FrameMaker for Lab Manuals

Or, why it’s so important to use paragraph tags (and what Frame can do with them if you tell it to).

Paragraph tags are good tools for designing and updating documents, but these are not the only reasons you will want to make use of them in Frame. They are also used for a multitude of other purposes; a sampling of these follows.

Cross-referencing to tables

To be able to cross-reference to tables, create a "table title" paragraph tag, designate a text style for these paragraphs, and direct Frame to autonumber these paragraphs. Then, if you want to refer your readers to an entry in a particular table anywhere in the book, set up a cross-reference from the appropriate text to the table. In my example (below), in Chapter 2 of the handbook (Chemical Hazards), I want to direct my readers to sources of physical data, a table in Chapter 6 (Melting Points); I want to tell them what page to go to and what table number to look for. The cross-reference dialogue box in which this is accomplished is shown in the figures in the link below.

• how to cross-reference to table paragraph tags

If I change the order of chapters in the Handbook or insert more chapters, these cross-references will be automatically updated and they will always be correct.

Cross-referencing figure numbers

Like tables, you can create a “figure title” paragraph tag and have it autonumbered. To refer to a particular figure from anywhere in the text of the document, you pull up the cross-reference dialogue click on “figure title”, choose the appropriate figure, and set the cross-reference options.

• how to cross-reference to figure paragraph tags

Other cross-references

You can set up cross-references for paragraph tags of equations, chapters, appendices, etc. in a manner similar to that for tables and figures. You are not limited to referencing paragraph tags: You can create and name a cross-reference marker anywhere in a document and refer to the marker instead of a paragraph tag.

• how to cross-reference to markers

Table of contents

A Table of Contents is a list of tagged paragraphs. In the handbook, I created a paragraph tag called "ChapName". When I told Frame to create the Table of Contents document, I asked it to find all the paragraphs tagged "ChapName" in the book and to display the text in that paragraph and the page number that its on in the Table of Contents. Below is a PDF file of the Table of Contents of the handbook.

• table of contents

Lists of figures, tables, equations

In a manner similar to the table of contents, table, figure, and equation paragraph tags are used by Frame to create a list of these items.

Running headers/footers

In Frame, you can automatically display variable text in the headers and/or footers. In the example below, there are three variable text items: the experiment number, the experiment name, and the page number. Paragraph tags are (again) used to designate what text will be displayed in each case. Running headers and footers are accessed in a feature of Frame called “master pages”. For instance, I use a title master page for the first page of an experiment, and right and left master pages for the bulk of the document. You can have different headers/footers on each type of master page that you define. (There is a lot more to tell about master pages, beyond the scope of this article.) The following is an example of a footer and how it is created.

• how to display variable text in footers

The above example of footer creation may seem daunting to those uninitiated to Frame. But it really isn't that hard, it's just a matter of straightforward coding and tagging. Once you learn the basics, you will be amazed at the control you have over your documents. Page through the PDF file of the Handbook (linked in the first section of this article); in that document I have different left and right running headers, with page numbering at the top except on the first page of a technique, in which case it is at the bottom.

XML

Since paragraphs are tagged, they flow easily into XML and HTML. Tags are why XML is seamlessly integrated into FrameMaker. I do not currently use this feature of Frame so I can't tell you much more about it.

This page is maintained by Patty Feist, Lab Coordinator, Organic Chemistry Teaching Labs at CU Boulder.
Please send any comments, corrections, or suggestions to feist@colorado.edu.
CU Organic Chem Homepage: orgchem.colorado.edu