How to make paragraphs line up between columns?

Report · Apr 02, 2009

I want to make a 2 column chapter, with the text in each column in its own flow. But then I want some of the paragraphs to line up between columns.

So, like this:

xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy
yyyyyyyyy
yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx

xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy

I'm assuming I can't use side heads to put the first column text in, because the info on the left goes on for multiple paragraphs, and I can't seem to line up a block of paragraphs with the baseline of the appropriate right column text.

I used to do this in tables, like this:

_______________________
xxxxxxxxxx ! yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx ! yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx ! yyyyyyyyy
! yyyyyyyyy
! yyyyyyyyy
_______________________
xxxxxxxxxx !
xxxxxxxxxx !
xxxxxxxxxx !
_______________________
xxxxxxxxxx ! yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx ! yyyyyyyyy

...where the gridlines between rows and columns would be hidden. However, I sometimes need to print just the right column, which meant I had to remove the table. It's a 600-page document, I was looking for a more elegant solution.

Any suggestions?

I am using FM8.0(266) on Windows XP.

Report · Apr 02, 2009

You're probably going to have to use separate text frames for the
columns on the master pages.

Then where you want the paragraphs to span (which flow are these in?),
you can use the MasterPage mapping tables to automatically pull in a
customized master page that has the columns split with the appropriate
text frame spanning both areas for that segment. There might be some
manual tweaking (i.e. overrides) required to adjust the height of the
spanned text frame.

Report · Apr 02, 2009

Arnis,
Thanks for your reply. I hadn't intended to "span" the paragraphs across columns. I simply want the material in the "x" flow to line up with the material in the "y" flow as needed.

My colleagues are using empty lines to manually line up the text in the left column with the text in the right column. The result is sloppy. I've been using table grids to line the two sides up. This makes the baselines line up perfectly, but it is hard to manage when I need to print just the right column.

To understand what I'm trying to do, imagine a training manual: the left column represents the instructor's lecture. The right column represents the material in the student workbook. The lecture needs to line up with the material in the student workbook, although some topics have several pages of lecture lined up against just a few paragraphs of student workbook material, while other topics have the opposite situation. Eventually, I have to print just the student workbook without the instructor's lecture.

I'm open to suggestions about how to go about this: tables, columns, text frames, etc. The only design constraint I have is that there must be two columns with the material side-by-side.

Report · Apr 03, 2009

If you take the sidehead approach that Niels suggest, you could do
this, but it would be a bit of maintenance.

Have your "xxxxx" flow content sit in text frames within anchored
frames. The anchored frames are then in a special conditionalized
paragraph ("z") in the *sidehead* before every "yyyy" flow section,
e.g.

z
xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy
yyyyyyyyy
yyyyyyyyy
z
xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx
z
xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy
xxxxxxxxxx yyyyyyyyy

The "z" paragraph is just a container for the anchored frames and
should contain no text.

When you hide the "z" tags, all of the "x" flow content will then
disappear as well. You'll have to manually customize the height of
each anchored frame/text frame pair though.

To adjust the spacings between the "y" flow to match at the bottom of
the anchored frames for the "x" flows, use the sidehead paratag ("Z")
and create space above overrides in this paragraph only to adjust the
vertical spacing to keep the x and y sections in sync. This way, you
have overrides confined to only one paratag.

To make maintenance easier, it might be worth creating a FrameScript
that would adjust the height of the anchored/text frame combo based
upon the amount of content in the instructor flow and then apply the
space above override to the anchoring paratag (z).

Report · Apr 02, 2009

It's been so long since the project in question died I don't think I have the source files anywhere, but I seem to remember doing something like this for parallel texts in two languages, using sidebars, sideheads and the sidehead alignment property. Whether this involved two separate flows, I don't remember ... so probably not <g><br /><br />I'll have a hunt and see whether I can find any source files to check this vague recollections.