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V
vibhavg26101993
Participant
March 14, 2018
Question

Batch editing and saving Fm files.

  • March 14, 2018
  • 1 reply
  • 769 views

Hi, I am using FrameMaker v12. I have about 40 odd documents related to a single project which I need to update just for three things: Version Number, Date, and Copyright Year. The vesion and date are treated as variables, the copyright year isn't. After editing these standard values across all 40 documents, I need to save all of them as PDFs. Is there any way I can automate this process? I am aware of extendscript and believe this can very well be achieved using that tool.

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1 reply

Ian Proudfoot
Ian Proudfoot
Legend
March 14, 2018

Even easier than scripting is to add all of the files to a FrameMaker book. Make the required changes to the variables in the first document, then import the variable definitions from that file into the book. This will make the variables match across all files in the book.

Of course with a script you can be more precise about what you update, but even then a book can be a good way to manage the files. I do this for most of my FrameMaker development projects even if I never intend to publish any of the content from the book.

Ian

V
vibhavg26101993Author
Participant
March 14, 2018

Thanks for the prompt response Ian. That's an awesome suggestion I'd say. So for all 40 documents, there is a book file that is a consolidation of multiple files and each book has a title file which has the info I need to change. So, as per what you are saying, I create a book, I add all 40 title files (from 40 books), make the change in the first file and update the variables for all files.

The only part you missed in your solution was about how do I save these 40-odd documents (book files) to PDF without actually opening them.

Ian Proudfoot
Ian Proudfoot
Legend
March 14, 2018

Yes it's also very easy.

  1. Select the book file.
  2. Select File > Save As PDF.
  3. Select a suitable location for the PDF files
  4. In the PDF setup dialog select the checkbox "Generate Separate PDF Document for Each Selected File".
  5. You will get a PDF file for each book component.

Ian

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