Edit and validate book structure

Introduction

In Adobe FrameMaker, a new book file that is not created based on a Structured Application has a structure with a highest-level element called <NoName> and an element called <BOOK-COMPONENT> for each document and generated file you added to the book. When you update the book, the elements for structured files change to the element of the highest-level element from the file.

In some cases, you might need to make a few corrections in the structure of a book file after updating. For example, you might need to change the <NoName> element to the highest-level element defined in your Structured Application for the book. If any file elements are still called <BOOK-COMPONENT>, add structure to those files and then generate and update again.

The book’s element definitions may also require you to group elements in higher-level elements such as FrontMatter, Body, and Appendixes.

Figure 1. Example of structure for a book file

You can edit the structure of a book in the same ways that you edit the structure of a document—by inserting, wrapping, and changing elements or dragging and deleting bubbles in the Structure View. However, you cannot merge or split elements that represent files, and you cannot undo a cut or paste in a structured book that contains anything other than the default structure.

Validate the book structure

You can validate an entire book (including its files), only the book file, or only the current element in the book file. If you validate the entire book, the structure of the book and each file is checked against the Element Definitions for the book.

To validate the structure of a FrameMaker book based on the Element Definitions, do the following:

1. Choose Structure > Validate. The Element Validation dialog is displayed.

   Figure 2. Element Validation dialog
   

   

   
   

2. Select Entire Document, Current Flow, or Current Element to specify the scope of the validation.

3. To exclude missing elements or attribute values from the validation, turn on Ignore Missing Elements or Ignore Missing Attribute Values.

   If these settings are on, FrameMaker does not look for places where a required child element or a required attribute value is missing. You may want to turn these on if you are not trying to build a complete book at this time.

4. Click Start Validating.

   If FrameMaker finds an error, you can start to fix this error or click Allow as Special Case. Then click Start Validating again.

   The top part of the Element Validation dialog box shows the element name and a brief message about the problem.

5. Repeat step 5 until FrameMaker does not find any more errors.

Clear all special cases

To clear all special cases that you have allowed during a previous validation as a special case, do the following:

1. Choose Structure > Validate.

2. Click Clear Special Cases. FrameMaker clears the special cases in the entire book, only the book file, or only the current element—whichever scope is selected in the dialog box.