Adding an Underscore to an Equation (Framemaker 13.0.1)

[aplaceintime]

Hello,

I am having a problem adding underscores to equations.I found previous instructions from an old post on Framemaker 10, but it is giving me one issue. When I do this I get quotes in the blank space where the underscore needs to be. Basically something like this "". It really seems like there should just be a way to add an underscore directly and not just underline a blank space. Does anyone know how to do this?

Old post copied from a previous question:

If you're using the Equation Editor, then use the Symbols tab and click on the Start String, then just enter the keyboard underlines until they're lon enough and click the End String button to get an underscor drawn. Then in the Positioning tab, use the controls to adjust selected text (or you can also use the windows alt+arrow keys to move them).

Also, is there a way to copy and paste from within an equation? It seems strange that I can't just copy strings and paste them into other equations instead of having to type them all over again.

Thank you for any help you can give me with this.

[K.Daube]

aplaceintime,

You may use the diacritical mark from the Symbols page:

• select the construct you want to 'underscore' using the space bar
• click the button

[aplaceintime]

Thank you, but what I am looking for is a way to add an underbar not a space that is underlined. I did this and it really does not look good.

[K.Daube]

Sorry, aplaceintime, I do not understand the issue. Can You provide the equation or a screenshot of it and indicate what item(s) shall get an underscore?

When inserting a string, for example to add a dimension to a value, you enter one " and FM immediately shows two of them. Tehen typing text (for example seconds) lets the "" disappear and FM displays only the text. You close the string with Enter/CarriageReturn.

You can not apply an arbitrary character format (e.g. underline) to the selected string. The only character format that can be applied is EquationVariables.

You can, however, apply the diacritical marks also to a string:

[aplaceintime]

I was looking to make underbars such as pk_vtt not underlined text. What I found is in order to do this I had to use the string (Start String -> End String) function which sometimes gives me an error but other times works. What a serious waste of time. Not sure why Framemaker doesn't just let me type what I need to type and add the symbols where needed, but this is the answer to my problem.

Thank you for your help.

[Bob_Niland]

re: What I found is in order to do this I had to use the string (Start String -> End String) function which sometimes gives me an error but other times works. What a serious waste of time.

When you don't use Start/Stop String, FM will be trying to "help" you, and can often misinterpret what you type as operators, symbols, etc. Also, unless string-delimited, you may not be able to apply various formats.

Now that FM has transitioned to using MML for equations, I can predict that this legacy behavior is not going to be enhanced.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

There are shortcuts for the Start String (Use " to start string) and for Stop String (Use ENTER to stop string)

I wrote up a blog post and created a video at

Inserting non-equation characters into FrameMaker equations - Tech Comm Tools

-Matt

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

You can copy the equation and edit as needed.