Skip to main content
M
mmsmadea
Participant
September 4, 2018
Answered

The find / change option with Clone case seems to be unreliable in FM2017/Win10

  • September 4, 2018
  • 2 replies
  • 508 views

I have FM2017 on Win10.

The find / change option randomly changes case on the target.

Find: tracking device

Change to: field computer

Clone case: Yes --

target becomes field computer, sometimes field Computer, sometimes field COMPUTER ... this is maddening.  It's totally unreliable.

madea

[Title abbreviated by moderator]

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer mmsmadea

LOL, thank you!

Well, if you see it happen again, I'd suggest stopping to examine the text for character level formatting. Matt and I both work as trainers, do layout work and answer questions here, so we've encountered many of the bugs already and this one is new to both of us. However, if you really think it's a bug, your best bet is to report it here: Tracker. While the Adobe engineering team does scan the community forums for issues, they will definitely see it if you post a bug report. And you can link back to this thread to avoid having to re-explain the whole thing!

I hope your layout goes smoothy from here on out, and bookmark this forum for the next time you run into an issue: Adobe FrameMaker.​ It may be a little clunky, but we are here and always happy to help.

~Barb

P.S. I can't recreate the issue with the two-word F/C either.


Thanks a heap, BarbBinder...

Will keep it all in mind...

Thanks for the P.S., too... Just possibly it was caused, randomly, by a two-word F/C.  Who knows...

madea

2 replies

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 5, 2018

Hi Madea:

No need to apologize. We understand your frustration, and I have never encountered this behavior—either in my own work or when working with students.

Is this always a lowercase to lowercase search? Or do you actually need to clone the existing case?

And did you look for character formatting that might be assigned to the existing text? In addition to character tags that you create and assign, character formatting can sneak in from Word and not be obvious. I wonder if the F/C is unmasking it.

~Barb

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
M
mmsmadeaAuthor
Participant
September 5, 2018

Thanks for your consideration and reply, BarbBinder.

I'm not a novice to FM or other applications insofar as text editing is concerned.  (My frustration was acute because this Forum platform for all the Adobe products doesn't provide a newbie like me with the necessary and readily available information on how to post to it in the first place, and to Framemaker, in particular.  Check moodle.org, for instance.  Very easy forum to work within.)

Anyway, your points are well taken.  There were more than a few large documents where I had to make the "simple" change from  -tracking device-  to   -field computer-   while honoring case and formatting.  Seems simple enough until I noticed this problem.  The F/C utility seemingly randomly generated an initial cap on the word computer or, in some cases, capitalized the whole word: COMPUTER!  So, I couldn't use the Change & Find option in good faith.  Too uncertain.   There were many, many instances in many large documents.  I got through it.  I think this is a bug.

Insofar as checking character formatting / tags, that's an interesting point.  I don't want to spend more time researching that aspect of the problem.  We have learned to "wash" text coming from other applications in a text editor like Notepad++ or Notepad and then copy the text into FM.  However, I think this text originated in the FM app itself.  Just really, really odd and frustrating behavior and something to watch out for moving forward.

Lastly, I noticed that you and the other person who replied seem to have thought that I was trying to F/C  -tracking device-  to  -computer- ... That was not the case.  I was trying to F/C  -tracking device-  to  -field computer-  (two terms!)... and the odd behavior affected the second term: computer.  Could that be a contributor to the problem, a second term?  It shouldn't be, but who knows?

Thanks for your time.  I say it's a defect . a bug...

madea

p. s. Really was impressed by your graphic, btw, in your initial reply!  Very nice!

Barb Binder
Community Expert
Barb BinderCommunity Expert
Community Expert
September 5, 2018

LOL, thank you!

Well, if you see it happen again, I'd suggest stopping to examine the text for character level formatting. Matt and I both work as trainers, do layout work and answer questions here, so we've encountered many of the bugs already and this one is new to both of us. However, if you really think it's a bug, your best bet is to report it here: Tracker. While the Adobe engineering team does scan the community forums for issues, they will definitely see it if you post a bug report. And you can link back to this thread to avoid having to re-explain the whole thing!

I hope your layout goes smoothy from here on out, and bookmark this forum for the next time you run into an issue: Adobe FrameMaker.​ It may be a little clunky, but we are here and always happy to help.

~Barb

P.S. I can't recreate the issue with the two-word F/C either.

~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 4, 2018

    Just to clarify, that is the expected behavior of clone case—it is supposed to match the case of the text you are finding.

    For example,

    is updated as follows with a Change All:

    Is that what is happening, or is it changing an all lower case "tracking device" to all upper-case COMPUTER? That would be weird.

    ~Barb

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    M
    mmsmadeaAuthor
    Participant
    September 5, 2018

    Thanks, Barb...

    It is NOT cloning case.  It is randomly assigning an initial cap to "computer" or randomly making "computer" all caps: COMPUTER.  It is random, but occurs within 5 to 7 instances.  Consequently, I cannot trust the "Change - Find Next" option.  I have to click Find, then Change, [correct, if necessary], then Find again.  I must check each occurrence.

    Sorry about the rant.  I could not find the Framemaker forum nor, more importantly, how to post, initially.  So, frustrating.

    Thanks, again.

    madea

      Matt-Tech Comm Tools
      Community Expert
      Matt-Tech Comm ToolsCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      September 5, 2018

      That sounds incredibly frustrating, but I've not seen that behavior before.

      You might try a quick fix of renaming your preferences file (see http://techcommtools.com/find-framemaker-preference-folder/ )

      If that doesn't resolve it, to work around it, (and, no, you should not have to work around it) perhaps it would be easier to perform 2 searches, both with Consider Case on, and with Clone Case off...one on Computers, and one on computers.

      -Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement
      Using the community Terms of use Privacy Cookie preferences Do not sell or share my personal information ad choicesAdChoices