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Participant
March 3, 2021
Question

Saving Multiple Versions of the Same Document

  • March 3, 2021
  • 3 replies
  • 198 views

I'm working on a document that will be distributed in multiple countries. Because of different regulatory requirements in each country, each version of the document has slight variations. I am saving each version of the document as a separate file in a separate folder, however, when I make a change to one document it gets saved in all documents, even though I only have one document open, each document is saved in it's own file, and each document has a different document name. 

 

I have tried saving each document in its own folder under a parent folder, and also in its own folder on my desktop. This does not seem to change anything. I've also tried creating a new book and importing files from another version, then saving, and that doesn't fix the problem either.

 

How do I stop this from happening?! Right now I have 3 documents, but soon it will be in the double digits, and I cannot change each file with every change every time I need to update.

 

Thank you!

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    3 replies

    Community Expert
    March 4, 2021

    Do you use conditional text and text insets (which is a good idea)?

    This would explain why other documents change, when the original file changes.

    You would have to apply conditions for one variant and hide this condition for other variants.

    Bob_Niland
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    March 3, 2021

    Unless the various editions are also in different languages, a typical approach to this is Conditional Text. I used this for US.v.UK manuals years ago.

    Another approach, for small numbers of localized text strings, is Variables, imported for publication into a common .fm file set, from various per-region .fm files that are each just the host for the variable definitions.

    frameexpert
    Community Expert
    Community Expert
    March 3, 2021

    I am having trouble envisioning what is happening. If you want to do a quick web meeting so I can see what is going on, please contact me offlist. I am on Eastern Standard Time in the US. rick at frameexpert dot com