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Known Participant
June 1, 2021
Question

Annoying Framemaker BUGS

  • June 1, 2021
  • 6 replies
  • 479 views

I have been using FrameMaker for over 20 years.  I think it is a good product overall but there are some bugs in it that are extremely annoying and I am amazed that they haven't fixed over the years, in spite of releasing many new versions and new GUIs.     I currently use the 2017 version, so I don't know if the new version still has these bugs.   If anyone can tell me, i would consider pushing my employer to get us the new version if these bugs are gone.

 

1) when you use the scroll on the mouse it is EXTREMELY slow.   it takes many turns of the wheel just to get through one page.   when i view the same document in PDF/Acrobat (also Adobe product), the scroll is normal.   It seems that FrameMaker overtakes the scroll controll and adjusts it to about 1/4 the responsiveness as compared to every other program.  I see no reason for this and it is extremely annoying to the point i can't even use the scroll when I am working with FM.

2) The spell checker has had the same bug in it for 20 years.  you'd think they would fix it.  if you are working in a book file with several FM files inside it, sometimes the spell checker gets "stuck" in one of the FM files and just keeps circling through the same FM file over and over again until it decides, for some unknown reason, that's it's ready to go on to the next one.

3) The floating pods of controls is kind of a neat idea but it ends up covering up the content.   maybe i just don't know all the ways to set up the GUI.... but  the most annoying thing is when I do a spell check, when it finds a spelling error, half the time it is underneath the floating pod thing and I can't see what it found.  I fix the spelling error, click NEXT and guess what the next one is underneath the new position of the pod.  I have to spend half my time moving the pod thing around so I can see what it found.  can't they just put the control off to the side or at the top like every other program does and allow us to actually see the spelling error it found?  I guess this one isn't really a bug and maybe there is a better way to set up tthe GUI that I haven't found yet.   

 

I am sure these problems are not due to my computer.  i've had FM installed on many different computers, many different versions of FM over the years and #1 and #2 have been there since at least FM7.

 

i just figured maybe if i post these things here someone at Adobe would notice and maybe try to fix these annoying things instead of just "upgrading" the GUI every time they put out a new release.

 

Or maybe someone knows a fix I can do on the user end?

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    6 replies

    Legend
    June 2, 2021

    Regarding #1, there is a secret trick where you can hold the Shift key while scrolling. It's like hitting the afterburners.

     

    Russ

    Community Expert
    June 2, 2021

    Yes. Definitely check your issues with a trial version of FM 2020.  And do not forget to update the trial version to update 1.

    I do not encounter any of your issues.

    #1: Are there any graphics files on your pages? Which format, size? Are the graphics files on a network or on the local hard disk or SSD? Such an issue can be related to your antivirus software. Can you deactivate it and then scroll through your file?

    QuintinSeegers
    Legend
    June 2, 2021

    I can definitely attest to #1 - I've just accepted that FM can't  render content faster, hence the slow scrolling speed. I'm fortunate in that I have a monitor big enough to view a full page in FM without having the text too small to read. I also use the Page Up/Down buttons on my keyboard to go to the next/previous page(s) as I find that works quicker than scrolling.

    -Quintin

    Jeff_Coatsworth
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    June 1, 2021

    You could always grab the free trial of FM2020 and stick it on a non-production machine, and play with it for 30 days to see if anything is busted with it in your experience.

    Inspiring
    June 1, 2021

    Only if your machine is Windows 10.

    Inspiring
    June 1, 2021

    Regarding #2, it may be something like that it cycles through the entire file until it goes through the entire file until you don't take any actions during the entire cycle, and only then it goes on to the next file. I have seen that behavior with Find-Replace. 

    Jeff_Coatsworth
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    June 1, 2021

    Can't say that I've ever noticed #1 or #2, but can't #3  surely be controlled with the use of environment workspaces?

    Anyways, posting here doesn't get it on Adobe's radar - you've got to use the Tracker (https://tracker.adobe.com/) for that - this is just a user-to-user forum.

    Known Participant
    June 1, 2021

    thx.   im surprised you havenot noticed #1 and #2.   all my workmates have the same experience