Change format throughout a book

[dcrouse10]

How can you change a paragraph or charater style throughout a book?

For example, if I have a paragraph style that is Green Times New Roman and I decide it should be Blue Courier instead, how can I change it in all 30 chapters at once without manually changing all 30 chapters of the book?

[Bob_Niland · Accepted solution]

How can you change a paragraph or charater style throughout a book?

It's simple if, and only if, the pgf fmts are supposed to be identical in all book components.

From the .book menu:

1. Open a definining instance a of a body.fm file. The target files do not need to be open.
   
2. Revise the pgf fmt. Leave the file open.
3. In the book menu, CTRL-select all the other book component files (or at least those you want to update).
4. File > Import > Formats
   Import from Document: [definingBody.fm]
   [Deselect All]
   
5. Paragraph Formats
   [?] Other Format/Layout Overrides
   [Import]
   
   

There are many book-wide things you can do from the book menu.

[dcrouse10]

I think sometimes it is possible to look too hard for a clever solution and

miss altogether the obvious ones that were built for exactly that.

Either that or I am getting old.

Oh well.

Thanks for the help.

[Bob_Niland]

... and miss altogether the obvious ones that were built for exactly that.

There is very little about Framemaker that I'd classify as "obvious".

I've been using it since FM3, and I'm still discovering the obvious.

[Maike_Roder]

Hi,

you should do "Global Actualization" and import the format in all other components of the book

+ open the paragraph or character designer and choose the format
+ Command > all at is change, what you want to change: color, font, ...
+ select Command > Global actualization
+ choose all formats

Result: The file contains all new definitions, then
+ open the book
+ select all components of the book, that need the new definitions
+ import character or paragraph formats

- Maike

[Bob_Niland]

Command > Global actualization

Is this an FM10 feature?

I don't see it in FM9 (nor, of course, FM7.1).

I ask because the basenote doesn't specify Frame version.

[Maike_Roder]

Hi,

I'm sorry, it is "Global Update Options".