Do you work on a number of projects in Adobe FrameMaker that look similar to each other? A wonderful feature in FrameMaker is the File > Import > Formats command, which allows you to quickly import all of your formatting commands from one document to another, or even from one document to all the documents in a book. This is a fabulous way to jump-start a new project, or just ensure consistency with an existing project.
With the Import Formats technique, everything is going swimmingly–until you get to the generated TOC and Index files. This is where most users find themselves slowing down and recreating the files from scratch. Don't do it! All you need to do is a little setup work in advance.
For this example, let's assume that the completed book was called "press.book" and that you had created a table of contents called "pressTOC.fm" and an index called "pressIX.fm." The new project is all about the feature set of Adobe Acrobat 9 and you have created a book called "acrobat9.book". You have created some of the chapters using the same formats as the "press.book," and now you want to reuse the TOC layout and formatting from "pressTOC.fm" and "pressIX.fm."
Still with me? Just trying to describe the scenario takes more time that executing it. Here's what you do:
- Copy "pressTOC.fm" and "pressIX.fm" into the Acrobat 8 project folder
- Note that the Acrobat book is named "acrobat9.book"
- Just rename the prefix on the copied files to match the book name: pressTOC.fm becomes acrobat9TOC.fm and the index becomes acrobat9IX.fm. (The key to this working is that the generated files prefix must match the book name, and the generated file's suffix must match the expected suffix (TOC = table of contents, IX = index, LOF = list of figures, LOT = list of tables, etc.)
- Go ahead and add the generated files to your current book with the Add menu as you would normally (but don't mess with the expected suffix).
- When the files are generated for the first time, they will be fully formatted. You can just proof them and move on!
Want to learn more about Adobe FrameMaker? Come to our upcoming Introduction to FrameMaker 8 class on August 25-26. It will be held in a virtual classroom, so you can attend this live, interactive class from anywhere in the country. All you need is a computer with fast internet access, a headset and a current version of the software. You can ask all the questions you like because all virtual classes are led by a live instructor-this is not pre-recorded content. "See" you in later this month!
About the author:
Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and was recently recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers world-wide for 2007.