[Closed] FrameMaker 7.x/8 Feature Requests

It's early in the morning, so I feel sufficiently energetic to contribute to this annual exercise in Frame Futility. Here goes:

1. Functioning footnotes
2. Endnotes
3. Ability to use foot -and endnotes concurrently
4. Unicode /Opentype
5. Fix the bug ('feature'?) that breaks (see FM 7 manual p 303): Format->PageLayout->LineLayout->Feather{On} on pages that contain graphics set to RunAroundContour or to RunAroundBoundingBox, or anchored frames set to RunIntoParagraph. Having given up foot -and endnote hope, this is my present pet peeve. Manual balancing of text on facing body pages that contain any of the above objects, is a serious headache and not a very feasable production proposition. Strangely enough, InDesign seems to suffer from the same affliction, and, as pretty as it prints, it can't do sideheads. (Don't know about PageMaker, Ventura and similarly moribund feature creatures.)

Thanks, Arnis and Thomas. I'll try that. I've never used text insets. Now's the time to learn.

Another wish. Put a column break in the menu along with page breaks. I know how to do it, but an entry here would be nice.

Although FrameMaker was designed for, and is the cat's meow for, long documents, I would like to see a feature, applicable to some of the short documents I've done lately, to combine some of the front matter on a single page. For example, the manual I'm doing at the moment could easily combine TOC, LOF, and LOT on one sheet. Now I could revert to bygone days, get out my scissors and rubber cement (if I could find any), and make a single-page front matter; but, it wouldn't pass my documentation department standards and certainly wouldn't pdf.

Or maybe it can be done now, and I just don't know how.

From Richard's post:

For cryin' out loud, remember (via simple drop-down lists) my last 5 or 6 Find and Change text entries.

Yes, please! And not only the text - I'd like it to remember all the settings I was searching for (text, para tag, character tag etc etc)

- A way to set Distiller as the default printer for FrameMaker ONLY! I currently use a batch file to set Distiller as the default when Frame loads, but then when I try to print from other applications, I have to remember to choose my LaserJet or I end up with a Postscript file, instead!

Here's my wish list:

- some type of LAYER MENU. I have a heck of a time trying to find or select objects that get accidentally hidden behind others. Worse, I occasionally accidentally create objects that I dont' even know are there-- such as accidentally duplicating a frame when I'm only trying to move it.

- OVERLAPPING CHARACTER FORMATS. Applying a character format removes underlying character formats. For example, I have a character tag "ScientificName" which italicizes the Latin name of a fish. Sometimes that text falls on a line whose spacing I need to typefit. So I apply a "95%Stretch" character tag to the line to make it fit better. But this overwrites and deletes the "ScientificName" character tag, so I can no longer make universal format changes to all scientific names in the document, merely by updating the ScientificName character tag.

- fix the runaround scrolling bug

- MIDDLE OF PAGE ANCHORED GRAPHIC. I'd like a way to place an anchored graphic that partially overlaps both columns in a two-column layout (for example, a 3" square graphic smack dab in the middle of the page, with runaround in both columns. Yes, it can be done as an unanchored graphic placed on the page outside the text frame, but it won't flow to the page with appropriate text, if text is updated.

- FORMAT LIST, ala that provided by Systec Toolbox. I can't believe Frame doesn't have a way to list all formats with settings for an easy overview of a document's settings.

- DROP SHADOW creation, with drop shadow having runaround properties separate from graphic (for example, so text can runaround graphic but overprint drop shadow

I second item 1 from Richard's post:

"1. In Character Designer, replace (preferred) or supplement "As Is" with "From Pgf Tag."

I interpret Richard's suggestion to mean that the font size would be derived from the paragraph where the named character attribute was applied rather than from where the character style was created. This would be much superior to the current "As Is" setting which applies the specific font size of the paragraph where the insertion point was at the time the Character Style is created.

1. In Character Designer, replace (preferred) or supplement "As Is" with "From Pgf Tag." This is more in keeping with FM's "avoid ad hoc formatting" paradigm. And, it would help users adhere to that rule by eliminating the overrides caused by applying multiple char tags to the same text.

2. Enable a char tag's font size to be defined relative to the pgf tag. For instance, size = pgf tag + 3pt.

3. For cryin' out loud, remember (via simple drop-down lists) my last 5 or 6 Find and Change text entries.

4. Speaking of Find/Change, for named objects -- such as pgf and char tags, xref formats, and variables -- I'd like to be able to choose from a list instead of having to type the name.

5. I'd also like to specify multiple Find/Change criteria (like, gulp, Word). For instance, find the string "foobar" with char tag "abc" in a pgf tagged "body" and change it to "FooBarPro" with char tag "xyz."

Associate character styles or my choice to the "B" bold, "I" Italic, and "U" Underline buttons.

round-tripping conditional content in xml

William Talcott "Round-tripping conditional content in XML" 5/9/03 5:09am