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Mic17
Mic17
Participant
June 8, 2023
Question

MS Word-style Macros in FrameMaker?

  • June 8, 2023
  • 4 replies
  • 548 views

Does FrameMaker support a "macro" functionality similar to what MS Word provides?  The only mention of "macros" in FrameMaker help seem to relate to HTML conversion (whatever that is).  I want to be able to automate simple tasks like special-pasting some text and setting the paragraph style.  For example, right now I have about a dozen Level 5 sections to copy and paste into FrameMaker.  So I have to copy the heading in Word, switch to FM, then do a Ctrl+Shift+v, hit "t" for "Text", then "Enter", and then open the Paragraph Catalog, click on "Level 5", and close the Paragraph Catalog (due to space limitations on-screen).  It would be a nice timesaver to have those steps assigned to a macro where all I have to do is press a couple keys.

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4 replies

W
Community Expert
Winfried RengCommunity Expert
Community Expert
June 8, 2023

 

Hi,

I use this tool to paste text without formatting:

http://stevemiller.net/puretext/

Very handy not only in FrameMaker, but also when you have to paste Excel cells without the Excel part.

 

Microsoft has the PowerToys collection of utilities. There is also one that pastes text without formatting.

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/

 

You can also write small macros with AutoIt or AutoHotkey.

 

Best regards, Winfried

    frameexpert
    Community Expert
    frameexpertCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 8, 2023

    There is no built-in macro capability where actions can be recorded and played back. Some FrameMaker users use general-purpose Windows macro programs with FrameMaker. You can also use ExtendScript, which @Jeff_Coatsworth referred to, for FrameMaker automation. ExtendScript is a programming language based on JavaScript which is included in some Adobe products including FrameMaker.

      Mic17
      Mic17Author
      Participant
      June 9, 2023

      So this sounds like the definitive answer, there's no MS Word-like macro capability.  That's a HUGE disappointment.  As a former software engineer, I could do amazing things in Word with macros.  I don't have ExtendScript on my computer, and right now I don't have time to figure it out, but I'll keep it and the other suggestions in mind.

       

      Thanks to everyone else for the various related suggestions.  I knew about the maker.ini hack, but it was problematic for reasons I won't go into here.  Thanks especially to Barb for the F9 "hack", that's fabulous!

      Barb Binder
      Community Expert
      Barb BinderCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      June 11, 2023

      We are always happy to help, @Mic17.

       

      ~Barb

      ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
        Barb Binder
        Community Expert
        Barb BinderCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        June 8, 2023

        I hadn't thought about changing the maker.ini file in so long that I just went back and tried it today. I thought this had been fixed (I know it was) but sure enough the old paste-order issue is back and editing the maker.ini file took care of the issue. 

         

        1. Open Program Files > Adobe > Adobe FrameMaker 2022 > maker.ini in an ASCII text editor like Notepad. You will need admin rights.
        2. Scroll down until you find: ClipboardFormatsPriorities=FILE, MIFW, MIF, RTF, OLE 2, META, EMF,  DIB, BMP, UNICODE TEXT, TEXT
        3. Rearrange the order so that TEXT is first: ClipboardFormatsPriorities=TEXT, FILE, MIFW, MIF, RTF, OLE 2, META, EMF,  DIB, BMP, UNICODE TEXT
        4. Save and close the file and restart FrameMaker.

         

        After making the change as suggested by @Jeff_Coatsworth, just a regular Ctrl+V pasted plain text (which also surprised me).

         

        That said, I was really here to add that you can use F9 or Ctrl+9 to open the context-sensitive paragraph catalog, F8 or Ctrl F8 for the context-sensitive character catalog. These are space-saving devices. You can select the paragraph style from the list by either tapping the first letter, or using the down arrow key, and then pressing Enter.

         

        ~Barb

        ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
          Jeff_Coatsworth
          Community Expert
          Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
          Community Expert
          June 8, 2023

          I rely heavily on Esc c c for applying the last character tag & Esc j j for last paragraph tag (plus my maker.ini hack - lot of stuff from Word docs) 

            Barb Binder
            Community Expert
            Barb BinderCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            June 8, 2023

            That's a great reminder. I remember these two only occasionally.

             

            ~Barb

            ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
            Jeff_Coatsworth
            Community Expert
            Jeff_CoatsworthCommunity Expert
            Community Expert
            June 8, 2023

            You could approach with scripting a la @frameexpert & others. Or you could simplify your Paste command to act like a Paste Special > Text all the time by changing the order of a line in your maker.ini

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