Is there a "Back" button?

[TechAuthorAnne]

Hi folks,

I am using the 30-day trial version of FrameMaker 9 and trying to learn enough to know whether to recommend changing from Word to Frame. It's a frustrating process, but I'm making progress, though have some basic questions that I can't find the answers to.

My first question is: Is there a Back button?

I've managed to insert some cross-references, and eventually found that I have to use Ctrl/Alt+click to activate them, but how do I go back to where I came from? I can't find a Back button anywhere, or any reference to one in the documentation or the forum.

Many thanks,

Anne

[peter_minneapolis]

TechAuthorAnne wrote:

Hi folks,

I am using the 30-day trial version of FrameMaker 9 and trying to learn enough to know whether to recommend changing from Word to Frame. It's a frustrating process, but I'm making progress, though have some basic questions that I can't find the answers to.

My first question is: Is there a Back button?

I've managed to insert some cross-references, and eventually found that I have to use Ctrl/Alt+click to activate them, but how do I go back to where I came from? I can't find a Back button anywhere, or any reference to one in the documentation or the forum.

Many thanks,

Anne

Hi, Ane:

Not exactly, but close. It's a bit roundabout.

In normal document-viewing mode, there's no go-back feature. When you use Ctrl+Alt+Click on a FrameMaker link like a hyperlink or cross-reference, you're temporarily activating the behavior that's available in FrameMaker's "view-only" document mode. In view-only mode, some menus disappear, and a Navigation menu appears. There's a Go Back option on the Navigation menu.

To activate or deactivate the view-only mode, tap and release these keys in sequence:

* Escape (tells FrameMaker a special key behavior is coming next)

* Uppercase F (tells FrameMaker a File action is coming)

* Lowercase l (that's an "el" not an "eye")

* Lowercase k (the el and kay together stand for "lock")

This shortcut is usually shown as Esc F l k. It turns the view-only document mode on and off.

So, to go back after going to a link's destination, you need to turn on view-only with Esc F l k, if it's not already on, then choose Navigation > Go Back, or tap these keys in sequence: Escape lowercase v uppercase P (for view Previous).

Search FrameMaker Help for "view-only" and "make editable" without quotes for more information. Make Editable is another way to switch between view-only and normal mode.

HTH

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

[yves.barbion]

Hi Anne

• For cross-references within the same Fm file ("current document"), press Esc+v+P, that is: Esc, then lowercase v and then uppercase P
• For cross-references to a different Fm file: hold down the CTRL key and press the TAB key

Cheers

--
Yves Barbion
www.scripto.nu

[TechAuthorAnne]

Hi Peter and Yves. Thank you both for your replies.

Both solutions work, but the one offered by Yves is definitely quicker to use.

Who would have thought that something that seems so basic would be so tortuous to achieve?

Onward and upward...

Anne

[peter_minneapolis]

TechAuthorAnne wrote:

Hi Peter and Yves. Thank you both for your replies.

Both solutions work, but the one offered by Yves is definitely quicker to use.

Who would have thought that something that seems so basic would be so tortuous to achieve?

Onward and upward...

Anne

Hi, Anne:

Apologies for the overlong method I described. I'm using FrameMaker 9 in Windows XP on a Mac that's running Parallels (makes Windows on Mac possible.) The more I use it, the more I find that sometimes some things don't work as in FrameMaker on a regular Windows installation. The first couple of times I tried using Esc v P, in the normal document view, to get back to the cross-reference I'd activated with Ctrl+Alt+Click, it didn't seem to work; it did work by going into view-only mode, so I figured I'd been stung by another not-quite-like-real-Windows glitch.

Thanks, Yves, for confirming that Esc v P does work in normal document view mode! I tried it carefully, and it certainly does work in my setup.

As far as "tortuous" goes, confirmed FrameMaker users will say, "you get used to it." I'm sure there are similar awkward and annoying situations in MS Word.

If you often need to navigate back-and-forth between cross-references and their sources, you should look into creating a list of cross-reference markers in the current document (Special > List of > Markers > Cross-References) that is navigable with Ctrl+Alt+Click, and also a list of cross-references that point from the current document to other documents (Special > List of > References > External Cross-References.) You can adjust the documents in your workspace to show the main document normally, and the generated lists as tall-narrow windows, so when you jump from one place to another, you can click back to the starting point without keystrokes.

Look up "list of references," "list of markers," and "generated lists" in FrameMaker Help (without quotes.)

BTW, if you include framemaker in Google searches with the phrases I've suggested, also without quotes, you'll find more resources than just within Adobe and FrameMaker help.

HTH

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

[peter_minneapolis]

yves.barbion wrote:

Hi Anne

• For cross-references within the same Fm file ("current document"), press Esc+v+P, that is: Esc, then lowercase v and then uppercase P
• For cross-references to a different Fm file: hold down the CTRL key and press the TAB key

Cheers

--
Yves Barbion
www.scripto.nu

Hi, Yves:

In FrameMaker on my Parallels/Mac/Snow Leopard/WinXP setup, Ctrl+Tab doesn't move between open documents (nor does Ctrl+Tilde, the Mac equivalent.) Also, Esc v P doesn't go back across files, but if the document is View Only, Navigation > Go Back works correctly.

Regards,

Peter

_______________________

Peter Gold

KnowHow ProServices

[DonTheDoorGuy]

I'm running FM 2017, and Esc v P doesn't do anything anymore. Something amiss here?

[Barb Binder]

I'm running FM 2017, and Esc v P doesn't do anything anymore. Something amiss here?

Hi Don, looks like that is correct. Esc v P works as expected in Fm 2015 in a locked or unlocked doc, but when I try it in Fm 2017, nothing happens. If you want to report this to Adobe with the hopes of getting it restored, you can do so here: Tracker​.

In the meantime, I do think Peter's idea of generating lists of x-refs and/or external x-refs may be worth looking into. That post may be 7 years old—and the commands have moved from the Special menu to the Insert menu in 2017—but those lists work the same way today.

~Barb

[Art_Campbell1]

You probably want to look at the Jump Back plugin from Electropubs.com.

Works for me.