RE: OT, sorry: Desperately seeking FM x-ref advice...

[jwaddell <jwaddell -at- micron -dot- com>]

Emily,

I hate it when that happens. This message isn't off topic. This may be too
late to help you with this one. 

There are two ways I know of to fix it:  1. Redo all of the cross-refs the
old fashioned way with the correct directory structure, or B. Modify the
frame file to update the path by editing the MIF.

The second way is tricky.  This may not be the time for this approach, but I
have used it to redo hundreds of cross-refs in a single document when the
same thing happened to me.

Open the file in question.  Fix the first cross-ref to point to the correct
directory and file.  Not the text in this and the second cross reference.

Save the FrameMaker file as mif.  Open this up in wordpad or word etc.  It
should open as a text file.  Search for the text of the first cross-ref.
This should look something like:

   <XRef 
      <XRefName `Figure Number & Page'>
      <XRefSrcText `97738: Title: New Figure Cross-ref'>
      <XRefSrcIsElem No>
      <XRefSrcFile `<u\><c\>directory<c\>image.fm'>
      <XRefLastUpdate  985103209 830000>
      <Unique 1005345>
      > # end of XRef
      <String `Figure'>
      <Char HardSpace>
      <String ` on page'>
     <Char HardSpace>
     <String `1'>
     <XRefEnd >

The correct path and file are listed in this cross-ref <XrefSrcFile> line,
in this case 
     `<u\><c\>directory<c\>image.fm'  

Here's the tricky part.  

Look for the next cross-ref text and see how the path is different.

     <XRefSrcFile `<u\><c\>baddirectory<c\>image.fm'>
     Note: <c\> is simply the code for \ in the path.  

Now do a search and replace on the text of the bad cross-refs to change the
path to the correct path.  I would change <c\>baddirectory<c\> with
<c\>directory<c\>.

You should do a search and replace to make sure that you are only changing
the cross-ref entries and not the paths to imported graphics or other
referenced files(this same process will work if you need to do the same with
graphics imported by reference).  Perhaps you could include in your search
the term "<XREFSRCFILE>." 

Save the file and open it up in FrameMaker.  Don't save it as the original
file name until you are certain that the changes took and are correct. 

I can't guarantee results, but I had a document with over a 150 cross-refs
that I fixed this way.  Welcome to the world of MIF.  Good Luck.

John




-----Original Message-----
From: Berk/Devlin [mailto:armadill -at- earthlink -dot- net]

Sorry to post to this list, but I don't belong to any FM lists, and I know 
that one of you, for certain, will know the answer to this 
question.  Please reply to me, as I get the digest and am on deadline...

OK.  So, there was this slight mix-up and my directory names are now 
different from my client's.  But the files are the same and are in the same 
SUB-directories.  It's just the parent directory name that is different.  I 
can't change MY parent directory name.  They can't change THEIR parent 
directory name.

But all the cross-refs are broken.  Sigh.

Is there some way to tell FrameMaker 5.5.6 to use a relative path when 
creating x-refs, rather than the full path?  If so, PLEASE tell me how.  I 
have looked this up in my FM reference book and tried to figure it out from 
FM Help, neither of which was helpful.

There are hundreds of x-refs to be resolved by morning ...

TIA,  even for bad news, which is what I am expecting.

--Emily


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