Re: A Frame question- I stumped Tech Support

[Dan Emory <danemory@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 02:26 PM 3/15/99 -0600, Luke Lund wrote:
>--------------------snip
>What is desired is a 2 column layout (that's easy) where the material is
>presented in nice easy "chucks" called modules. A paragraph or two and a
>graphic--all wrapped together visually by a dark line at the beginning
>of the module and another at the end of the module.
>
>I was using the Keep With Next Pgf and Previous Pgf boxes on the various
>paratags to keep it "acting modular", meaning that if enough text
>appeared above the module to force part of it to the next page, the
>entire module would move as a full unit to the next page.
>
>I've gotten this to work well with "Frame Above" and "Frame Below"
>holding my dark lines with a SINGLE column, but with 2 columns--no joy!
>
>Any ideas out there?
=========================================================
1. The width of the reference frame(s) containing the dark line(s) MUST NOT
exceed the width of a single column.
2. The starting paragraph having the Frame Above should have Keep With set
to Next (i.e., turn off Previous).
3. All paragraphs below the starting paragraph, including the paragraph at
the end with a Frame Below, as well as paragraphs for anchoring anchored
frames and tbales, should have Keep With set to Previous (i.e., turn off Next).
4. Anchored frames and tables should not exceed the width of a single column
unless they are at the end of the module.
5. You may have to play around with Widow/Orphan settings.
6. In cases where both columns on a page are not completely filled, you may
want to customize that page's text frame by turning on Balance Columns.

With the above settings and constraints, I get the following behavior in FM
V5.1.1:

CASE 1. If module A overflows to the second column (but does not fill the
second column), and the next module (module B) can fit in the remainder of
the second column, all of module B appears in the second column.

CASE 2. If module A overflows to the second column (but does not fill the
second column), and the next module (module B) won't fit in the remainder of
the second column, all of module B moves to the next page.

CASE 3. If all of module A is in the first column, and all of the next
module (module B) can fit in the remainder of the first column, then both
modules appear in the first column.

CASE 4. If all of module A is in the first column, and all of the next
module (module B) cannot fit in the remainder of the first column, but can
fit in the second column, all of module B moves to the second column.

CASE 5. If all of module A is in the first column, but all of the next
module (module B) exceeds the combined length of the remainder of the first
column plus all of the second column, then all of module B moves to the next
page.

CASE 6. If module A is more than one page in length, it overflows to a
second page. If the next module (module B) can fit in the remainder of the
second page, it will appear on that page, otherwise all of module B moves to
the third page.

If the above cases describe the behavior you expect, but you are using FM
version 5.5.x and don't get the behavior described above when using the
settings and constraints in items 1 through 6 above, then you may have
exposed another bug in V5.5.x, in which case I'd appreciate it if you report
that fact back to me.
     ____________________
     | 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
10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646
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