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Community Expert
November 30, 2023
Question

How do I make Running Headers pick up headline from previous page rather than present page?

  • November 30, 2023
  • 3 replies
  • 230 views

I am typesetting a law book and I have small challenge. The publishers want the running header to display the header from the previous page rather than the header from the present page. I have made an illustration hoping to clarify my cumbersome explanation:

 

 

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    3 replies

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    November 30, 2023

    I'd be tempted to try putting a hidden clone ¶style of Section E at the start and end of Section E and have the RHF pick that up. The second instance would be an Xref, so that it picks up any changes to the lead instance.

    I have done something similar for a project where the RHF text needed to be a condensed version of the full header text. I do this as Anchored Frames with Text Frames, attached to the heading, or in the margins, rotated as needed to fit, text of a named color set to invisible in Color Views (switched on for authoring mode).

    frameexpert
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    November 30, 2023

    This probably requires a scripting solution using <$marker1> or <$marker2> markers and corresponding Running Header/Footer variables.

    Community Expert
    November 30, 2023

    Hi,

    I think this is difficult. The regular system variable for running headers and footers checks, if a specific paragraph is on the same page and lists its paragraph text. With + you can tell it to list the last occurrence on a page rather than the first.

    <$paratext[heading]>

    <$paratext[+,heading]>

    However, with the default behaviour you cannot get the paragraph on a previous page, when there is the same paragraph format on the page with the variable.

    I had thought of a solution where I would create separate paragraph formats for each heading, so that FM should prefer the paragraph from the previous page.

    However, this does not work. Pitty.

    I am sorry. No solution.