List of... or Index of... as a text inset?

[Steve Rickaby]

At 10:25 -0700 23/4/08, Rene Stephenson wrote:

>Yeah, I think it was you, Steve. Maybe this is something I should approach with FrameScript?

Well, I've not used FrameScript, but my feeling is that it would be overkill unless you need a high level of automation. All it would save you is the need to leaf through the chapters and select, say, Special -> Table of Contents for each one. Once FrameMaker has built a chapter-level TOC for you, it remembers the TOC settings in the same way as it does for book-level TOCs - or any other generated list.

You should do this, of course, *before* generating the book-level lists, because an increase in the length of, say, a chapter-level TOC can throw pagination forwards.

>What if I built a pre-publication file management book for this project and put all the chapter-level generated files for the various books in it, updated that book, and then updated the publication book with all the update settings turned on? Would that work?

Wow. Er... no :-( But it might be an interesting experiment ;-)

Basically you are taking FrameMaker outside its envelope: it only deals with one level of book-level generated files, and you want to add a second level.

If you try what you suggest, ask yourself what you would be trying to achieve by updating the book of generated files? That process would only make sense if you were generating further files *from* the generated files to go into the file management book. It sort of makes my head hurt.

Put another way, FrameMaker cannot create a chapter-level TOC for you unless you have that chapter open.

There is probably some useful exploratory work to be done in messing with book-level organisation, ur-books and so on, but I don't think it will solve this immediate problem.

>I'm trying to cut down on the time required to verify that all the "in this chapter" type of lists are updated. Having to check it manually for every chapter when there are hundreds of pages in each book and dozens of books due at production is just too time-consuming.

Ok, then you have just answered my first point: you would benefit from FrameScripting it. I can't help you there, though, but there are folks here who can.

According to Art, Rick's already written one, so there you go ;-)

-- 
Steve