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AlanB1958
Known Participant
April 13, 2023
Answered

How to create a List Of Paragraphs containing text from a background frame

  • April 13, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 2185 views

I am trying to create a List of Effective Pages (LEOP). I have read the excellent post here of Barb Binders. https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-framemaker-how-to-create-a-list-of-effective-pages/#:~:text=A%20List%20of%20Effective%20pages%20(aka%20LEP%20or%20LOEP)%20is,fun%20part%20of%20their%20job.

I think I have understood the processes covered in that post.

 

From reading that post it's my understanding that text in a background frame will be included in a List of Paragraphs (LOP), provided of course you have selected the correct paragraph tags. However in the LOP's that I have created the only paragraphs that appear are those contained in template frames.

 

Have I misunderstood or I am missing a step some where?

 

Thanks for any help.

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer frameexpert

    A background text frame is one that is added to a master page and does not contain a Flow name. You cannot enter text into these frames on your body pages. Content from these text frames cannot be included in FrameMaker generated files.

    4 replies

    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 19, 2023

    That's fantastic news, Alan. Thanks for letting us know. 😊

     

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 18, 2023

    Hi Alan:

     

    Your LOP reference page looks correct, so far. To verify, you will need to add the template frames and revision info to at least one of the files so that the LOP (List of Paragraphs) can pull in data. As the content is pulled in, the page number will appear to the right of the revision info and will be preceded by a space, based on your reference page.

    <$paratext> <$pagenum>

    <$paratext> <$pagenum>

     

    LOEPs are not intuitive to set up, especially for a novice user. As I said on that post—LOEPs require knowledge of master pages, reference pages, variables, books and generated files prior to getting started.

     

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    A
    AlanB1958Author
    Known Participant
    April 18, 2023

    Hi Barb,

     

    Late yesterday I think I had it figured out. I did a dummy run which worked. Just had to reverse  from <$paratext> <$pagenum> to <$pagenum> <$paratext> in the Reference page to get the layout I wanted and adjust the spacing.

     

    This isn't my main job and I've come back to it after a two year break, which was also a two year break from using Framemaker.

     

    I know my way around Master pages and Reference pages, I'm nowhere an expert on them but can do what I need to do with them.  They're not something I use everyday as I'm not creating new documents on a regular basis. I'm having to refresh myself on a few things especially after a break away.

     

    I tried to make things more complicated than they needed to be while trying to create the LEOP initially. In the end it was a simple process especially with the tips in your excellent blog post.

     

    Thanks again for your help.

     

    Alan

      LinSims
      Community Expert
      LinSimsCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      April 24, 2023

      Even though you don't need this anymore, I just wanted to remind everyone that Silicon Prairie has a LEP plugin. I haven't used it, but I have a bunch of his stuff and it's solid.

        4everJang
        4everJang
        Legend
        April 14, 2023

        What exactly are you trying to achieve? Do you need to have the background texts included in your LOP and where should they appear in the list? There are ways to make the FM process do what you need it to do but it sometimes requires a different approach to the original problem.

        A
        AlanB1958Author
        Known Participant
        April 17, 2023

        Thank you for your reply.

         

        Yes, I need the page number to appear in the List of Effective pages. Currently the page number is generated using "Numbering Properties" under Format-Document.

         

        This is for an aircraft Maintenance Manual where LEOP's are a regulatory requirement.

         

        Page numbering isn't consecutive with page number blocks allocated to each individual section of a chapter. There are 9 sections per chapter, with section 0 using the numbers 01 to 99, section 1 numbers 100 to 199, section 2 numbers 200 to 299 and so on for sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Number blocks are rarely completely used and number blocks repeat in each chapter.

         

        I have structured the manual where each section is an individual file or chapter, which allows me to achive the page numbering I need.

         

        With what I have described in mind will what you propose to suggest work?

         

        Thank you for your help.

        4everJang
        4everJang
        Legend
        April 17, 2023

        Can you share a (possibly fictitious) extract of such a LOEP that shows how and where the page numbers appear ? That makes a big difference in the possible solutions.

          frameexpert
          Community Expert
          frameexpertCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
          Community Expert
          April 13, 2023

          A background text frame is one that is added to a master page and does not contain a Flow name. You cannot enter text into these frames on your body pages. Content from these text frames cannot be included in FrameMaker generated files.

          A
          AlanB1958Author
          Known Participant
          April 17, 2023

          Hi fraemexpert,

           

          Thank you for your reply.

           

          I did know that you couldn't enter text into the background frames on the body pages and I suspected the text in these frames wasn't able to be included in the generated files. However the "How to" I had read included a page number heading in the generated LOP file. I hadn't been able to generate a file with page number included, hence my question.

           

          Thanks again for your reply.

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