Framers Digest, Vol 33, Issue 12

[Keith Smyth]

Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:29:17 -0400

From: JIm Owens <jowens at magma.ca>
Subject: Floating figures and tables was RE: question about overrides
To: "'Framers'" <framers at lists.frameusers.com>,    "Mike Bradley"
    <mbradley at techpubs.com>
Message-ID: <.1215815357 at magma.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"


>Floating figures and tables are useful for automating page breaks,
>but I too have encountered people who insist that the figure must
>always immediately follow the reference. Can anyone help me understand
>where this rule originated?
>In Framemaker, setting them up requires a bit more effort.  To save
>time, I would usually create a new figure exhibit by copying and
>pasting an existing one, replacing the image, and manually resizing
>the figure frame.
>On Fri 11/07/08  5:44 PM , "Mike Bradley" mbradley at techpubs.com
>sent:
>If I'm writing a typical user manual, my preferred solution for
>pagination 
.overrides is to float tables and figures. Floating rarely produces
>pagination 
>problems--that's the main purpose of floating, as far as I can tell.
>I give 
>tables and figures numbered titles and I'm careful to cite each one
>in the text, 
>whether by Xref alone or with an explanation of their contents, so
>that the 
>reader can find it (floating is an option for tables but not frames,
>so I put 
>all graphics in tables).  
>Some clients are uncomfortable with floating. They insist that the
>table or 
>figure must appear directly before or after the text to which they
>refer, but 
>I've never had a user complain about it. Floating moves the table
>only a page 
>away. 
>= Mike Bradley 
>   www.techpubs.com 

Just check with any mil-spec writer. This requirement seems to have originated in military manuals. A table or figure shall follow its reference in text. It is acceptable for the figure or table to appear on the following page. Also, one NEVER referenced forward in a document, only BACKWARD. The first time an acronym was used, it had to be explained - IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion), or JERK (Junior Engineer Reeking Knowledge).