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"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.
Fred
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Fred Wersan
VT MÄK, Principal Technical Writer
150 Cambridge Park Drive, 3rd Floor, Cambridge, MA 02140
T: 857-209-3469 Email: fwersan -at- mak -dot- com
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www.mak.com/weblvc
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