Numbering per chapter

[John37691166o70k]

I am trying to get to the bottom of an issue that has been ongoing for almost a month. Our company is trying to figure out a way to number each chapter accordingly. For Chapter 1 as an example pg 1/30 Then in chapter 2 it restarts at 1 and is shown as 1/25 for chapter 3 it is 1/16 and etc. We are able to restart the first number at 1 for each chapter but can not find a way to get the second number to match the correct amount of pages within a folder(Chapter). 

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Are you referring to the FrameMaker Book Folder that treats multiple fines as a single chapter?

[frameexpert]

I may be misunderstanding your questions, but can you use this?

[John37691166o70k]

[John37691166o70k]

In a old post you made you said something about a bookpagecount feature that is no longer available I believe. We are trying to number each set of section of documents seperately at the book level

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

The bookpagecount variable is still in Frame. However, it won't do that I think you are trying to do. 

If I understand correctly, you want a folderpagecount, which doesn't exist AFAIK.

I tried a lastpagenum and the bookpagecount--neither worked to count just the pages in a folder.

You may have to do it the old book-count method: make a unique style and use it on the last page of the last file in a folder--then xref it.

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

BTW, a folderpagecount variable would be an excellent feature request.

[frameexpert]

This could definitely be scripted where you could have a FolderPageCount variable that would be updated for each folder when you update the book.

[MarcyW3801]

When you say "scripted" do you mean a macro, or simply assigning a variable or define a style as Dave mentioned above? ("You may have to do it the old book-count method: make a unique style and use it on the last page of the last file in a folder--then xref it.)  Another newbie here, working with John (OP) on the same project.  Thanks for your help!

[John37691166o70k]

Do you know of any way to get around this issue? Could you show an example of what your bookpagecount variable is doing because we have been testing making seperate books within one big book in order to try and get the numbering just right.

[frameexpert]

This would be an ExtendScript script. ExtendScript is built into FrameMaker 10 and higher. I actually have some code roughed out. I will post a YouTube video later, but if you want to see a demo, please contact me offlist. rick at frameexpert dot com

[frameexpert]

Here is a video showing a potential scripting solution:

https://youtu.be/QnEEMPCot9c

[John37691166o70k]

[Winfried22729632ecs1]

Hi,

There are two system variables which you can insert in the footer on a master page to show the total number of pages:

Page Count - <$lastpagenum> This is the number of pages in your file.

Book Page Count - <$totalpagesinabook> This is the number of pages in your book (but not folder).

You need a page count for a folder. There isn't a variable for it (as Dave already mentioned).

And Dave said that you might create a unique paragraph on the last page of a folder and then make a cross-reference to this paragraph. The format of this cross-reference should just be <$pagenum>.

This last paragraph can be empty, only 2 pt, on a special last master page with a separate text frame. This is up to you.

When I tested this with a book in a book (instead of a folder) with the Book Page Count variable, the number was always the number of pages of the whole book. Therefore this does not work either.

I do not know, how Rick's script would work, but there are many ways, and scripting is very powerful!

Best regards, Winfried

[MarcyW3801]

Thank you, Winfried.  We are testing this at the multi-file chapter folder right now!

[Bob_Niland]

Another hack for arbitrary pseudo-page numbers is visible or invisible autonumbers on each page. Of course, with any of the hacks, while visible in PDF, they often won't match what page# the PDF reader thinks you're on.

When any numbering is unexpected, always check that the Numbering Properties in the .book match those for each including .fm file.

[MarcyW3801]

Thank you for the response, Bob.  I'm not sure I know how to apply the "pseudo-page number" hack to a FOLDER, but it's probably due to my lack of experience with FM...

We tested Winfried's suggestion on our book, and while it works, it's pretty complicated and I am not sure sustainable for the product we are publishing.

We're still brainstorming here tryting to figure this one out!