Import external file by reference

[Combs, Richard]

Stuart Rogers wrote: 
 
> Fred Ridder wrote:
> >   Responding to kgrace4715 at aol.com <mailto:kgrace4715 at aol.com>,
Stuart
> > Rogers wrote:
> >
> >  > You can easily import PDFs, but only by specifying one page at a
time.
> >  > A multi-page PDF would have to be broken up into many single-page
PDFs
> >  > (with reliably the same names from version to version) in order
for
> your
> >  > Import By Reference scenario to work. There may be a quick way to
do
> >  > that in Acrobat (or a macro in Word?), but I don't know it. In
any
> >  > case, if the page count of the source document changes, the
workflow
> > breaks.
> >
> > Not quite correct. It is true that each page of a multi-page PDF
must be
> > imported separately, but the original file does not have to be
broken
> > into single-page PDF files to do this. If you tell FrameMaker to
import
> > a PDF that has multiple pages, you are presented with a dialog that
> > displays a miniature of the selected page of the PDF and provides
you
> > with both a number box and a slider bar for you to use to select the
> > particular page you want to import.
> > And I have to believe that one can programmatically step through the
> > pages in an arbitray multi-page PDF via FrameScript or the FDK
(although
> > I have never looked into this in the slightest).
> > -Fred Ridder
> 
> Quite so, Fred; I proposed the breaking up of the PDF on the
assumption
> that only native FM capabilities were available, and that's the only
way
> that updates would occur automatically upon re-opening the FM file.

No, the updates occur automatically in any case. I have PDFs containing
20-30 pages of flow-charts (all from a single Visio file, btw) that I
imported manually into FM as Fred described, picking the next page of
the PDF for each new figure. If any page in the PDF changes, it's
automatically updated in FM. 

Fred's scripting suggestion is just to speed up the initial imports. But
that actually goes quite quickly. I import the first page of a PDF and
then make copies of the anchored frame containing it (and its figure
caption and anchor pgf) -- one for each additional page in the PDF. Then
it's just a matter of clicking each copy and pressing Esc f i f. 

FM remembers the source PDF, so in the dialog Fred mentioned, I just
have to press the right arrow key to go to the next page of the PDF, and
then press Enter to import that page. 


Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------