to our old WWP setup. With that
setup, we were able to process our conditional FM source
automatically into various outputs. The WWP project file interacted
with FM to control the conditional settings for different jobs.
With RH 7 for HTML, acccoring to the online help, we must set
the conditions manually in Frame before we run RH. Is this correct?

Thanks. At this point, I'm trying to figure out what to do
first.
The Help says to apply FrameMaker Conditional Text Build
Expressions before adding any FrameMaker files. Since I haven't
added any FM files, RH can't have any information about the
conditional tags we've defined in FM. Does this mean I have to
define some conditional expressions in RoboHelp to match the ones
we're using in FM, and then use these RH expressions when importing
the FM files?
The RH Help says that when I select the "Apply FrameMaker
Conditional Text Build Expression" option, "only the filtered
content is imported into RoboHelp, based on the conditional text
build expression." This suggests that I can use one expression to
load one "flavour" of my FM document into the RH project. It
implies that if I want a separate flavour for a separate output, I
will have to change the expression and add the FM files again. Is
that correct?
Does it make a difference how the conditions have been set in
the FM files when I add the files to RH?
What is the FrameMaker Conditional Text Build Expression? Do
I need to create a build expression named "FrameMaker" for use when
adding FrameMaker files?
Sorry for all the questions, but I'm having a hard time
following the Help.

Similar Messages

Book and File Conditional Text Tags Don't Match

In Framemaker 10 (TCS 3, Windows 7 64-bit), when I click on a document in a the book (& View>Show/Hide Conditional Text), an extra conditional text tag shows up that doesn't exist in the document Show/Hide Conditional Text.
For example:
In the book, My Book.book, I select Chapter1.fm (but don't open it).
Then I open the Show/Hide Conditional Text panel (View>Show/Hide Conditional Text)
I see these two condition tags, Hide Text and HideText. I use Hide Text but not HideText.Apparently, at some point I changed the name of the condition tag.
Then I open Chapter1.fm.
When I open the Show/Hide Conditional Text panel, HideText isn't there.
What I want to do is to delete HideText (the one I don't use), but I can't find ourt how to do it. any ideas out there?
One more bit of information that might help figure out what's going on:
I select Chapter1.fm in the book.
Then I select Show as per condition in the Show/hide Conditional Text panel.
Select HideText in the Hide field.
Click the left arrow (<--) to move HideText to the Show field.
Click Apply.
I get this error message in the Book Error Log:
Cannot show the following tags because they do not exist in this document
So, can anyone tell me how to get rid of HideText from the book files?
Thanks!
John N.

John, some troubleshooting questions:
1. did all of the file(s) originate from FM10 or were any from previous versions? Did you import previous version content? Slight naming differences between FM versions is an insidious problem that many of us here can relate to ... If any of the files were from previous versions, I would start with testing FM10 original content itself, to see what naming convention FM10 starts with.
2. if you want to dive into the innards of your problem files, you might use the venerable MIFBrowser, a freebie from
http://www.wideman-one.com/gw/tech/framemaker/mifbrowse.htm
Although it hasn't been updated in a loooooong time, it should still work perfectly with FM10 MIF files. It's just a viewer, not an editor, but it will help you get a handle on both the conditional tags in-situ, in comparison to the tag as defined in the condition catalog section.
MIF is a bit daunting if you've never looked at it, but with MIFBrowse the various sections of content are more easily viewable.
3. With copies of your FM files safely backed up you could then edit the conditions in the.MIF files in a text editor (or by using FM itself, although this takes some special care to ensure that the file remains as text. I personally fine text editors (e.g. NotepadPlus or EmEditor) easier to use because viewing line numbers helps when trying to sync between what you see in the MIFBrowse display vs. actually edit the content.
4. It's also possible to save the .book file as .mif to then examine/edit the conditional tag catalog with a text editor. You could copy the "missing" conditional definition from one of the chapters into the .book file.
Sheila

Conditional Text in Headers

I am using FrameMaker 7.2 and trying to insert conditional text into page headers. According to FrameMaker Help, the <$condtag> building block should find and apply conditional text in a page header. However, FrameMaker 7.2 seems unable to find the text with the conditional tag ("2nd edition") that I want in the header. FrameMaker IS able to find the "2nd edition" conditional tag when I use the Find/Change utility.
This is the the definition of the page header in my document:
<$paratext[Head2,Head3]><$condtag[2nd edition,\ ]>
The header that is generated shows a second level or third level heading followed by the text "2nd edition," for example:
2.1-Storing Files2nd edition
. . . which is NOT what I want. I want the 2.1 text that I've conditionally tagged "2nd edition" to appear in the header, for example:
2.1-Storing Customer Files
Is the syntax that I've used incorrect or is this problem a software bug?

