RE: Figure numbering out of sequence with floating anchored frame s

[Dan Emory <danemory@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 11:38 PM 11/23/01 -0500, Ridder, Fred wrote:
>Unfortunately, Dan, the behavior you describe for the "Floating"
>option is *not* how FrameMaker behaves. In fact, it appears that
>you are describing almost the exact opposite of what happens.

Not "almost the exact opposite." it was the exact opposite. In the email 
you are replying to, I erroneously switched the states of floating with the 
associated results. I corrected that in a subsequent email

>When you set the Start attribute of a table to Floating, it means
>that the table can "float away" from its anchor. If the table cannot
>fit on the page where the anchor symbol is located, the *table only*
>will "float downward" to the next page or column while the anchor ]
>does not move. The text that follows the anchor symbol, in turn,
>"floats upward" to fill the space that is left at the bottom of the
>page where the table can't fit. This appears to match your description
>of what happens when Float is *not* selected.

Again, that was because I inadvertently switched the meanings of Float On 
and Float Off, and I corrected that in a subsequent email on this thread (I 
may have only sent that correction email to Esmond Pitt).


>And because of this problem with your definition of "floating", your
>categorical assertion of 11/19 that Esmond was "absolutely wrong"
>about your method defeating the "Float" function is simply incorrect.
>Your method *does* lose the "Float" function because the table can
>never float away from the anchor symbol.

But the anchoring paragraph for a table can be retained in the preceding 
column or page by setting Start to Top of Page or Top of Column. There is 
no way to "lose" the Float function for a table, because there is no such 
thing as an Anchoring Position of At Insertion Point for tables.

I do advocate always using an empty anchoring paragraph for tables. Setting 
Start to Float, top of Page, or Top of Column leaves the anchoring 
paragraph behind in the previous page or column when the table moves to the 
top of the next page or column, thereby eliminating the undesirable white 
space gap produced by the empty anchoring paragraph. Unlike an anchored 
frame, however, the Space Above/Below is established within the table 
itself by the Paragraph Designer's Space Above/Below settings. Thus, with 
the exception of when the table moves to the next column or page, the 
anchoring paragraph always contributes to the Space Above (i.e., its font 
size plus the Line Spacing of the paragraph above the anchoring paragraph) 
is added to the Space Above setting in the Table Designer).

For example, if the last paragraph containing text (i.e., the paragraph 
before the anchoring paragraph) has a line spacing of 14 pt, the anchoring 
paragraph has a font size of 12 pt, and the Table's Space Above setting is 
0 pt, the actual space between the bottom of  the last paragraph containing 
text and the top of the table will be 26 pt (i.e., the sum of the line 
spacing (14 pt) of the last paragraph containing text, plus the font size 
of the anchoring paragraph (12 pt)).


>BTW, I do agree with you that using an empty paragraph to hold the
>table anchor is generally a good approach.  But this approach does
>*not* work when you legitimately need to use the Float function as
>it really works because you get extra line space (whatever line
>spacing and space before/after you set for the anchor paragraph)
>in the location where the table would fall if it could fit on that page.
>This extra space becomes visible because the "Float" selection
>allows FrameMaker to fill the space following the anchor with
>paragraphs that would otherwise follow the table, and you see the
>additional space before the text that floated upward.

The same up-floating text "phenomenon" occurs when floating is turned for 
an anchored frame, and the anchoring paragraph (with or without text) 
suddenly appears above several additional paragraphs that originally 
followed the anchored frame as a result of the frame or table suddenly 
floating away from the anchoring paragraph.  This will occur when data is 
added before the anchoring paragraph, producing the float action. That can 
be particularly disconcerting when the text (previously below the anchored 
frame) floats up and appears ahead of the anchored frame, particularly when 
the up-floated text states something like: "As shown in the figure above..."

You can prevent this up-floating of text by using At Insertion Point as the 
anchoring position for frames, or by using Top of Page or Top of Column 
instead of Float for the start position of tables.

