Figure titles in structured FrameMaker

[Bernard Aschwanden]

Steve wrote:
Thanks for ultra-rapid and comprehensive response, and Yves Barbion, Paul Wilbraham and John Posada too. Structure doesn't seem quite so scary with you guys around ;-)

Bernard: no problem. Glad to be of help.






Steve:
Well, the slate's bare at present, as I am writing the EDD from scratch. I am also considering structured FrameMaker only as a writing tool, but if content is to be imported, it will currently be based on a hacked version of DocBook. This seems to create titled figures as:

Figure title<frameanchor>¶
[anchored frame]

I don't at present know how that would map to XML - and I've got enough to worry about just creating the EDD ;-)


B: My xml looks a bit like this:
<fig frame="all"><title>The title here</title>
<image href="images/deployment_initial.gif" height="65.360pt" width="186.320pt" align="aleft" otherprops="150" placement="inline"/></fig>

However, inside FM it looks like this:

The title here\r
Figure\p

The EDD is (in part):

Element (Container): Title
General rule:	<TEXT>
Suffix rules
If context is: Figure
Suffix: \r
Text format rules
If context is: table
Use paragraph format: Table_Title
Else, if context is: Figure
Use paragraph format: Figure_Title

Element (Container): Figure
General rule:	Title, Graphic
Text format rules
In all context
Use paragraph format: Table_Anchor

Element (Graphic): Graphic
Initial graphic element format
In all contexts.
Insert imported graphic file.








Steve:
Which 'next/prev' features are you referring to? The para-tag level ones, whether implemented in a tag or an element definition, won't keep a para and an anchored frame together, surely, if the frame is floated? Paul Wilbraham also suggested this ('You can then apply keep with next/previous to the Figure and Title elements in the EDD to keep these elements together.'), but I'm baffled.

Maybe what you and others are suggesting is pairing the figure's title, with 'keep with next' set on, with a dummy para to contain the anchored frame's anchor? Ok, yes, I get that: I'm doing that elsewhere in this template. But if the anchored frame's *anchor* is actually in the figure title (in this design the figure's title is always above the figure), then the title and the anchored frame will stay together unless the anchored frame is floated: there's no need for a 'keep with next', surely?

B: Para tag level ones. I like to set my Figure_Title to keep with previous so that the graphic generally 'sticks' with what leads into it. I don't even need a dummy paragraph for the figure, it's anchored 'in' the same one as the Title, but with the suffix of \r it works.




 

Steve:
> Finally, a single cell table with a title above/below would also do the trick and give you cleaner XML.

Yes, Yves Barbion suggested this approach too. I'm using 'non-tables' to model other complex elements in the client's design, but FrameMaker's built-in table title support won't work here because of other design aspects, such as some colored pages.

B: Okay. However, if you go with a table, consider a single cell table with a title. Develop the format and the Figure_Title will stick to that table style. You can also toggle the position of the title to above/below the table very quickly.