[Closed] FrameMaker 7.x/8 Feature Requests

Report · Aug 19, 2002

Time to start entering these. If you are unsure about whether FM has the feature yet, please do some research and figure it out before posting.

Please don't post requests for assistance in here, either.

Cheers,

Sean

Report · Oct 13, 2004

> This **_FEATURE REQUEST_** thread has been hopping lately.

*grin* Point taken. But when someone puts in a feature request for something FM already does, how are we supposed to deal with it?

Cheers, Rebecca

Report · Oct 14, 2004

IXgen allows you to expand markers in place, similar to the way you can show or hide {XE ...} index-entry fields in Word. You can edit the text and collapse all marker text back into the marker. Great for proofing to see if index entries are relevant to the context in which they are embedded. IXgen uses a special IXgenMarker character format to delimit the marker text so that it can correctly recognise it to collapse back into the marker. This is a problem if you want to APPLY a character format. If Adobe implements this, I suggest use an anonymous character format (to distinguish marker text from surrounding body text) with a special delimiter character (to mark the boundaries of marker text). In the IXgen editable marker list, you can apply character formats directly. IXgen then converts the applied character formats to the character tags, e.g. <Bold>, when writing the edited marker text back into the markers. If Adobe implements expanding of marker text, you should be able to embed index entries in body text by inserting the special delimiters and typing the entry text between them. Then you should be able to collapse the marker entry back into a marker, creating them on the fly if necessary.

Report · Oct 21, 2004

Feature request...FM on OSX.

Discussion continues on Macintouch
http://www.macintouch.com/framemaker.html#oct21

Report · Nov 12, 2004

Hi All:

In V7 and an earlier V5.x, whenever you add graphics, edit text, and make changes to a page, the screen is not refreshed and gets scrambled. You can refresh by going Page Up/Page Down, but it would be nice if FrameMaker had a better refresh capability.

Don
p.s. - I have tried to figure out if there is a setting that corrects this. I have looked in the manuals and through this site. So I think this is an enhanced request ;-)

Report · Nov 12, 2004

Don, <ctrl> L or from the menus Window > Refresh does the screen refresh. The screen updating issue has been around as long as FM has been ported to Windows.

Report · Nov 24, 2004

Simple way to determine applied template.

Report · Nov 24, 2004

> Simple way to determine applied template.

That goes against the present implementation model. Frame does not attach to a template in the way that Word does. The best you could hope for is a history list of what you've "imported from" lately. Nice, but not the same as "determine applied template."

Report · Dec 08, 2004

This one just came up in a "regular" thread: It'd be nice to have a way to get nonrectangular runaround areas while maintaining the utility of anchored frames. The ideal would be the ability to "shrink wrap" an anchored frame to the actual contours of a graphic. Failing that, a selection of shapes -- polygons and ellipses -- for anchored frames would increase graphic layout options.

-Bill

Report · Dec 09, 2004

Tim,

I agree that Frame does not act like word, still I submit it would be nice to know the actual applied template. I have a situation where we are changing formats and the results change almost daily.

Report · Dec 09, 2004

Here's a feature I've never seen requested.

The ability to specify where all the backup files get stored. I'd like them to go automatically to some folder that's out of the way, which I can define.

Report · Jan 18, 2005

How about true CMYK support? (for Windows)

That way we can create Frame documents that are sent to the printing house and What ya see is what ya get. No more red faces, essentially. Or, no need to EPS everything so there are no red faces.

Report · Feb 04, 2005

I work in 33 languages using Frame and though a bit kooky sometimes, it does work for all but Arabic and Hebrew which I have to do custom versions in Word. I'd love proper support for these 2 lanuages that would complete the global nature of the product.

Report · Feb 08, 2005

And an only small but neat "side feature" would be, if Adobe adds a meta data reader for the Windows Explorer. If you mark up a file in Explorer, it shows a couple of information in the status bar at the bottom of the Explorer. Acrobat 7 has this now, too and when you mark up a PDF the status bar also shows the Meta Data like title, author etc. This would be nice for FM and Book files, too. Also if you hit ALT-Return for a marked up file, you get the Windows FIle Properties dialog. For e.g. PDFs (Acro7) it has it's own "PDF" tab showing all the Meta Data incl. Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Producer, file (creation and modification) date, and PDF-Version and autoring App. I'd like to see this for FM and Book files, too.

Report · Feb 17, 2005

Unlimited UNDO levels.

