TOC Formatting Problem

[David Flynn]

Hi Daniel, Stuart and Richard,

Thanks for the encouragement and guidance. That is a sizeable
explaination....Daniel ....Thanks once again.

The problem I'm facing deals with using the existing template that we have
in our company.
Over the past few "handovers" from one technical writer to the nexthas
resulted in tweaking of the template here and there. Which has basically
resulted in some of the styles being different in a book or an fm. And I
have a library of ten guides.

e.g. of errors specific to certain guides

Color * definition inconsistent; whereas the other fms of the same book
don't throw this error.
Show / Comment usage inconsistent; whereas all tags have been removed and
comments set to Show All.

Each guide having its various versions of templates. Mind you I am at a
loose end as far as the consistency in presentation is conserned. Some fms
have some styles which have "overrides". Frankly, I am unclear as to how to
changeover to a single template that all guides should use. Secondly, how I
can bring about a single template change.

Is it as easy / difficult as in "certain other software" ???           :)

I have tried to checkout Adobe Training Centers available in New Delhi,
India but found none.

I am glad that we can share knowledge via this group.

Thank you,

David A.Flynn
Technical Writer


On 3/1/06, Daniel Emory <danemory7224 at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> --- davidaflynn <davidaflynn at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I am new to FrameMaker (6.0). Could anyone describe
> > how we can set / update
> > / create / modify styles in
> >
> > 1. a book
> > 2. its individual fms
> =======================================
> In the top menu bar of FM 6.0, choose File > New. In
> the New dialog, you'll see that, when FrameMaker was
> installed on your platform, a number of templates were
> added to your computer in a set of folders which are
> listed in the New dialog. Double-click on the Outlines
> folder to open it, and select the template named
> OutlineHarvard. Observe that the name of this template
> now appears in the Use Template slot. Now, click the
> New button to open a new (empty) document which will
> be an exact replica of the chosen OutlineHarvard
> template.
>
> To explore what makes up a template, do the following:
>
> 1. Choose View > Master Pages. Observe that there are
> three--Left, Right and First. Note that the Left and
> Right master pages have 3 text frames--The running
> header text frame which contains a variable, the Body
> text frame which is empty and will contain the content
> you create, and a running footer text frame which also
> contains a variable. Note that the First master page
> does not contain a running header, but otherwise is
> the same as the Left and Right master pages.
>
> 2. Next, choose View > Reference Pages. Observe that
> there are 6 reference pages, each having a name. Pages
> 3-5 provide the information for converting the
> document to HTML. Page 1 contains frames that appear
> above footnotes, page 2 contains the specifications
> for generating a table of contents, and page 6 defines
> the paragraph tags associated with each of the 4
> hierachical heading levels.
>
> 3. Next, choose View > Body Pages, and do the
> following:
>
> A. Choose Format > Paragraphs > Catalog. The paragraph
> catalog appears, and lists all of the named paragraph
> formats in the template. Then, choose Format >
> Paragraphs > Designer. In the paragraph designer you
> can examine all of the formatting information for each
> paragraph format listed in the paragraph catalog.
>
> B. Choose Format > Characters > Catalog. The character
> catalog appears, and lists all the named character
> styles in the template. Then, choose Format >
> Characters > Designer. In the character designer you
> can examine all of the formatting information for each
> character style l(other the default format).
>
> C. Choose Table > Table Designer. This dialog serves
> as both the table catalog and the formatting details
> for each named format.
>
> D. Choose Format > Document. This allows you to set up
> numbering properties, change bars, footnotes, and
> miscellaneous text options for your documents.
>
> E. Choose Special > Cross Reference to open the Cross
> Reference dialog. Then, choose Edit Format to open the
> Edit Cross Reference Format dialog. This dialog allows
> you to modify the definition and formatting of
> existing named cross-reference types as well as
> allowing you to add new named cross reference
> definitions.
>
> F. Choose Special > Variable. This dialog allows you
> to edit modify the definitions of system variables,
> and to create your own set of user-defined variables,
> each having an unique name.
>
> G. Choose Special > Marker. This dialog allows you to
> define your own set of special marker types.
>
> The above tour of a typical template gives you a
> handle on the scope of template design. Usually, it's
> best to begin with an existing template that's as
> close as possible to what you require, and then
> modifying it to meet your requirements.
> Paragraph Styles - Paragraph Designer.
>
> Once you've created a template, you can specify it
> each time you create a new document in FrameMaker. If,
> subsequently, you decide to make modifications to your
> template, you can update existing documents to conform
> to the modified template by opening both the template
> and the document to be updated, and choosing File >
> Import > Formats.
>
>
>
> Dan Emory & Associates
> FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
> <danemory7224 at sbcglobal.net>
>