Re: Cross-reference to a different flow (in the same document)?

[Dan Emory <danemory@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 05:01 PM 3/22/99 -0500, Lin Morss wrote:
>Hello all-
>I have a document that has disconnected pages inserted throughout to
>separate the sections (no, we can't just split up the document so that each
>section is its own .fm file, although that would solve a lot of things).
==========================================================================
Are the disconnected pages blank separators between sections? If so, you
could automate the production of these blank pages by creating each section
in a separate FM file, and using the book file to produce the (connected)
blank pages. If the cover page has no page number, the cover page could also
be placed in a separate file, and the book file setup would specify that
each new section restarts page numbering at 1.

Given all the problems you're creating for yourself by putting multiple
chapters in the same FM file, perhaps you'd better explain why you cannot
create them separately, and use a book file to assemble them for printing,
PDF output, or HTML output. It's quite likely that there's a way to overcome
whatever reason you have for putting multiple sections in the same FM file.
In addition to all the other problems you cite below, you won't be able to
generate a TOC, List of Figures, List of Tables, or any other type of
generated list or index that will produce the correct page numbers.
=========================================================================
>The
>disconnected pages are not counted in the page count and do not have page
>numbers on them, so we have set up a separate text flow on the main pages in
>the lower-right corner to serve as the page number.
>For example:
>The first page of the file is a cover sheet, with no page number
>The second page is Page 1
>The third page is another disconnected page
>The fourth page is Page 2......    etc.
=================================================================
This is a kluge solution that's going to cause you no end of problems if the
document must be maintained.
=======================================================================
>The problem is, I have a cross reference on page 1 that refers to page 2,
>but since Frame counts the disconnected page between them, it displays page
>4 in the x-ref. Since the text on page two may or may not flow onto the
>following page, I don't want to hard-type in the page numbers, if at all
>possible. (There are around 20 of these....)
>
>Is there a way to capture the autonumber assigned to the paragraph in the
>secondary flow that is serving as the page number, or am I stuck?
======================================================================
Yes there is. You create a new cross-reference format that references the
autonumber paragraph in the secondary flow. However, since you have multiple
pages with the same page numbers, the cross-reference to a page number would
be meaningless unless each page number is prefixed with its section number.

This is the sort of thing that could be automated if you created each
section in a separate file, and set up the current page variable in each
file to contain the section number prefix as well as the page number. In
that case, the book file could be set up to produce the correct page number
prefix for each section when generating indexes, TOCS, and other types of lists.
==================================================================
>Another option would be to create a variable that would give me <current
>page # + 2> as the reference, or one that would use the standard cross
>reference and subtract 2 from the page number. Is this possible?
===================================================================
No, that is not possible.
================================================================
To summarize, you're fighting the battle at the wrong level. You need to
find a way around whatever the constraint is that prevents you from putting
each section in a separate FM file.
     ____________________
     | 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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