Book sync is not working as I expect

Question

I am in Windows 10 and ID 2024. I am producing a book with multiple chapters. When I open the book file (.indb) with the correct sync source and click the sync button, it invariably warns me about missing fonts but I am unable to find any.

Also, the result of the sync is to put small white/grey discs on the right of each chapter - see attached screenshot. What do they mean? (by the way the yellow triangles in the Cover and Introduction - document modified outside of book - are because these are merely files with no formatting yet. I am only working on the chapters for the present.)

Also, I have changed the para style in the style source (I actually changed the Keep Option), expecting that to be updated in all the other chapter files but it did not happen.

Also, although I checked Parent Pages in the sync options (and a new parent page was introduced as a result) the effect of the new parent page on my text was not updated.

Am I misunderstanding what sync is doing or is it misbehaving?

James Gifford—NitroPress · Accepted Answer

Glad to help. The Book feature is a very useful one for the right projects, but using it can be a little confusing. The best option is to avoid it unless some aspect of a project really demands it — that is, it's not just an alternate way to manage a book, but a complex system on top of all the usual needs of managing a book project — and if that's the case, some tutorials or how-to info will really go a long ways in helping with settings, sync, combined print or export, etc.

James Gifford—NitroPress · Answer

The Book feature is useful, in its place, but fussy. I avoid it whenever possible by keeping all book content in one INDD file. (I believe the only good use for Book structure is when chapters must be managed separately, by authors or editors, or when a book is truly enormous and splitting up the content is the only good way to manage it. To use Book just... because you can is probably a mistake.)

From your description, I'd open each component file directly and use Type | Find/Replace Font to identify and fix any missing fonts.

Then you might trash the Book and create a new one, just to bypass any wonky settings or corruption.

Then sync the book files to a chosen 'master' — make that 'parent' — chapter.

Almost any touch outside of opening the files through the Book panel will result in the "modified outside Book" warning; you have to re-sync and save to clear it in most cases, and one of the faults of the Book method is that you must manage everything through the Book panel. You can't open a component file and tinker with it without disrupting the sync status.

Does that cover everything?

Keep in mind that synchronizing a Book to one chapter may not have all the results you expect, if styles and other settings are greatly different among the chapter files. Another catch of the Book method is that it really doesn't like such disparities and it can take several go-rounds to get the collection to a point wher a sync just touches up style differences, as is probably the expected result.

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