Frame vs InDesign vs. alternatives??

[Peter Gold]

On Mon, May 18, 2009 at 8:49 AM, David Creamer
<ideaslists at ideastraining.com> wrote:

[snipped]

> ID's Indexing is slightly easier with use of it's topic list in the Index
> panel, but I believe that ID only allows one index per book.

One suggested workaround is to create a unique dummy top-level entry
for each separate index, and make the real top-level entries
second-level entries. For example,

Flora - first level
          green plants - second level
                  grass - third level
                  spinach - third level
                  zucchini - third level

          yellow plants - second level
            etc...

Fauna - first level
          two-legged - second level
                 chickens - third level
                 primates - third level

          four-legged - second level
                 cats - third level
                 dogs - third level
                 zebras - third level

Then, cut and paste the sections of the generated index.

Also, enter a feature request for multiple indexes at

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

[snipped]

> ID cannot span columns with subheads if working with a multi-column layouts,
> and does not have run-in heads.

in-tools.com has some very smart InDesign plug-ins for side heads,
straddle heads, and run-in heads.

[snipped]

If your workflow needs multiple indexes and side, straddle, and run-in
paragraphs, FM is the simpler way to achieve them.

[snipped]

> Frame's conditions are slightly more advanced in that they can be applied to
> table rows; ID's conditions can only be applied to the entire table. Other
>condition features are similar.

[snipped]

I haven't seen this suggested, but it's probably possible to use a
script that searches for character, or paragraphl styles applied to
the content of all cells in a row, or , cell styles applied to the
cells in a row, and reduce their height to zero to hide them. The
style names should match the condition names. Restoring hidden rows to
their former size probably would need the script to create and refer
to user variables that store the original row height.

InDesign's highly customizable by scripting; there are many free ones,
and often participants on the Adobe InDesign scripting forum will whip
one up for free, if their interest is piqued and they have the time.
There are also folks who develop custom scripts. But, again, this is
more complicated than FM's approach. Once again, request the feature
at:

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform

HTH

Regards,

Peter
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Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices