Permanantly unresolved cross references?

[Susan305351693t3o]

I have some files in a book that ALWAYS have unresolved cross references, and I don't understand why.

When I open the files, I get this message:

This happens for several files in the book. Always the same ones.

So I fix the unresolved cross references using the Find/Cross References-Unresolved tool and repairing them on the Cross References menu. After the "Find" yields no more unresolved cross references, I save all of the files. Then I update the book.

But despite saving ALL of these files, once they are closed and opened again, they once again have the SAME unresolved cross references, even though NOTHING has changed since I repaired the unresolved cross references and saved the files.

How is this happening and how do I fix it, permanantly?

Thank you.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Have you tried the older way of creating a list of unresolved xrefs & hunting them down that way? Do you have any source or version control at play here? Maybe you're not actually saving the fixed copy of the files.

[Susan305351693t3o]

Hi Jeff,

I am new to FrameMaker, so I don't know about "the older way." Do you mean generating a pdf document, testing all of the links, and re-doing cross references for the links that don't work? Because yes, I have done that, and the result is the same: I fix them, they don't stay fixed.

I just don't understand why I keep fixing the same unresolved cross references and they don't stay fixed, despite my saving my work and then not making any further changes.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

No, I was talking about doing the old Special > List Of > References and then choosing "Unresolved Cross-Refs" and hunting them down that way.

Where are the files located? Are "regular" changes to the content saved? Is there anything special about these xrefs that aren't saved?

[frameexpert]

Are the unresolved cross-references internal to each file or are some of them to other files in your book? Do you get any other messages when you open files in the book? For example, missing fonts, or graphics?

Here is what happens when you open a FrameMaker document: if it has cross-references, FrameMaker automatically tries to resolve them. If there are any external cross-references (cross-references to other files), FrameMaker has to open the target files in order to resolve them. If the target file or files aren't already open, FrameMaker attempts to open them invisibly. If the target files have any issues that would prevent them from opening without warnings (missing fonts, missing graphics, etc.), then they won't open and FrameMaker will give you the unresolved cross-reference message.

To permanently resolve external cross-references, first make sure that every file in the book can be opened without any warnings.

[Winfried Reng]

You can also open all files in the book and then update. I expect that this will fix your issue.

If this helps. then FrameMaker was not able to open the target file invisibly.

[Susan305351693t3o]

No, it doesn't work. I fix all the cross references, save the documents, and when I reopen them, the unresolved cross references come right back.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Do you get any error messages in the Console when you open all the docs in the books?

[Matt S - Tech Comm Tools]

Once you have all the files open, and have updated your book (preferably after fixing any any Book Error Report messages), can you please use the Edit > Update References to get a list of the unresolved cross-references, and then post the result here?

If no errors appear when updating references, then the issue is what was mentioned in an earlier post...you have an error message upon opening a file that is preventing FrameMaker from confirming and updating the cross-reference when you open one or more files.

To get rid of this issue permenantly, you'll need to address the missing resource message(s) that are preventing your book from functioning optimally.

-Matt

**Also check your preferences to ensure that missing resource messages are not being surpressed.

[Susan305351693t3o]

Thank you, Matt. When it happens next, I will do these things and post the results here.