Can't Save Master Pages in Structured Document

Question

I am new to Framemaker, but I have read the framemaker help.pdf, searched the web and these forums, and I can't see what I am doing wrong.I am trying to create a book using structured authoring. My ditamap currently looks like this: Practical PRoject ManagementI open 'Chapter1.xml' in the editor and I want to do what all the tutorials on master pages do, which is give it a unique layout. I navigate to the master page, add a new one and make my modifications. Then I go back to my body doc and select my new master page and everything looks good. I save (using CTRL+S or the File > Save menu), but when I close and reopen chapter1.xml, my custom master page is gone.I don't see anywhere that says I can't do this with xml based documentation, so what am I missing? Please help a n00b Framemaker user!

techademus · Accepted Answer

I feel like I am getting closer, but I still can't get this to work. No matter how or how many times I save the Here is what I have.

First, I created a template that I want to use, and saved it in my documents folder with my xml files. It looks like this - just a purple box with text below it. The file is saved as C:\Users\Anyone\Documents\Practical Project Management Book\concept.template.fm:

Then I used the structured application designer to set the C:\Users\Anyone\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\FrameMaker\14\structapps.fm file with my changes. I can load that file into Framemaker and see my custom FM file is stored there.

Then I opened my xml file and verified that the structured application for this document is, in fact, DITA.1_3_concept:

However, I cannot see my template anywhere. When I select View > Master pages, I only see the default master page not my custom one.

So, I go back to the structured application designer, and sure enough the path to the template has once again changed back to the $STRUCTDIR.

But C:\Users\Anyone\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\FrameMaker\14\structapps.fm still has the path to my custom file in it, so that says that wile the structured application designer is saving changes to my \Users\<myuser>\AppData folder, Framemaker is still loading from a different directory, and I Can't figure out how to change that. I won't go into everything I have tried, but it includes launching FM as an administrator and editing the global defintions. Even that didn't work.

Sorry to be a pain, but any thoughts?

Well, I finally got it to work, but I don't know how. I think it was a matter of closing and reloading Framemaker after posting the above. Things I noticed that might help others who run into this:

1) On windows 10 (at least my machine) c:\Users\<myusername>\AppData is a hidden folder - it won't appear in your file selector unless you have show hidden files turned on. You can work around that by typing \AppData once you browse to c:\Users\<myusername>

2) You can't use some features in the Structure > Application Definition menu unless you launch framemaker as an administrator.

3) After each change, close and reopen Framemaker and see if your change stuck. Framemaker will tell you something saved and you can come back later only to find out it didn't.

And if anyone from Adobe reads this, please fix your user interface. If I click 'Save' and the save button gets greyed out and my changes appear in the editor, it is reasonable for me to assume those changes were saved. As documented above, that is not always the case, which is amazingly frustrating.

Ian Proudfoot · Answer

When you open any XML document in structured FrameMaker, the XML content is loaded into a copy of a 'structured template'. This structured template is an empty FrameMaker document that already includes the element cataog for a specific structured application.

Therefore to make permanent layout changes to the master pages you must edit the structured template for the relevant structured application. Here's how to find the structured template:

Open Structure > Structured Application Designer
Locate the Structure Application, for example DITA_1.3_concept
Find the template reference, for example: $STRUCTDIR\xml\DITA_1.3\app\technicalContent\template\concept.template.fm where $STRUCTDIR is the structure folder in your FrameMaker installation.
Make a copy of this template file somewhere that allows read/write access, then make your master page changes to that copy of the template. Save the file.
In the Structured Application Designer click on the ... button to locate your customised template.
Save
Open your DITA concept topic which will now be using your template.

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