In FM 2017, with Paragraph Designer set to As Is, setting one property affects another

    FrameMaker has always allowed users to modify some but not all

    properties of selected paragraphs by:

    1. Selecting the desired paragraphs, which may use different formats.

    2. Opening the Paragraph Designer and using the Shift-F8 shortcut to set all properties to as is.

    3. Changing the desired properties.

    4. Clicking Apply

    Doing so, sets the changed properties in the selected paragraph, and leaves all other properties unchanged. If the user then clicks in any of the modified paragraphs, the Designer shows all its properties.

    This useful and familiar operation may work in some cases, but FM 2017 fails in at least one case: setting the Keep With Next property on the Pagination page sets the Position property on the Numbering Page to End of Paragraph. In addition, there are display problems with the designer. The problem is evident even if only one paragraph is selected:

    1. Close FrameMaker if it is running.

    2. Launch FrameMaker.

    3. Create a new Portrait document.

    4. Apply format Numbered to the only paragraph in the document. The paragraph is now numbered 1.

    5. Open the Paragraph Designer and click on the Pagination tab.

    6. With the focus in the Paragraph Designer, type Shift-F8. All fields are now set to As Is. In particular the white check box for Keep With Previous Paragraph now contains a smaller solid square.

    7. Click in this box. The smaller square disappears so the box is now entirely white.

    8. Click in the box again. The box now has a checkmark.

    9. Click Apply.

    10. Problem 1 (minor): The Designer still shows As Is for all fields instead of the current properties.

    11. Problem 2 (major): Observe in the document window that the autonumber has moved from the start of the paragraph to the end even though you have not changed the property.

    12. Click on the Numbering tab. The Designer now shows the Numbering page. All settings are shown As Is. Problem 3 (minor): The values in the Position and Character Format fields are grayed out, which is appropriate for As Is. However, the labels ("Position" and "Character Format") are also grayed out and so light they can barely be read. The user therefore cannot tell where in the Designer they would be set if the Designer were not set to As Is.

    13. Open another document. The Designer is still set to As Is. Click in various pages. The actual settings do not appear.

    14. Shut down FrameMaker and launch it again. The Paragraph Designer now shows actual settings.

   --Lynne