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A
avi10000
Known Participant
November 8, 2009
Answered

Hundreds of broken cross-references

  • November 8, 2009
  • 2 replies
  • 1208 views

Hi all,

I gave somebody some FrameMaker work to do for me.
He apparently did "Save As' on one or two files (documents within the book).

Now all links (100s of them...) to those files from places in the book have been destroyed.

He said opened files from within Windows Explorer rather than from within the FM book window and then did 'Save As', and that he is used to doin it that way when using FM with UNIX.

Does anybody know what *exactly* caused the links to be destroyed,  and if there is a way to get all the links back  (apart from relinking them one by one...).

TIA

- avi

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Art Campbell

    If a component file is included in a book, you can ONLY change the file name from within Frame.

    Select the component file in the book, right-click, and select Rename. This process updates the links, cross-refs and anything else that depends on a relative path to other files.

    He may be used to doing it that way, but it's the wrong way to do it in a Frame file no matter what OS he's used to using.

    You can pretty easily recover the links by redoing the renaming the correct way and then redoing the changes.

    If you're very lucky, you may be able to add the renamed SaveAs files to the book and use the File > Links tool.

    You may also be able to recover them by editing in a MIF version of the file, although if you make a mistake, you're going to corrupt the file format. And you may be able to make the changes with Rick Quatro's Find/Change Special plug-in www.frameexpert.com.

    2 replies

    T
    Tigdave
    Inspiring
    December 3, 2009

    The answer to your question of how they got broken in the first place...

    Whenever you do a "Save As" operation, all relative pathnames within the FM references get stretched, so the document in its new location will still use the external source graphics and FM files in their old locations.The document in its new location will still "work" and look the same.

    However, whenever you do a "Save As" operation that traverses the root directory of the disk, something magical, and not entirely nice, happens. The pathnames within all references (pictures, cross-refs, text imported by reference) get converted from relative to absolute, instantly destroying any hope of document portability.

    The next logical question is... Why does Adobe make FM do this when traversing the root directory?

    Does anyone know of any circumstances where changing relative pathnames to absolute within FM references would be of genuine benefit?

    A
    Art CampbellCorrect answer
    Inspiring
    November 8, 2009

    If a component file is included in a book, you can ONLY change the file name from within Frame.

    Select the component file in the book, right-click, and select Rename. This process updates the links, cross-refs and anything else that depends on a relative path to other files.

    He may be used to doing it that way, but it's the wrong way to do it in a Frame file no matter what OS he's used to using.

    You can pretty easily recover the links by redoing the renaming the correct way and then redoing the changes.

    If you're very lucky, you may be able to add the renamed SaveAs files to the book and use the File > Links tool.

    You may also be able to recover them by editing in a MIF version of the file, although if you make a mistake, you're going to corrupt the file format. And you may be able to make the changes with Rick Quatro's Find/Change Special plug-in www.frameexpert.com.

    A
    avi10000Author
    Known Participant
    November 9, 2009

    Thanks for the response.

    >> You can pretty easily recover the links by redoing the renaming the

    correct way

    The files already have the correct names. I think he renamed them and

    renamed them back again within Win Expl.

    >> and then redoing the changes.

    OMG! This is a 700 page book with 100s of updates already incorporated ...

    A
    Anonymous
    November 9, 2009

    avi, pardon me for saying something so obvious, but just to be on the safe side, before you try any sort of recovery process for the links -- please, please be sure that you have a complete backup of the files in their current states (i.e. pre- and post- contractor touched). It sounds like you might have to do some experimentation in order to deal with the links, and in the face of what surely must feel like a daunting task one way or the other,  backup(s) -- even more than one set -- are the best possible first step.

    Secondly, please let us know what specific version of FM you're using (from Help > About, including the "pxxx" numbers). That might help us offer suggestions on any possible third-party utility that could be available.

    Hang in there -- we're here to help you get over this glitch, and looking around this virtual gathering I can see many of us have "FM battle scars" to prove that there can be solutions to difficult problems.

    Sheila

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