relative vs. absolute cross-reference paths

Jim,

   Michael and Van are correct: when creating cross-references between files on the same drive, FM always stores relative paths. Therefore if you use Windows utilities to move some of the files, the cross-references will break.

   It is possible to map a Windows folder to a drive letter (look up the subst or net use Windows command lines). So, you could use x: to refer to files in your working folder and y: for folders in your completed folder. When you finish a book and move it to the completed folder, you could redefine x: to the new folder and things may be OK. It could be tricky if you ever need to update one completed book but not another.

  When cross-references become unresolved, FM may be able to help you correct them. Use the Edit > Update References command. There is a pop-up menu in the upper-right corner of the resulting dialog box. Select Update Unresolved Cross-References from this menu. You will then be able to browse to a new file for each unresolved cross-reference. FM will reuse the information you specify to resolve as many xrefs as possible.

    --Lynne

Perhaps Bruce Foster's Archive utility could work for you; it's highly regarded and very, very solid.

http://home.comcast.net/~bruce.foster/Archive.htm

Jim,

FrameMaker always uses relative paths if files are on the same drive. I have a slight memory that it may switch to absolute paths if the number of »directory up« (..\) is really high, but I would not count on that.

FrameMaker uses absolute paths if the referenced document is on another drive – easily understandable, because the path must include the drive name/letter.

If you use save as for a single file, all external references are adjusted. So maybe a solution for your workflow would be to put the completed projects on a different drive.

- Michael