Apply and remove condition tags

To make text conditional, you apply tags, or copy and paste condition tag settings. You can apply multiple tags to text in a FrameMaker document.

You can distinguish text to which a single condition tag is applied, from text with multiple condition tags.

You apply a new condition tag to selected text to which another condition tag is already applied. In this case, the color of the text is changed to a different color. This color is midway of all colors of the condition tags that you have already applied to the current text.

You can also use the Find/Change command to paste condition tag settings.

You can merge two versions of a document into one conditional document. When you merge two versions, FrameMaker compares them and creates a composite conditional document.

Apply a condition tag to an item

  1. Select the text or item you want to make conditional, as described in the following table:

    To make this conditional

    Select

    Text in a text frame, table cell, or footnote

    Text

    Anchored frame and its contents

    Frame border or anchor symbol

    An entire table

    Table anchor symbol

    Table row

    Whole row

    Cross-reference or variable

    Cross-reference or variable text

    Footnote

    Footnote reference (the number in the main text)

    Marker

    Marker symbol
    Note: You can make text in text frames conditional, but not text in text lines.

  2. To apply a condition to the selected text or item:

    1. Select the condition from the Conditional Text pod

    2. Select Conditional option

    3. Select the In option

  3. Click Apply. FrameMaker applies the settings to the selected text. If you apply a hidden condition tag, the selected text disappears, unless it is also tagged with a condition that is displayed.

FrameMaker has a new feature that allows you to apply a conditional tag to the whole element, even if only a part of the element is selected. The conditional text element boundaries feature is only applicable to structured documents.

To enable this feature, edit maker.ini and set the value of ApplyCondTillElementBoundaries to On. Restart FrameMaker.

Now, selecting some text within an element and applying a condition, will apply the condition to the whole element and not just to the selected text.

Additionally, with this feature, a single cell in a table can be selected and a condition applied. The condition is then applied across the entire corresponding row in the table.

Copy and paste condition tag settings

  1. Place the insertion point in text that uses the condition tag settings you want to copy.

  2. Choose Edit > Copy Special > Conditional Text Settings.

  3. Make a selection or click to place the insertion point.

  4. Choose Edit > Paste.

Avoiding unresolved cross-references

Sometimes you insert a cross-reference to a paragraph, and the first word in the paragraph is conditional. The Cross-Ref marker that FrameMaker inserts is also conditional (with the condition tag settings of the first word). The marker is hidden when you hide the conditions of the first word. As a result, the cross-reference is sometimes unresolved if condition tag settings of the cross-reference and of the cross-reference marker differ.

To avoid this situation, select just the Cross-Ref marker at the beginning of the source paragraph, and make it unconditional. Then the marker is always visible. The cross-reference is resolved no matter which version is visible.

Remove condition tags from an item

Removing a condition tag from an item is different from deleting a tag from a document. When you remove a tag from an item, the tag remains in the document so it can be applied to other items later. When you delete a tag from the document, FrameMaker removes the condition tag from any text that uses it. Then it deletes the tag from the Conditional Text pod.

 Select the item with the tag you want to remove and choose the Unconditional option from the Conditional Text pod and click Apply. The item remains in your document but the conditional tag no longer applies to it.