Document split function adds blank pages

[TCBill]

Hello. I have a FrameMaker file that I would like to break into smaller chunks. (FrameMaker 17.0.2.431.) The document split function adds a number of blank pages to the end of each of the split-out sections, resulting in a book of 234 pages when the original file only had 22 pages. It also adds a paragraph with a Table Title style at the end of the text in each of the documents. Anybody have any ideas about these two glitches?

Thanks in advance,

Bill

[Winfried Reng]

Hi Bill,

I use the Split feature now and then, but I do not know, if I have an explanation for your issues.

Empty pages: Could it be that your original file has some other master pages assigned or that pages are changed, e.g. height or width? Then FrameMaker cannot delete these pages, when it updates your book. At least I had encountered this issue.

Table Title paragraph: Is this the first or last paragraph of your file? The Split feature empties the original file and pastes whole paragraphs. When there is this paragraph left, when the file is emptied, it will be the last paragraph. I had created a bug report in the Adobe tracker about this. When more users complain, Adobe might fix this sometime.

https://tracker.adobe.com/#/view/FRMAKER-10548

Best regards, Winfried

[Bob_Niland]

So more than one blank page is being added?
If the split-off files are in double-sided mode, normal odds say that half of the new files will not have sufficient Flow A content to populate exactly an even number of pages, resulting in single trailing empties. But it sounds like more is going on here.

With Text Symbols turned on, are the pages really empty?
What Master Pages are assigned to the unwanted blanks?
If the doc has a MasterPageMaps Reference Page, what does an AMP and save do?

[FrameMaker-dk · Accepted solution]

It sounds to me like you have an object on one of your pages - perhaps one of the last pages - that does not reside in the main textflow.

[Barb Binder]

Ha! You were 100% correct! See screen shots, below.

~Barb

[Barb Binder · Accepted solution]

Bill:

Any chance you would be comfortable sharing the original Fm file? I'd be happy to take a look.

You can put it on Dropbox and post a link here (public) or  direct message me the link (private). 

~Barb

[Barb Binder]

Hi Bill:

I already sent you an email this evening indicating that I couldn't figure it out, but then decided to try one more thing before I posted my identical results.

I tried changing the pagination on the original chapter and recieved an error message that said you had overlapping content on page 5. When I looked, sure enough, there was a little frame sitting on page 5. (It seemed to be underneath the template frame, so it's not an easy selection. You'll need to use the object selection tool, and marquee the area to pick it up and then you can delete it. 

Once it was gone, Fm was able to split the document at the Heading1s and is behaving normally:

What appears to have been happening is FrameMaker was keeping that fifth page in every single split file, and then adding one more because you had the original file set to end on even pages. Once it was gone, FrameMaker didn't try to keep the extra pages and only will add one extra page if necessary, to end each file on on an even page.

Crazy, right? Phew!

~Barb

[TCBill]

Thank you one and all for your help! I inherited this project from a past writer and I guess I was so busy fixing other, more obvious errors that my blinders were firmly affixed to my face. StudioSm and Barb, y'all are great! Thanks again.

Bill