New figure object [was "Re: table and figure captions"]

[Fred Ridder]

Responding to Deirdre Reagan's original query, Hedley Finger wrote
(in small part):
 
> Deirdre Reagan wrote:
> > Does anyone know why FM automatically makes Table captions but not
> > Figure captions?
> 
> You have had your answer elsewhere on this list. But, seriously, why 
> isn't there a figure object that is similar to a one-celled table, which 
> is a pain to set up.
 
I was thinking about this very idea after I posted my previous message
on this thread. I think it would be a great idea if we could treat anchored
frames as embedded objects with similar properties to tables. But I do
think it would want to be implemented for anchored frames generically
rather than just for figures since some documents use anchored frames
(or single-cell tables) for things other than illustrations--things like 
spreadsheet fragments, code listings, and mathematical proofs. (Although
if you read the article by a former IBM-er that was cited earlier in this 
thread you'd learn that we shoudl treat *all* non-text objects as a single 
class rather than distinguishing tables vs. figures vs. equations, etc.)
 
But what I completely fail to see is why handling figures in single-celled 
tables is such a "pain to set up". I've designed and used templates that
work both ways and I have to say that I don't have a clear preference.
Each has advantages and disadvantages. I do know from experience
that the single-cell table approach takes significantly more explaining 
when training new template users, but it's not hard to set up in the 
template, and only a little harder for writers to use than the paragraph-
based approach. 
 
-FR
 
 
 
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