Arnis, Thank you for your patience and assistance. GOAL From a second edition and third edition document that is one document with conditional tags: * Generate second edition page headers (based on Head2 and Head3 paragraphs) for the second edition document or generate third edition page headers (based on Head2 and Head3 paragraphs) for the third edition document. * Hide second edition page headers on the third edition document. Hide third edition page headers on the second edition document. DEFINITION 2nd edition number: 2.1 3rd edition number: 201.1 <$marker1> building block is for 2nd edition header. <$marker2> building block is for 3rd edition header. Header/Footer $1 marker is for 2nd edition header. Header/Footer $2 marker is for 3rd edition header. I am putting the 2nd edition and 3rd edition section numbers on the same line with the section title, for example (with visible delimiter): 2: 2.1 | 201.1-System Administration In the previous example, the tagged heading looks like: (Conditional text tags) <2nd edition>2.1 | <3rd edition> 201.1 |-System Administration (Marker tags) <Header/Footer $1>2.1 |<Header/Footer $2>201.1 |-System Administration Here are the page headers that are generated after Running H/F 5 headers are defined with <$marker1> and <$marker2> building blocks: <$marker1>: 2.1-System Administration <$marker2>: 201.1-System Administration Here is the Running H/F 5 header that is generated after conditional text is hidden: (2nd edition hidden) 201.1-System Administration (3rd edition hidden) 2.1-System Administration Here is the Running H/F 5 header that is generated when the header is defined with: <paratext[Head2,Head3]>: 2.1201.1-System Administration <paranum[Head2,Head3]>: blank <paranumonly[Head2,Head3]>: blank <paratag[Head2,Head3]>: Head2 (or Head3) Right now when I define the Running H/F 5 header with the <$marker1> building block, only second edition headers show on pages. When I want third edition page headers to show, I must edit the Running H/F 5 header by defining it with the <$marker2> building block. Those are the results that I want! But I am wondering if there is a simple way to hide second edition or third edition headers without having to constantly edit (redefine) the Running H/F 5 header.

Delete text option when deleting a Conditional Text Style

I now have a document with my first real Conditional Text items. We have many distributors with different product numbers. I am using Conditional Text for the product numbers. Great. But! what if we lose a distributor? Right now, if I delete a Conditional Text condition, I am asked what condition I would like to replace it with. What I would probably like to do is actually delete all of the text assigned to that condition, not just delete the condition. As it is now, if I delete the condition, I still would have to go back and delete the text relating to that condition. Not too handy.

JustBob wrote:
That Find/Replace Format does not seem so obvious to me...
Find the condition-to-drop
then Replace with Format empty...That wouldn't just change the format to unconditional? It would actually delete the text?
Well, only one way to find out. Yes! You are correct. I would never have thought of that. Thank you.
Now that you mention it, I'm not exactly sure why it seemed obvious to me. The real reason that it works isn't simply that Replace with Format is empty, but rather that both Replace with Format and Change to are empty.
If you Find what: specific text - say letter "a" - whose Find format: is <conditionname> and Change to: letter "b" with Change format: Empty, "a" changes to "b" and the condition stays the same.
If you Find what: specific text - say letter "a" - whose Find format is <conditionname> and Change to: is empty with Change format: <differentconditionname>, or different text color, or <characterstylename>, letter "a" remains the same, and the condition, text color, or character style, is applied.
It takes a while to get used to.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

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

Sections and conditional text

Hello.
I work with technical documents that are translated into 5 languages. This documents have 16 main sections. I would like to put, in the footpage of any page, the name of the section. I know that I can enclose this 16 sections with the Numbering and sections options, but just in one language. I would like to put in the section marker name some conditional text (1 label per language): Introduccíón (spanish) Introduction (english) and so on. Is it possible?
Another easy way to do it? I wouldn't like that the translators have to translate every section marker in every document. I want to make it automatic.
Another option is create 16 master pages (one per section) and put on it conditional text, but I don't want 16 master pages.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance.