Preventing the up-floating of text is one of the many reasons I advocate 
using At Insertion Point as the anchoring position for anchored frames 
rather than Below Current Line. When At Insertion Point is used, the empty 
anchor paragraph always moves with the anchored frame, and always appears 
below the top edge of the anchored frame. Thus, if the Anchored frame and 
its anchoring paragraph are force to the top of a page or column are forced 
(because the frame can't fit within in the current page or column) the 
Space Above setting in the anchoring paragraph has no effect, whereas if 
the anchored frame has text above it, the empty anchoring paragraph's Space 
Above setting establishes the white space gap above the anchored frame. In 
either case, the anchoring paragraph's space below setting establishes the 
white space gap below the anchored frame, regardless of whether the graphic 
has a figure title below it. In the Figure Title paragraph format, Keep 
With Previous is turned on, thus it, the anchored frame, and the anchoring 
paragraph are always kept on the same page. If there is additional text 
below the Figure Title paragraph, the Figure Title paragraph's Space Below 
setting establishes the white space gap between the figure title and the 
text below it. Again, if the figure title is the last line on a page or 
column, the Space Below setting in the figure title paragraph has no effect 
on anything that follows.

So, to reiterate, the method I advocate for anchored frames has the 
following advantages:

1. The anchoring paragraph, the anchored frame, and the figure title always 
appear on the same page.

2. You never have to modify the Space Above/Below settings of the empty 
anchoring paragraph based on where the anchored frame is located within a 
page or column. The sole determinant of the white space above/below the 
anchored frame is the anchoring paragraph's Space Above/Below settings. The 
effect of the Space Above setting is eliminated if the anchored frame 
appears at the top of a page or column. If the anchored frame has no figure 
title, the effect of the anchoring paragraph's Space Below setting is 
eliminated if the anchored frame if the anchored frame is at the bottom of 
a page or column.

3. When the anchoring position is set to At Insertion Point with the 
distance Above Baseline set to 0 pt, the anchoring paragraph always appears 
at the bottom edge of the anchored frame. Consequently, if the anchored 
frame (and its anchoring paragraph) moves to the top of a column or page, 
the anchoring paragraph produces no undesirable white space gap between the 
top edge of the anchored frame and the top of the text frame.

4. You never have to create (within the anchored frame) white space above 
and below the graphic, thus you never have to adjust the vertical position 
of the graphic within the anchored frame, or the vertical size of the 
anchored frame, based on where the anchored  frame is located within a page 
or column.

Admittedly, there are instances when up-floating of text is desirable so as 
to fill up the column or page that precedes a table or anchored frame that 
gets forced to the top of the next page or column. In documents where 
floating is never turned on for anchored frames or tables the following 
procedure can accomplish the fill-up of partially filled columns or pages 
after the document has stabilized (i.e., addition or deletion of 
significant amounts of data before the table or anchored frame is unlikely):

1. Allow the table or anchored frame to float. In the case of anchored 
frames, this requires changing the anchoring position from At Insertion 
Point to Below Current Line and turning on Floating.

2. As appropriate, cut all complete paragraphs appearing below the empty 
anchoring paragraph, and paste those paragraphs so they appear above the 
anchoring paragraph. This may still leave some partial paragraphs below the 
anchoring paragraph, but step 3 will move those back to a position below 
the anchored frame or table.

3. After cutting and pasting the text paragraphs as described in step 2, 
restore the original non-float settings for the anchored frame or table. In 
the case of Anchored Frames, restore the anchoring position to At Insertion 
Point. In the case of tables, restore the Start position to Top of Page or 
Top of Column. This moves the table's anchoring paragraph back to the last 
line of the the page or column that precedes the table.

4. After step 3, there may still be a bit of empty space at the bottom of 
the page or column preceding the anchored frame or table, but you can 
almost always eliminate that by turning on Feathering.

====================
| Nullius in Verba |
====================
Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory@primenet.com
177 Riverside Ave., STE F, #1151, Newport Beach, CA 92663
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