Adobe FrameMaker: Multiple References to One Table Footnote

Footnotes in FrameMaker are pretty straightforward. Place your cursor where you'd like the footnote reference to appear and choose Special > Footnote. If your cursor was in the body of the footnote, the note will appear at the bottom of the page. If your cursor was in a table, the footnote will appear directly below the last line of the table. (If you are new to footnotes, click here for a review of the basics.)

What do you do when one table has multiple references to a single note? I use one of two techniques:

Add a Cross-Reference

1. Start by adding a footnote via Special > Footnote.
2. Click on the note under the table and jot down the Paragraph Format (FrameMaker defaults to TableFootnote).
3. Create a Character Tag for superscript:
   1. Press Ctrl+D to open the Character Designer.
   2. Press Shift+F8 to set the Character Designer to As Is.
   3. Name the Character Tag Superscript and click twice in front of Superscript to activate the command.

      

   4. Click Apply (NOT Update All) to create the new format, and then be sure to UNCHECK Apply to Selection before clicking Create.

      

4. Place your cursor back in the table where you want to place a second reference to the first footnote.
5. Choose Special > Cross Reference.
6. Set the Document to Current, the Source Type to Paragraphs, and the Paragraph Tag to TableFootnote (or whatever Paragraph tag you jotted down in step 2).

   

7. A list of all the TableFootnotes in the document appears.
8. Scroll to find the one you want to reference, and click it.
9. Create a Reference format for the footnote references:
   1. Click the Edit Format button in the lower right corner.
   2. Change the Name to Superscript.
   3. Delete everything on the Definition line and replace with <$paranumonly[TableFootnote]>.

      These building blocks tell FrameMaker to turn on the Superscript Character Tag you created earlier and then they pull the paragraph number only (not the text, or any additional punctuation you may be using) of the tag called TableFootnote. You do not need to reset the formatting back to Default Para Font after the paranumonly building block–it resets itself.

      

   4. Click Add, Done, OK (to losing History, if activated) and Insert.

      

There you go! If you need to reference the note a third or fourth time, its way easier because you've done all the hard work.

1. Click your mouse where you want the next cross-reference to go.
2. Choose Special > Cross Reference.
3. Click TableFootnote.
4. Click Insert.

If you end up adding or deleting the table footnotes, you'll find that these will all update automatically when you update your references, or update your book.

Cheat

True confessions. When I feel fairly confident the footnotes won't undergo edits that will force renumbering, I'll just type in the letter of the note and superscript it. Shhhh. That's our little secret.

If you are new to FrameMaker and want to get up to speed quickly, join IconLogic's instructor-led, online Introduction to Adobe FrameMaker 9 class. Too elementary for your skill level? How about the Advanced FrameMaker 9 class? Hope to "see" you there.