I would like to set my arrow and line setting defaults to be what *I* want them to be, not what FrameMaker wants to give me. (I currently have to change the size of the arrow head every time I open the program, and this is something that I use in every document I create.)

I would like to save my workspace the way I use it. I use the drawing tools with every document, therefore I'd like the ability to have them turned on and stay on each time I open the program.

I'd like to be able to dock the drawing pallet.

I want to be able to layer graphics, so I don't keep accidentally moving them around when I go to click on something next to it. (With only one undo level this has been a really REALLY bit pain).

Customizable tool bars.

Report · Feb 17, 2005

This may be a request that is more suitable for a v 10.x but the ONLY thing I like about MSWord (which I'm forced to use under duress from clients) is the change tracking feature with edits in the little windows coded by color for different editors, etc. When working on large documents over long time periods, this feature is wonderful (you can take the rest of MSW and chuck it). I know this is 'big' but fits in nicely with the Framemaker concept I've held since V 3 many years ago.

Report · Feb 24, 2005

Prior request: OSX version of FM

New request: hmmm...who cares...dead product.

Report · Mar 07, 2005

For my wish list, I would like:

1. The ability to spell check and search inside text that was imported by reference.

2. The ability to add a graphic to the right or left of a paragraph format instead of just to the top and bottom of format (I know that there are lots of ways to accomplish this but I would like to see it as an option within FrameMaker itself).

3. An "Allow in Book" option for spell checker (so that I didn't have to click "Allow in Document" for each chapter).

4. The ability to search for a specific variable.

5. The ability to search for, and remove, paragraph overrides.

6. A highlight tool similar to that in Word (If you type the text in Word, highlight it, and then paste it in your FrameMaker document as a text inset, you have access to Word's highlight tools but you can't search or spell check the text in the inset).

7. The ability to find and delete obsolete markers.

8. The ability to replace the text in a marker using the Find/Replace tool.

9. MULTIPLE UNDO!

10. More robust revision tracking.

11. Better index generating tools.

Report · Mar 22, 2005

I'd just like to reinforce the request for multiple undo capability (whether through undo or some type of history buffer). There are
b many FrameMaker document developers at Intel
who would benefit from this feature.

Report · Mar 23, 2005

What do you do that requires multiple undo? There's a slew of things I'd want before that. And, I'd hate to use up tonnes of memory (a configurable action history might be good).

Cheers,

Sean

Report · Mar 23, 2005

We create technical specification documents that have lots of tables, figures, and subnotes. Formatting these details takes some amount of experimentation which is where the undoing would be key. A configurable history sounds like a good idea to me too.

Report · Mar 23, 2005

Sean: >What do you do that requires multiple undo? Make mistakes, perhaps? Nothing about my standard processes is predicated on even one level of undo: Presumably one only uses undo to reverse things one didn't intend to do. But when working in applications that *have* multiple undo (like <shudder> Word), I often find I use it, generally because by the time I identify something as a mistake, I've already performed at least one additional action. In such cases, single-level undo is useless. >And, I'd hate to use up tonnes of memory I heartily agree, though I'm not convinced the metric ton is the proper unit for memory. Personlly, I prefer the Imperial buttload. <g> But seriously, I think the answer might be "modestly multiple" undos: the ability to undo perhaps three to five actions, but no more, or maybe a strict limit on the buffer space devoted to undos. IMHO, the ability to undo a (literal) hadnful of actions would be useful; anything deeper than that would not be worth a performance hit. -Bill

Report · Mar 23, 2005

Good thing there are no Mac users left in the FM forum...since we would of course request an OSX version of FM.

Report · Mar 23, 2005

Hi Sean

I'd greatly appreciate multiple undo when editing text, not for layout. I'll too-often muck with a sentence, then think "ugh, that's worse than what I started with" and want to go back. With FM I can't. 4-5 levels of undo would work wonders.

Cheers, Rebecca

Report · Mar 28, 2005

What about native support for BibTex files? Today I use CiteMaker, but it has no direct support for FM books.

Report · Mar 28, 2005

> Good thing there are no Mac users left in the FM forum...since we would of course request an OSX version of FM.

Hey, I'm still here, holding on to Classic for my only Classic application, Frame.

I can't help myself: OSX. Oh, yeah, with full Unicode.

You know, there is one issue with Classic that if someone could hack into the code and fix, I would be most appreciative: long file names, for both doc files and referenced graphics.