Select all, copy, paste in new doc

[fonrig]

I need to update several manuals from legacy content into our new template. I was thinking a script could help me do the trick.

I think the way it should work is as follows:

• create an empty document using latest template,
• open existing old manual document,
• select all content, copy. This will copy all text, tables, anchored frames, etc.
• go back to empty document and paste copied content.

Is this good practice using Extendscript?

Maybe using FCodes is an option. Do you have any suggestion?

[Ian Proudfoot]

Is it safe to assume that the legacy manuals are FrameMaker documents? If so then I wouldn't go about it in the way you describe. It's normally easier to import the formats from the template into the existing documents. When I have to do this with a large batch of individual FrameMaker documents I add them all to a temporary book file then import the formats from the template into all of the book components.

If you have vast numbers of documents to convert, then a script may be useful to automate the task, but otherwise I would just use the existing tools that FrameMaker provides.

[Winfried Reng · Accepted solution]

Hi,

When I have a new template, I usually do not want any remnants from any old template.

Therefore I do it almost as fonrig said:

• Empty document from the last template. I do not "Save As", as this might change the path from any graphics on the reference pages or master pages. I copy the template into my folder with my file manager. All my graphics are in a subfolder "graphics".
• Copy old file into the new folder so that the path to any graphics will not change.
• Rename old file e.g. with a prefix "_old_"
• Rename new file with the same name as the old file.
• Select all content, copy. Close old file.
• Paste into new document.
• Import formats from the current document and remove manual page breaks and format/layout overrides.
• Take care of anything which should use another format now.

Best regards

Winfried

[Ian Proudfoot]

That's a fair comment Winfried. I was just checking that fonrig was aware of the built-in options.

[Russ Ward]

It is a fair comment and all advice so far seems very good. As much as I love a good script, it is worth looking hard at whether it will take longer to develop than to just do it manually. The script would need to also manage files... that is, stuff like save them to all the correct locations, possibly deal with cross-reference links, etc. etc.  Could be much more involved than you think initially, especially if you are new to it. You could spend days working on it. But it would be great fun and give you much knowledge, so I say again... I love a good script!

Russ

[fonrig]

Thank you all for your feedback. I agree that sometimes the time spent in creating a script may be not worth it.