FrameMaker has had a view-only option for as long as I can remember. Long before most of us began using Acrobat for view-only file distribution, a product called FrameViewer was available to address that need for FrameMaker users. The idea was that you could create a complicated FrameMaker publication, and then distribute it electronically for viewing out in the field with the much-less-expensive FrameViewer.
To preview how a file would act in the FrameViewer environment, you could lock your FrameMaker document and render it read-only. Once locked, you could easily follow any document hyperlinks and test your online/PDF navigation systems.
These days, most people rely on Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader for electronic file distribution (FrameViewer disappeared years ago). So what does this have to do with your FrameMaker workflow? Back in the day, you used a complicated keyboard shortcut to lock and unlock a FrameMaker file: [Esc] [F] [l] [k]. Since there wasn't a menu command, it wasn't very easy to accidently lock a document.
With the introduction of FrameMaker 7.2 and beyond, Adobe provided a handy button that will lock a document. In 7.2 and 8, the button sits on the Formatting Bar and the tooltip label reads "Toggle View only." In FrameMaker 9, the button changed to a little padlock icon and now appears on the Quick Access Bar (right next to the Print button).
The new, more prominent position of the lock button makes me nervous. Imagine this: you are in a hurry and want to print your document. You miss the Print button and click the Lock button, but don't realize it. Suddenly, you have a reduced set of menus, and you can't edit the file. In a panic, you might click the Undo button–which doesn't unlock the document. Worse, even closing and reopening the document doesn't unlock it. Of course, all you have to do is click the lock button one more time to remove the view-only property, but when I'm panicking, I rarely think clearly enough to make a rational decision like that.
The moral of this little story: unless you are checking your hyperlinks, stay away from the lock button. If you suddenly can't edit your file, and you notice that about half of the normal menus are missing, it means you must have clicked it and put your document into view-only mode. Seek out the lock button, click it again to unlock your file, and maybe make a mental note to stay clear of it in the future.
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About the author: Barbara Binder is the president and founder of Rocky Mountain Training. Barbara has been a trainer for nearly two decades and has been recognized by Adobe as one of the top trainers in the world.
Fantastic- what a help. Some of the UI changes in FrameMaker 9 are not well conceived. One thing you may note is that if you open a read only document as the first document you open in Frame, the quick access bar doesn’t appear. Moreover, you don’t get a view menu to see it, so I can’t see how to make the document writable then. In this case open another document at the same time, click the tab with the view only docuemnt, and the quick access bar remains visible, so click the padlock.
Now why the padlock doesn’t stand out in the quick access bar when you’ve made a document view only is beyond me.
Fantastic- what a help. Some of the UI changes in FrameMaker 9 are not well conceived. One thing you may note is that if you open a read only document as the first document you open in Frame, the quick access bar doesn’t appear. Moreover, you don’t get a view menu to see it, so I can’t see how to make the document writable then. In this case open another document at the same time, click the tab with the view only docuemnt, and the quick access bar remains visible, so click the padlock.
Now why the padlock doesn’t stand out in the quick access bar when you’ve made a document view only is beyond me.
Fantastic- what a help. Some of the UI changes in FrameMaker 9 are not well conceived. One thing you may note is that if you open a read only document as the first document you open in Frame, the quick access bar doesn’t appear. Moreover, you don’t get a view menu to see it, so I can’t see how to make the document writable then. In this case open another document at the same time, click the tab with the view only docuemnt, and the quick access bar remains visible, so click the padlock.
Now why the padlock doesn’t stand out in the quick access bar when you’ve made a document view only is beyond me.
Thank you! I accidentally locked my file and couldn’t find anything in the documentation or adobe online to help me with this. You really saved my sanity today!!
Thank you! I accidentally locked my file and couldn’t find anything in the documentation or adobe online to help me with this. You really saved my sanity today!!
Thank you! I accidentally locked my file and couldn’t find anything in the documentation or adobe online to help me with this. You really saved my sanity today!!