Sorry but I can't explain it as clear as I would because english is not my mother tongue.
Yes, this sections have a title. For example, the point 1 is "Introducción" and I want that, in the footpage of the Introducción pages, put "Introducción" atutomatically. With the point 2, 3, 4, and so on, the same. Then, when I send it to our translators, they generate a new document in the target language based on the original. It would be nice if they translate those titles (Introduction, etc) automatically the footpage is updated.
This book documents are divided in 3 .indd files: 1 per front cover and index. 1 per the body of the document. 1 per the back cover. I want this footpage just in the second .indd file.
I use conditional text for some facts. For example, if you choose the label USA, you will see in the footpage "Instalation manual". If you choose Spain, you will see 'Manual de instalación'. In my first post I was talking about conditional text because I'm used to use it, but I can see other options.
Thanks.

Conditional text and text inserts in FM 10

A perfect scenario, I thought, for conditional text: user guides for versions A and B of the same product, where most of the content is the same for both and some specific to one or the other. Some of the variants – such as "Connecting the power supply" – are at chapter level, others at paragraph level … so I've set prepared two .book files, and two chapter files which contain a single sentence plus the condition settings: show A, hide B or show B, hide A, respectively.
Extra finesse, just sprung on me: one chapters, which exists in an A and a B version, uses a text insert for some common paragraphs and one of these paragraphs now needs to be hidden util development is completed.
Long context, then. Short problems:
selecting all the files in a .book and using File > Import formats (with only Conditional text settings selected) doesn't seem to be working
the conditional text in the insert refuses to go away, even with the relevant condition defined, and set to Hide, both in the insert and in the chapter that calls it
Final question: do I need to brush up on conditions, or is FM 10 not as reliable as it might be here?
Windows 7.0, one single FM installation of 10.0.2.419

Niels,
When you imported the text insert, what did you set for its properties behaviour, i.e. to stay as per the source or to use the properties in the currrent document?
Are you using "Show as per Condition" or "Show as per Expression" to control the appearance of the conditional text?
In the insert source document, does the relevant paragraph hide when the condition is applied?
Is the condition name spelled identically (capitalization and spaces) in the inset and document?

CS3 plugins needed: worldready and conditional text plugins to open files

I have CS3 Creative Suite and I created a digital portfolio that will not open on my new computer because it says a worldready plugin and conditional text plugins are needed. I called the adobe hotline but they said since it's CS3 they do not have support for my issue and that I would need to update to CS5. If someone could please direct me in the right direction it would be extremely appreciated.

You are trying to open a file saved in a more recent version of InDesign. If it was only those two plugins listed it's a CS4 file. The file will need to be opened in the correct version and exported back to .inx through CS4 (CS5 files need to be exported to .idml before they can be opened in CS4). Unsupported features will be lost and text may reflow du to differnces inthe text engins from version to version.

Show/Hide conditional text at a book level

I am using TCS2 on Windows XP.
FM 9.0 p250
I have several files as part of a large FM book. Each file has the same text conditional tags. Can I, at a book level, set my conditions to show/hide, etc. and then update the book? So far, I only know how to open each file, set the SHOW/HIDE CONDITIONAL TEXT as I need it (not to show conditiona indicators and according to my built expression) and then save and close each file.
Is there a way to do all my files at once? Note- I want them all set the same way... so that might make it easier..
Thanks,
Adriana

adrianaharper wrote:
I am using TCS2 on Windows XP.
FM 9.0 p250
I have several files as part of a large FM book. Each file has the same text conditional tags. Can I, at a book level, set my conditions to show/hide, etc. and then update the book? So far, I only know how to open each file, set the SHOW/HIDE CONDITIONAL TEXT as I need it (not to show conditiona indicators and according to my built expression) and then save and close each file.
Is there a way to do all my files at once? Note- I want them all set the same way... so that might make it easier..
Thanks,
Adriana
I don't have FrameMaker available right now, so I'm working from memory, using the traditional FrameMaker menus, rather than the FM 9 tools.
Select all the files in the book window. With the book window active, open the View menu and look for Conditional Text. Your settings here apply to all selected files in the book window, so it's possible to set conditions on all or some files files. Ctrl+Click to select non-contiguous files; Shift+Click to select a range of contiguous files.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices

