Participant

Question

Hyperlinks in FrameMaker 8 File don't work consistently when PDF'd

Forum|Forum|17 years ago
December 12, 2008
10 replies
7506 views

I have a FrameMaker 8 file with internal hyperlinks. When I test them in FrameMaker they work but when I PDF the file SOME of them are not working. I'm using Acrobat 8 as well.

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T

TWDaveWalker

Known Participant

Just in case, here is what I discovered:

The <PgfReferenced Yes> .mif tag corresponds to the Pgf.PgfMarkedForNamedDestination property in FrameScript. When the .mif tag is there, the FS property =1, and = 0 when not. Setting the flag to 1 for all table headings fixes the internal cross-reference links to the target like a charm.

But curiously, internal links to non-table-heading pgfs seem to work fine regardless of the flag set or not.

I'd love to know why, if anyone is out there listening....

Thanks,

Dave

L

Lindsey_Durway

Participant

This thread may be dead already, but I'll chime in anyway....

Kelly (response #5) touches on something that I think is important: character style changes in a heading or other paragraph style (such as table title) can cause the link to end at the point where the character style changes.

For example, consider a heading containing italics: "Configuring the Merlin System." Whether the hyperlink is broken depends on how you apply the italics:

If the italics are applied using a named style such as Emphasis, the hyperlink breaks at the "M." "Configuring the" is hyperlinked, but "Merlin System" is not.
If the italics are applied without assigning a character style but only by setting Angle to Italics in the Character Designer, the entire heading is hyperlinked. That's the good news. The bad news is that your italics are missing in the TOC.

This behavior is not necessarily buggy. It is required, in fact, for creating hyperlinks manually: you mark your text with a named character style and then create a "hyperlink" marker in it. What would be nice is if Adobe would separate the feature into two flavors: one that works for generated links regardless of character style, and one that works in its current form for user-created links.

Fixing bad links:

If you have Adobe Acrobat Professional, use Tools > Advanced Editing > Link Tool. It draws a box around each link. Drag the box handles to resize a link around the proper area.

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NL_Derek-GsBV5a

Inspiring

Thanks for the rapid help.

Arnis, Ctrl-Alt-click within Frame works on both `good' and `bad' cross-references, but setting "Create Named Destinations for All Paragraphs" did the trick. It increased the size of my PDF by a few percent, but our customers include some hard disk manufacturers (:-).

Sheila, FrameScript would no doubt do the trick but it is probably `overkill' given that Arnis' solution works.

--- Derek

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Jerry_G1

Participant

I have been going crazy trying to figure out this problem.

Turning on named destinations for all elements and paragraphs works but it takes a sample file from 350K to 2,500K so that is not an option.

Background on what I am doing.

I am using structured Framemaker and this file is imported as xml with a custom EDD.

The links are internal cross references to elements (ID/IDREF attribute matching)

The problem appears to be associated with the destination, I can add a new link to a broken heading and it will not work.

I can fix an individual link by changing the paragraph tag on the destination to something else and then back.

Any thoughts?

J

Jerry_G1

Participant

OK I found a work around but I don't think the other tech writer's will like it. Here it is:

1. Generate the pdf with tag all paragraphs and elements on.

2. Open the pdf in acrobat and run the PDF optomizer (under Advanced) with cleanup/ remove unreferenced named destinations selected.

This gets the file back down to the original size -- actually a few % smaller.

R

R__VanDyke

Known Participant

Carol:

If you haven't sorted this out yet, please clarify what does or doesn't happen when you click the PDF'ed hyper links.

Also, what do the links point to? An HTML page ala http://, or a browser-openable file (HTML or otherwise) on disk?

More specifically, if you're hyper linking to a file, trying opening the link directly in your browser. If the browser can't process the link directly, it also can't process a link passed to it via Acrobat or Acrobat Reader...(?)

Cheers & hope this helps,.
Riley

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NL_Derek-GsBV5a

Inspiring

Hi there,

I have a similar problem, but with Frame 7.0.1. I have long noticed it, but this time I decided to try to nail it to the wall.

I have a Frame document containing a number of cross-references, which I publish as a PDF to be used online.

All cross-references appear in the PDF as hyperlinks (that is, the cursor becomes a hand with a pointing finger when I hover above them) but some of them do nothing when clicked. Others function as hyperlinks and jump to the source of the cross-reference.

I saved the Frame file as MIF, and looked inside. I found that the target of the `good' hyperlinks contain the line:

and the `bad' ones do not. I was able to convert a `good' hyperlink into a `bad' one and vice versa by manipulating this line in the MIF and then reconverting to FM format, so the diagnosis looks solid.

In Frame I was not able to see any difference between `good' and `bad' paragraphs. Nor can I see any reason for the presence/absence of the PgfReferenced item.

Has anyone else seen this problem, or does anyone have suggestions for dealing with it? I have several hundred documents each containing dozens of cross-references, so I would strongly prefer an automated solution.

--- Derek

Arnis Gubins

Inspiring

Derek,

AFAIK, the PgfReferenced was added to indicate if items were bookmarked.

For testing x-ref links, do that in FM first using the ctrl+alt click approach. If it works in FM, then it should work in the PDF. Make certain that you have the Generate Named Destinations for All Paragraphs enabled in your PDF Setup options in FM.

adrianaharper

Known Participant

I am experiencing the same issue. In FM, the links work fine. In PDF, they do not. I am also using FM8 from the Adobe TechComm. Suite.

A

Anonymous

Try removing the marker at the destination and remaking the link. First make sure that you cross reference style has a character style built into it and that the style is applied to the marker.

Also, I've found that sometimes (with hyperlinks) having imported styles (you'll know because there's a *) causes Framemaker to disregard the hyperlink command. Remove the character style, apply a different paragraph style and then reapply the character style.

Arnis Gubins

Inspiring

Carol,

Make sure that in your PDF Settings, under the Links tab, that the
"Create Named Destinations for all Elements and Paragraphs" option is
checked.

T

TrishMcD

Known Participant

Arnis, you are my new best friend . THANK YOU.

I recently noticed in one of my books that my cross-references worked fine within FM8, but when distilled to PS and printed (using Acrobat 10; yes I read it's not compatible but truly, it works just fine with FM8), some hyperlinks worked, while others did not. Mostly noticed with respect to hyperlinked text with a viable Character tag style applied.

The fix that resolved the problem was your 12/12/08 suggestion to Carol (which I have modified to option selection sequence below):

Print Book > PDF Setup > Links tab > Select Create Named Destinations for All Paragraphs check box

I don't know whether I usually have this checked, and simply didn't on this particular book, but I will ensure I check it in the future (despite Adobe's recommendation to keep it unchecked.

Thank you very much!

A

Anonymous

For starters I'd definitely suggest updating to the latest p277 version, as there were several fixes to hyperlink capability -- be sure to install each of the the individual updates in sequence, as Adobe doesn't do "roll-up" updates for FrameMaker

Also double-check your Acrobat version is up to date as well.

_

_carol_cloer_Author

Participant

I am using FrameMaker 8.0p236
I create the pdf by: File>Save Book As >File Type PDF.

A

Anonymous

CArol, can you specify exactly what version of FM you're using, from Help > About, including the "pxxx" numbers.

Also, please tell us how you create the PDF.

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