FrameMaker vs InDesign book files

Sat Feb 27 18:31:56 PST 2010

I personally use File > Package... feature. It makes a duplicate of all files incl. the book itself and changes all links automatically. Plus you can specify whether you want the graphics and fonts copied as well.

Is that what you are trying to do?

Michael

> From: rick at rickquatro.com
> To: srickaby at wordmongers.demon.co.uk
> Subject: RE: FrameMaker vs InDesign book files
> Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:39:50 -0500
> CC: framers at lists.frameusers.com
> 
> Hi Steve,
> 
> I thought maybe scripting could come to the rescue, since InDesign has a lot
> of scripting choices (AppleScript on Mac, VBScript on PC, JavaScript on
> both). My thought was to write a script that would loop through the
> duplicated book's files and point them to the files in the duplicated
> folder. Unfortunately, the fullName property for each book component is
> read-only so you can't programmatically change it.
> 
> By the way, the paths to each component in a FrameMaker book are actually
> stored internally as absolute, but when you open the book, FrameMaker
> "resolves" the paths, and treats them as relative, if possible. This is how
> paths to imported images and external cross-references are handled as well.
> With FrameMaker, these path properties are fully writeable, which means you
> can change them with FrameScript or an FDK client.
> 
> You can see an example of how this can be beneficial for imported graphics
> here:
> 
> http://frameautomation.com/2010/02/23/managing-imported-images-solution
> 
> A similar thing can be done for FrameMaker books, especially large books
> with complex numbering or pagination requirements. Say that you want to
> duplicate the book but use it with a set of components with different names.
> You want to use the same book because you spent a lot of time getting the
> component numbering and pagination for each set up just right. You would
> follow this procedure.
> 
> 1) Duplicate the book and put it in the new folder.
> 2) Run a script that extracts all of the book paths into a spreadsheet file.
> 3) Open the spreadsheet file and edit the paths to point to the new
> components.
> 4) Run a companion script to update the book's component paths to those
> specified in the spreadsheet.
> 
> All of the components will have the properties as originally specified in
> the original book, even though they point to different components. The
> assumption here is that the new book has the same number of components in
> the same positions as the old book. But even if there are slight
> differences, changing them by hand after you use the scripts will still be
> less work than building and configuring a new book from scratch.
> 
> This method can also be used to update a book after you move or rename its
> components.
> 
> I also have a similar script that allows you to change external
> cross-reference paths with an Excel spreadsheet.
> 
> Rick Quatro
> Carmen Publishing Inc.
> 585-659-8267
> rick at frameexpert.com
> 
> *** Frame Automation blog at http://frameautomation.com
> 
> 
> Here is an issue that just caught me out, so I'm posting it here in case
> it's of use to anyone who uses both apps.
> 
> When versioning books in FrameMaker, I duplicate the entire enclosing folder
> and then create an alias to the book file in the copied folder. This is a
> common operation.
> 
> The alias is a red herring here, but when you duplicate a book's enclosing
> folder in InDesign, open the book file in the duplicate and from there open
> a chapter file in the book, InD opens the *original* chapter file and not
> the corresponding chapter file in the duplicated book. This is because InD's
> references to files in a book are absolute and not relative: this can be
> confirmed by hovering over the chapter name in the book file. This is
> potentially very confusing for people who use both applications. The only
> way around it in InD that I can see is to delete and recreate the book file
> after duplicating the book's enclosing folder.
> 
> This has just landed me with a bit of a version control headache that I had
> to sort out by hand. There's nothing about book versioning that I can see in
> InD's help (CS3), and although Kvern and Blattner ('Real World InDesign 2')
> touch on this in relation to individual chapter files, no thought seems to
> have been given to versioning entire books. As FrameMaker uses relative file
> pathnames, its operation is completely different: duplicating a book's
> folder and then opening the book file in the duplicate accesses the chapter
> files in the *duplicate* also, as most folks here will know. I find
> FrameMaker's approach much more logical, but maybe InD is bound by the
> operation of InCopy or some other part of the Adobe stable.
> 
> Something to watch out for. I guess I should be posting this to an InD
> group, but I'm not on any.
> 
> -- 
> Steve
> 
> 
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