Define an active area in a document

You can associate hypertext commands to text or images in a document. When a user clicks on the active area, the area is highlighted after which the command is executed.

Create a text active area in a document

You can define a word, phrase, paragraph, or multiple adjacent words as active areas. To identify a text active area, FrameMaker uses the character style of the text. This implies that the character style of the text active area must be different from that of the surrounding text. If the character style is the same as the surrounding text, the entire text in the paragraph is set as active.

Define an active area for a word or phrase

Select the word or phrase.

You need to change the character style of selected the word or phrase.
Choose Format > Characters.
Choose from the list of default character styles available in the current document catalog.

Alternatively, open the Character Designer and apply a custom character style.

Note: The following character style changes cannot be used to define a text active area: pairkerning, spread, stretch, change bars, language, and case.

Tip: If you do not want the text in active area to display differently from the surrounding text, use a different character style that has the identical formats as the surrounding text. You can save the character style of the surrounding text with a different name and then apply that character style to the active area.

Define an active area for a paragraph

Ensure that the same character style is applied to the entire paragraph.

Define separate active areas for adjacent words or phrases

You can assign different hypertext commands to adjacent words or phrases in a paragraph by applying by different or the same character style to the words or phrases. However, you need to ensure that the character styles of the words or phrases are not the same as that of the surrounding paragraph text. After this you can associate a hypertext command with each of the adjacent words or phrases. For details, see Insert hypertext command marker.

Define an image active area

You can define an active area on an image in a document. When a user clicks the image, the associated hypertext command is executed.

Draw a text frame to cover the image in the document.

Make sure that the graphic is not set to have text run around it.

To place a text frame over the image:
1. Open the Graphics toolbar (View > Toolbars > Graphics Toolbar).
2. Click Text Frame in the Graphics toolbar and draw the text frame to cover the image.
Set the text frame fill and pen patterns to None.

To set the text frame properties:
1. Right-click the text frame and choose Object Properties.
  
  In the Anchored Frame Properties dialog:
2. Go to the Stroke tab and uncheck the Pen Pattern option.
3. Go to the Fill tab and uncheck the Pattern option.
Ensure that the text frame is placed above the image.

If you place the image after placing the text frame, choose Graphics > Bring To Front to place the text frame in front of the graphic.

Create an active area on multiple pages in a document

If you create an active area on the master page of a document, the area will be active on all pages of the document. For example, you can add text to the document header and create an active area in the text in the header.