(FM8p277) Crashes when saving first doc in book after changing conditional text display

That was a mouthful :-)
Okay, this happens with any of the books that I work on --- it never happened with Frame 7.
I have a book containing several documents.
The documents contain several conditional text segments.
Start new Framemaker session, open book, open all documents.
Change conditional text display (from Show All to Show Selected, or vice-versa).
From the book, choose Save All (or from the *first* document, choose Save). The following text appears in a 'FrameMaker dialog': "File <filename of first document>.fm has changed on the disk since you last opened or saved it. Someone else has probably modified the file. Do you want to save it anyway?
Click OK. All of the files save properly. (If I had clicked Cancel, the first file would be skipped and all other files would save.)
Change conditional text display again (note: this could even be for a different book at this point, I believe, but will have to verify).
(Repeat step 3): The same text appears again in the dialog.
Click OK. FrameMaker crashes while trying to save the first file. (If I had clicked Cancel, the first file would be skipped and all other files would save. However, if I attempt to save the first file afterward, FrameMaker still crashes.)
Anybody have any insight into this? Am I the only one this happens to? Argh :-)
Thanks.

Sorry, the only answers I got were on the forum and nothing worked
That being said, at least now I know I'm not crazy! (Sorry it had to
happen to you, though.)
As it stands, I've been training myself to make sure that after the
first time I toggle the settings, I do the save, and then make sure to
save all, quit, and restart FrameMaker before I attempt another toggle.
On the odd occasion that I don't do that and get the warning message, I
select Cancel (which lets the rest of the files save), quit, restart,
and then make sure I update the first document appropriately.
All the while cursing and swearing, of course
As an aside... if you find a solution, please let me know about it if
you remember.
Thanks.
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

Removing conditional text tags in a batch

Hi everyone, using TCS2 on Win-7 64-bit.
We have been using some conditional text tags in our writing, and now we are looking at adding a few new ones and taking a few away. Is there a way to remove a batch of conditional text tags from a whole bunch of FM documents, all at once? It is a tedious process to do it manually, doc per doc, tag per tag... wondering if there is a script, or anything like that?
Thanks,
Adriana

I believe there are a couple of utilities to manage conditional tags; you might try searching Leximation's tool list:
http://www.leximation.com
And, there could definitely be Framescript-based scripts, either generic or written customized for your requirements. Here's the FrameScript group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/framescript-users

Adding Conditional-Text conditions in bulk.

We are importing text from excel using XML via XSLT.
We would like to mark certain prices (excel columns or Indesign tags) as conditional text.
We are having a great deal of difficulty in applying conditional text using find-and-replace within Indesign, because of the variation in formatting of prices.
Below two products, where product B includes a thousands comma separater, a Tax Staus marker in the UK and a Truck Shipping marker in the USA all of which need to be included within the conditional text.
Product
UK (X1X)
Europe (X2X)
USA (X3X)
A
£1.99
3.50E
£3.59
B
£1,199.00 XV
3.500.00E
$3,590.00 T
Is it possible to apply conditions to tags?
Is it possible to apply conditions using XML or XSLT?

This problem was solved by a response to a more focussed question about GREP searching.
applying the conditions is straightforward once the correct strings have been GREP'd

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...

TCS2 Inline graphics hidden by conditional text cause unwanted carriage returns

I have some FrameMaker documents where there are some small icons in the text. Their anchored frames are set to be "at insertion point" in FrameMaker. They work fine normally, but when the icons are hidden by conditional text, they cause unwanted carriage returns in the RoboHelp output. The text is split into different paragraphs in the middle of the sentence.
For example, this is the FrameMaker input:
And this is the RoboHelp (WebHelp) output:
I notice that if I manually edit a topic in the RoboHelp editor, I can manually apply a conditional tag to an inline graphic without causing a line break.
So, I'm wondering if there's a way to avoid this when using linked FrameMaker documents.
Thanks,
Philip.

Your logs are generated automatically by your system as it runs - there is nothing further that you need to do. They are ordinary text files, so you can display them on a terminal using any of the usual tools - cat, less, grep, etc.

RH and FM conditional text

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