Figure and Table number captions

[Guest]

I am using FM 8.0p277 on Vista Home Premium and am a newbie to FM. I am currently migrating documents from unstructured to structured. I am also learning to develop my own EDDs and templates.

My question is: In Structured FM, how do you add Figure and Table captions in the format Figure#: figurename and Table#: tablename? I want to generate lists of figures and tables for a book. Is it set up as a Marker in the EDD? If so, what do I need to include in the set-up to generate a list of figures/tables for the book?

I had thought this topic was covered by another forum user, but couldn't find it by performing a search. I also have been searching the User Guide and Application Developer Guide for information to no avail. I hope my question is clear.

[_Van_Kurtz_]

Janice,

Figure and table numbering are handled by the EDD, in the same way as the EDD assigns paragraph formatting to elements. In the case of tables, the EDD formats the TableTitle element. Typically figures have a title element that serves as the caption; the EDD can format that also.

So, look in the App Dev Guide for information on formatting paragraphs/elements. There are three ways of doing it: you can create the appropriate paragraph formats in your template, and then let the EDD assign the right format to the corresponding element. Or (2), create the paragraph formats in the EDD as format lists, and the EDD assigns the right list to the corresponding element. Or (3), the EDD assigns the correct autonumbering format to the corresponding element. I prefer methods 2 and 3 because they prevent the user from changing the autonumbering in the documents.

Good luck,
Van

[Guest]

Thanks, Van. I'm much closer to figuring this out with your help. <br /><br />I have tested my EDD on an existing document and the Table #: xxx caption I was trying to achieve seems to work. I was also able to generate a list of tables. <br /><br />Unfortunately, all my tables are Table 1 even though I added format rules for a {first} occurrence of the TableTitle <n=1> vs. a {notfirst} occurrence <n+>. So, obviously I still have some work to do...

[Russ Ward]

Janice,<br /><br />The {first} designation refers to an element's position on its respective branch, not its general occurrence in the document. A table only has one title and it is always the first element on the table branch, therefore a table title element is always {first}. So, your setup is not relevant for table titles. Normally, a table title will always use the <n+1> type of setup, no different than unstructured FrameMaker.<br /><br />Russ

[Guest]

Thanks, Russ. I started learning unstructured FrameMaker less than a year ago. I guess I'm just trying to pack too much into my poor brain. I appreciate your assistance and this forum, so thanks again!

[Guest]

On the same topic, it has been requested of me that the Figure and Table numbers in my document be preceded by the section number. (Figure #1 in section 3.3 is Figure 3.3-1: xxx, Fig #2 of that section is Figure 3.3-2: xxx, and so on, where xxx is the Figure title). I have incorporated the word "Figure" and formatted the figure title text; I just require assistance with the autonumbering.<br /><br />I am a department of one, so while not only responsible for writing, am also responsible for my own EDDs/templates and am learning on the fly. My EDD has the following section numbering series (which may not be conducive to what I want to accomplish):<br /> <br />Element(Container):Head<br /> General rule: TEXT<br />Text format rules<br /> Count ancestors named: Section<br /> If level is: 1<br /> Context label: Heading1<br /> Numbering properties<br /> Autonumber format: S:<n+>.<n=0>\t<br /> Else, if level is: 2<br /> Context label: Heading2<br /> Numbering properties<br /> Autonumber format: S:<n>.<n+>\t<br /> Else, if level is: 3<br /> Context label: Heading3<br /> Numbering properties<br /> Autonumber format: S:<n>.<n>.<n+>\t<br /><br />Is there a way to either:<br />1) use the current section autonumbering to set up the Figure numbering system requested, or<br />2) create a new element that addresses the Figure and Table autonumbering to incorporate the section numbers?<br /><br />If the EDD will require a complete overhaul, I don't have time right now, and have no qualms about letting the "powers that be" know that it is too complex/time consuming with the current set-up that I have. But any guidance would be much appreciated.

[Ian Proudfoot]

Hi Janice,

You can update your current numbering scheme so that the section numbers are shown in the Figure and Table numbers.

Element(Container):Head
General rule: TEXT
Text format rules
Count ancestors named: Section
If level is: 1
Context label: Heading1
Numbering properties
Autonumber format: S:<n+>.<n=0>< =0>< >\t
Else, if level is: 2
Context label: Heading2
Numbering properties
Autonumber format: S:<n>.<n+>< =0>< >\t
Else, if level is: 3
Context label: Heading3
Numbering properties
Autonumber format: S:<n>.<n>.<n+>< =0>\t

For the TableTitle use this autonumber format rule if the Table is at level 1 or 2:

Autonumber format: S:Table <n>.<n>< >-<n+>:\t

Or if the Table is a level 3, use this rule:

Autonumber format: S:Table <n>.<n>.<n>-<n+>:\t

I think this should do what you want.

Regards
Ian

Ian Proudfoot
Adobe Community Expert

[Guest]

Thank you so much, Ian. I spent way too much time on this & with the help of the App Dev guide I got part of the numbering to work, but then other parts would not. I believe I was placing the empty counter in the wrong place and numbering was starting at zero, which I didn't want. In the future, I should save myself the headache, set a way shorter trial period for myself, and then consult the experts like yourself!

[Lynne A. Price]

Janice,

The key to Ian's solution is the use of < > (the space between the angle brackets is crucial). To explain why this works, each autonumbering sequence (S in your case) contains an arbitrary number of counters. You specify counters by enclosing a special one-character code in angle brackets. This code indicates how the counter is displayed. The letter n, for instance, indicates that the counter is displayed as an Arabic numeral, R indicates an uppercase Roman numeral, and so on. A space means that the counter is not displayed.

Of course, any of these codes can be followed by a + to indicate that the value should be incremented, or by an = and an integer to set the counter to the specified value. Thus < =0> sets a counter to 0 without displaying it and < +> increments a counter without displaying it.

Any counter that is not mentioned is reset to 0. Thus, the autonumbers:

<n>

<n>< =0>

are equivalent.

You are using the first three counters in the S sequence for section headings of different levels. You can use the 4th for for tables and the 5th for figures (or the other way around). You need to use the space code for two reasons:

1. 
   
2. To skip past unused counters (e.g., to avoid including the table counter in a figure number)
   
3. To avoid resetting a counter that you don't want to display (e.g., to avoid resetting the figure count to 0 each time you display a table number).
   

--Lynne

[Guest]

Excellent! Thanks for the clarification, Lynne.

[_systecgmbhnuremberg_]

Mello Mrs. Swanson,

As far as my experience goes, it can be advantageous to have the numbering specification in the format and not hardcoded in the EDD.
This way, you only assign a format in the EDD. The advantage ist, that if you have documents that get translated into other languages, you only need to update the format ("Abbildung" instead of "Figure") and not the EDD. If you did it via the EDD, you´d need an EDD per language. Also, template based localization can also deal with the parapgraph language and language-dependent reference pages (such as index sorting a.s.o).

For tables, you can either have the table title as a separate "paragraph" (=defined as a "Container" in the EDD) or as a true Table Title (in the sense of the table dialog), when you define it as a "TableTitle" in the EDD.

Hope this helps.

With kind regards,
Franz.
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