Moving FM Files Causes 'Missing File' Error for Graphics

[Guest]

Hi All,

I'm working on developing a new set of FrameMaker 8 templates for my department that will be stored on one drive but used on several others. I've recently found that, when I copy a template from the main drive (we'll call it 'M') to my desktop, all my graphics turn up as missing files, despite the fact that the graphic library itself hasn't moved.

To make things even more confusing, only some images are failing to display (those on my Reference pages work no matter where I store the FM file, whereas those on the Body pages do not). This problem is most prominent when I copy a template from the M drive to my desktop, but it also happens when I copy to certain folders on the M drive itself.

There is a fairly deep path to where I've stored the graphic library and I've noticed that the root referenced for the image in the Missing File DB has been concatonated, beginning with something like '\.\.\' instead of 'M'. Would a 'shallower' path to the library solve this problem?

Also, I've seen scattered mention online about FrameMaker 8 having trouble displaying referenced images across drives (example: from my M drive to my desktop). Is this true?

Thanks in advance to anyone who knows how to resolve this issue. I've been struggling with it for the past day or so now and it's starting to get annoying.

Cheers,

Tyler

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Hi Tyler,

If you are only copying the templates locally to save yourself the hassle of navigating to the network drive location each time you create a "New" document, there is a tweak you can make to your maker.ini file to make it always point to the network location by default instead of your local templates folder. I've done it on my system and it works great. Let me know if that's the case & I'll dredge my memory on what the change is ;>)

Jeff

[Guest]

Hi Jeff,

Actually, most of the writers prefer to keep the 'new' documents they generate using the templates on their desktops until they're ready to publish, as our M drive is quite fickle and can go down fairly frequently.

That being said, I'm basically hoping someone can explain why moving the FM files themselves is causing the images to go missing. All the forum discussions and troubleshooting chapters I can find on the subject warn against moving images, but say nothing about moving the files referencing them.

Let me know if you need any more information and I'll be happy to send it.

Regarding your maker.ini tweak, not having to navigate to every time I start a new document would be great! If you can recall the change, it would be much appreciated.

Cheers,

Tyler Feltmate

[signature deleted by host]

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Hmm, don't know about the referenced images problem (because none of my templates have a referenced graphic - no wait, I lie - there is one that has a corporate Nike-swoosh-like image. Ok, just looked at it - the image is also in an images folder on the same drive as the template - n problem opening it, but it is slow to display).

The maker.ini tweak is this:

Since there are 2 maker.ini files on a WinXP machine, I edited the one in C:\Documents and Settings\user name\Application Data\Adobe\FrameMaker\9.

There's a section (I think, or maybe I just added it) called Directories

In that area I added:

TemplateDir=network drive letter:\path to folder containing the templates

In my case it reads like this: TemplateDir=P:\Departments\QA Department\Jonas Documentation Conversion Project\doc_projects\Jonas\project

[Guest]

Thanks again, Jeff. I'll try the .ini trick and see how it goes.

This image issue really has me stumped. I just tried moving two templates that contained the same logo image (referencing the same PNG file) to a new folder on the same drive. I had to re-establish the reference for the image in one template, but not for the same image in the other.

Well, at the very least it looks like I can rule out crossing drives as the root cause.

Cheers,

Tyler Feltmate

[signature deleted by host]

[Art Campbell]

You're hitting the missing graphics problem because of the way Frame is designed. Graphics, generally, but also books, component files and so on are set up using a relative path system. All components should be moved as a unit so the file system isn't altered. When nyou move the files, as you point out, the graphics library does not move -- hence the problem. The copied file is in a different relative position to the graphics.

So if you're starting out with something like this:

                 |

                 |

    M:/Template/--------------M;/Graphics/

And copy only the template file to your local drive,

                 |

                 |

    C:/Template/--------------?;/Graphics/

the referenced graphics directory doesn't exist there.

So to fix this, the /Graphics/ directory needs to exist in the same relative spot on each local PC, which probably isn't gonig to happen. If you can make it happen, and preserve the same relative location on the server, you're good. But this would be an administrative headache.

The easiest way for you to implement this, especially if you're gonig to distribute this template, is to use Bruce Foster's Archive plug in, which will collect all the components of a document (either a file or a book) and package them for transport. You will need to use that when books are moved around in order to preserve the graphic links, or else make sure that each writer uses the same relative file system and that it exists on the server.

That said, you may be running into one of the few situations where embedding the graphics in the FM file makes more sense than importing them by reference. An alternative would be to embed them on a Reference page and invoke them as needed.

Art

[Guest]

Well, Art, I can't say I'm happy to hear that, but thanks for confirming what I was beginning to suspect.

In this situation, there's no way we can replicate the graphic library on each PC (our ISO guy would collapse during his next visit), so for anyone interested, the solution we're going to go with is this:

Basically, each writer develops a new document on their PC with only the image placeholders showing (the images in question are generic and won't change from one document to another). Then, when they're ready to publish, they move the book back onto the M drive and all images are restored.

It's not pretty, but it aught to work. If anyone happens to have come across this problem themselves and found a better way of approaching it, by all means, please share!

Thanks guys.

Cheers,

PS - Anyone know if this issue is fixed in FM 9?

Tyler Feltmate

[signature deleted by host]

[Art Campbell]

Well, no, it isn't "fixed" because it is part of the product architecture... so you'd have a tough sell trying to call it a bug.

Many shops use one of the solutions I mentioned (or work on the server so the links stay intact)... but the key tool you're likely to need is still the Archive plug-in so that you can move entire books and all components without screwing up links.

Art

[Van Kurtz]

An alternative is to open the file on the M drive from the FrameMaker application. At this point, all the graphics point to their locations on the M drive.

Now SAVE the file to your PC, C drive. Frame will change all the referenced graphics to point to the M drive. They will no longer be relative paths, but absolute paths. If you add new graphics to the file on the C drive, import them from the M drive. Again, all graphics point to the M drive.

When you finished with the document, save it to the M drive from within FrameMaker, that is a FrameMaker Save as. All the referenced graphics still point to the M drive, but (I think) FrameMaker will convert the paths to relative paths; NOTE: I have not checked the latter; they may still have absolute paths but they WILL point to the M drive.

The solution is to do your "moving" within FrameMaker, NOT in Windows Explorer.

Good luck,

Van

[Guest]

Thanks, Van. I've tried this with a few files so far and it appears to be working.

Cheers,

Tyler Feltmate

[signature deleted by host]