RE: Structured FrameMaker Master Pages

Subject: RE: Structured FrameMaker Master Pages
From: "Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>
To: Fred Wersan <fwersan -at- mak -dot- com>, "techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 09:09:56 -0700

Fred Wersan wrote:

> Richard Combs replied to William Sherman:
>
> "I mentioned earlier an alternative method using text insets. I think
> it's more cumbersome and has some disadvantages (such as no control over
> page breaks), so I won't go into detail. But briefly, instead of
> including the shared-content files in each book, insert each of them as
> a text inset into its own "shell" file in each book. The "shell" would
> contain the section title (and a book-specific introduction, if
> appropriate), and its master pages would be used (I'd still use
> variables for those, as described above). Strip the section title out of
> the shared-content file and import it (by reference) into the "shell"
> file for it in each book. "
>
>
> This is what I do. However, I use Insets Plus from West St. Consulting
> to manage my insets instead of native FrameMaker - much more civilized.
> I used to reuse entire chapters (as in Richard's first suggestion), but
> was constantly tripping over updating the variables. Also, some text was
> a chapter in one book and an appendix in another, which messed up
> heading numbering. Using the shell chapter with inset text solves these
> problems.

InsetPlus is the structure-based solution I had in mind when I said "there may be other approaches in a DITA/XML context that don't rely on FrameMaker functionality," but I couldn't recall the name or the company name, and it was way too late in the evening to research it. :-} Thanks, Fred!

BTW, here's the link:
http://www.weststreetconsulting.com/WSC_InsetPlus.htm

Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-903-6372
------








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References:
RE: Structured FrameMaker Master Pages: From: Fred Wersan

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