Import formatting properties

    Import formats

    You can import a wide variety of formatting information—including page layouts, paragraph and table formats, variable and color definitions, and conditional text settings. If your source document has any conditionl expressions created, they, along with their Show As Per Expression status are also imported into the target documents. Similarly, in structured documents, any Filter By Attribute settings that you defined are also imported.

    1. Open the template with the formats. The template must be named and saved.

    2. Open the document or book that you want to update. If a book window is active, select the documents you want to update.

    3. In the document or book you’re updating, choose File > Import > Formats.

    4. Choose the template from the Import from Document pop-up menu. The menu lists all open, named documents.

      You can also choose the current document to reapply the formats the document already has. This is useful mainly for removing formatting changes, as described in step 6.

    5. Select the Import and Update settings you want to apply to the current document.

      • If you’re updating cross-reference formats, math definitions, or variable definitions, and if any of these items uses character formats, also select Character Formats so that any new formats are added to the document.

      • If the HTML mappings have been modified, select Reference Pages.

    6. If you want to remove formatting changes that are not saved in catalog formats, do the following:

      • To remove page breaks that are not part of a paragraph format, select Manual Page Breaks.

      • To remove paragraph, character, page layout, and table formatting overrides, select Other Format/Layout Overrides.

      Important: In most cases, do not select Other Format/Layout Overrides in a structured document because the element definitions sometimes use format overrides.

    7. Click Import.

    Format settings

    When you import formats, FrameMaker merges the new formatting information into the document. For example, if you import table formats, the formats are added to the Table Catalog. If a format already in the catalog has the same name as an imported format, the imported format replaces the original one. Any formats that are not overwritten remain in the catalog.

    Paragraph formats
    The template’s Paragraph Catalog is merged into the document, and all formats in the catalog are reapplied in the document.

    Character formats
    The template’s Character Catalog is merged into the document, and all formats in the catalog are reapplied in the document.

    Page layouts
    The template’s master pages are merged into the document, and body pages are updated with the master page changes. If the template and the document both have a master page with the same name, the master page of the template replaces that of the document. FrameMaker copies the change bar properties, all the settings in the Page Size and Pagination dialog boxes, and most settings in the View Options dialog box.

    Table formats
    The template’s Table Catalog and ruling styles are merged into the document, and all formats in the catalog are reapplied in the document.

    Color definitions
    The template’s color definitions and views are merged into the document.

    Reference pages
    The template’s reference pages (except for FrameMath™ reference pages) are merged into the document. If the template and the document both have a reference page with the same name, the reference page of the template replaces that of the document. To import the FrameMath reference pages, select Math Definitions.

    Document properties
    The template’s custom marker types and footnote properties; the volume, chapter, page, paragraph, footnote, and table footnote numbering styles in the Numbering Properties dialog box; the characters in the Allow Line Breaks After setting in the Text Options dialog box; and the Feather settings in the Line Layout dialog box are merged into the document. The PDF Setup settings (other than the bookmark settings) are also merged into the document. On Japanese-language systems, the rubi properties and kumihan rules (Japanese-language typesetting rules) are also merged into the document.

    Variable definitions
    The template’s variable definitions are merged into the document.

    Cross-reference formats
    The template’s cross-reference formats are merged into the document, and internal cross-references are updated.

    Conditional text settings
    The template’s condition tags and Show/Hide settings are merged into the document.

    Math definitions
    The template’s equation size and font settings, custom math element definitions, and FrameMath reference pages are copied into the document. If any custom math elements in the document are deleted when the reference pages are merged, FrameMaker replaces the math elements in equations with the name of the math element enclosed in question marks.
    Note: In FrameMaker equations, the term “math element” refers to part of an expression. A math element is not a structural element.

    Combined fonts
    On Asian-language systems, the specifications of combined fonts are merged into the document.

    About formatting overrides

    The formatting information for a document can come from format rules in element definitions and from predefined formats stored in catalogs. It is possible for a document to have overrides to both sources of information:

    • A format rule override is a deviation from a text element’s format rules. For example, if the rules specify a paragraph format for an element and you apply a different format, or if the rules specify boldface text and you change the text to italics, you are overriding the element’s format rules.

    • A format override is a deviation from a catalog format for text or a table. For example, a paragraph format may specify the Times font family. If you change some text that uses that format to the Palatino font (without saving the change in the format), you are overriding the format. Format rules often use a few catalog formats and specify format overrides to them to describe many different formatting variations.

    Generally, avoid using either type of override in your structured document. Let the document handle the formatting automatically, and see your application developer if you’d like to change any of the formatting properties.

    If your document does have overrides, you can remove them throughout the document all at once when you import and update.

    Important: If you need to remove both kinds of overrides from a document, import formats and remove format overrides first, and then import element definitions and remove format rule overrides. Removing the rule overrides last ensures that the elements conform to their format rules.

    Find and remove overrides

    You can use the Find option to search and remove format overrides at paragraph, character, and table format levels.

    1. Select Edit > Find.

    2. From the Find pop-up menu, select Paragraph, Character, or Table format override.

    3. From the Change pop-up menu, select Remove Override.

    4. Click Find.

    5. For each instance of format override, click Change to remove the override.

    Import properties from a template

    You can import element definitions and other properties into your document from any FrameMaker document. Typically, this other document is a template that you did not use for creating the document. (If you created your document from the appropriate template, you don’t need to import properties; the document already has the properties it needs.)

    If your document’s template has been revised, import from the template again to update your document.

    You can also import properties into all the files in a book at once.