FrameMaker 6: Beyond the Basics

•  How Indexing Works
•  Indexing Decisions
•  Creating Index Entries
•  Changing Existing Index Entries
•  Creating an Index List
•  Adding Prefixes to Page Numbers
•  Working with Static Text
•  Working with an Index Template
•  Summary

Indexes have one chief purpose in documents: to provide the reader of a document with a systematic arrangement of key concepts and terms that enable the reader to locate specific information in that document. An index typically serves as a guide, extracting particular words or subjects from the document content and presenting that information in an alphabetized format, with page(s) on which each item is mentioned.

A good index can make or break a book. As the author, you might have the urge to index too many words or not enough. With multiple words referring to one concept and one word referring to multiple concepts, well, you can see how complicated indexing can get.

How you go about selecting key terms and concepts for indexing, as well as the formatting style used, is your choice. In this chapter, you discover how to make FrameMaker's indexing features work for you. You learn how to create a variety of index entries, as well as how to control the structure and format of the index list after it's created. You also learn how to solve some common mishaps along the way.

How Indexing Works

An index is a generated file, which is a term you're probably familiar with by now. An index file does not exist until FrameMaker generates, or creates, it based on information that you have designated throughout the contents of source documents to be extracted into the index list.

In this section, you examine these indexing features:

• Selecting what's included in the index

• How index entry information is structured

• How index information looks

As this chapter proceeds, you will see how to use index markers to identify or input text that will appear in the index. In addition, you see how to use punctuation in index markers to determine subordinate levels of information, as well as alphabetical sort order.

After information in the form of concepts, terms, and words is extracted into the index, you can either use the default structure and format provided by FrameMaker to display this information, or you can enhance and build upon the default format.

One great advantage of generated files, like an index, is that when information such as page location or index entries change, you can update the index with new information from source documents, replacing the old information. After you determine the look and format of the index, updated source information flows into the format you already created so you don't have to re-create the wheel.

Selecting What's Included in the Index

Index markers are inserted throughout your document to identify the concepts, terms, and words that you want included in the index. If you were to create an index before even one index marker was placed in a document, that index would be created with no index entries.

Understanding Index Markers

FrameMaker offers a variety of marker types that each perform a specific job. Each marker in FrameMaker looks exactly the same after it's inserted into text. It's the assigned marker type and what's inside each marker that makes them unique from each other.

Back to Basics

To access the Marker window, select Special > Marker.

Select marker types from the pop-up list in the Marker window. You can use a predefined marker type, such as Index, or create a new one. Later in this chapter (in the section "Working with Multiple Page Number Styles" on page 294), I discuss how and why to create a custom marker type for indexing.

Here's how index markers work for index entries: The Index Marker window is like a container that holds the information that will be extracted into the index each time the index is generated. After the index marker exists, you cannot see or edit this information unless you look inside that particular index marker's window.

When information is extracted from each index marker, the page location accompanies this information in the index list, although the page location is not displayed inside the index marker.

Determining Marker Types for the Index

After you insert index markers into documents, the next step is to set up the index to extract the information from the marker type you selected for index entries. With so many different marker types available in FrameMaker, you must choose which of these you want to include in the index. This is done through the Set Up Index window, as shown in Figure 9.1. You are met with this window when adding an index file to a book file or creating a standard index from a single file.

Back to Basics

To add an index file, select Special > Standard Index or Add > Standard Index from a book file.

For example, if you used the index marker type for index entries, you'll select Index as the marker type to include in the index. If you created a custom marker type, say Index2, and use Index2 for index entries, you must select Index2 as the marker type to include in the index.

You are not limited to one marker type selection. As you'll see later in this chapter (in the section "Working with Multiple Page Number Styles" on page 294), you might need to use both index and another marker, such as Index2, for index entries in documents. In this case, you must select both marker types to include in the index. Then FrameMaker extracts the information contained in both Index and Index2 markers for listing in the index.

Back to Basics

Marker types are listed whether or not they are actually used in each document.

Table 9.1 shows the Set Up Standard Index commands and a description of their usage.

How Index Entry Information Is Structured

The way in which index entry information is arranged in the index list is determined by a structure that's located on the reference page of the index file. If you are not using a template, the first time an index is generated or created, FrameMaker's default structure come into effect. After the index is created, you can make changes to the index structure to fit your needs.

The index reference page contains Building Blocks that represent various parts of source information that are displayed in the index. For example, Table 9.2 shows the Building Blocks that represent the order in which index entries get sorted. In this example, which also happens to be the FrameMaker default, index entries that are symbols appear first, as indicated by the <$symbol> Building Block showing first. Symbols are followed by numeric entries, as indicated by the <$numerics> Building Block showing second. Alphabetic entries follow as indicated by the <$alphabetics> Building Block showing last in this order.

If you changed the order of those Building Blocks on the reference page, the next time you update the index, the entries in the index list are arranged according to the new order.

This is a simple example of how information in the index list gets its structure. Many more aspects of the index take their structure from the reference page. More real-world examples are explored later in this chapter.

How Index Information Looks

After you determine what index marker types are included and how information is structured, the final step is formatting the look of the information in the index list. The first time an index or other type of generated list is created, it's plain looking. The most important thing at this stage is to focus on the mechanics of the index list, making certain that it works properly and displays source information as you expect. If it does not, you need to go back to the reference page or index markers in documents and make the necessary adjustments.

When you are ready, format the index using the Paragraph Designer, just as you would any other paragraphs in documents. Notice that, after the index is created, some new paragraph tags are included in the Paragraph Catalog. Each has a special suffix, IX, added to the paragraph tag name, such as Level1IX. This suffix means that each time you update the index, any text tagged with a paragraph tag name ending in IX is replaced with new source information, regardless of whether or not the source information has changed since the last index update.

Each paragraph tag with the suffix IX corresponds to Building Blocks located on the reference page. For example, the paragraph tag

GroupTitlesIX

corresponds to these Building Blocks:

Symbols[\];Numerics[0];A;B;C;D;E;F;G;H;I;J;K;L;M;N;O;P;Q;R;S;T;U; V;W;X;Y;Z

located on the reference page. These Building Blocks represent the titles for each grouping that is displayed in the index list, as in symbols, numerics, and alphabetics. If you changed the GroupTitlesIX Paragraph Designer properties, the titles under which each index entry is grouped is displayed with the new Paragraph Designer formatting information.

Indexing Decisions

Before you create an index, you must make some decisions about how information in the index is formatted with respect to the following:

• Capitalization of headings and subheadings

• Number of subheading levels

• Cross-references

• Alphabetization

Every index entry that appears in the index is a result of marker text that you inserted throughout the document. The way that you choose to enter marker text in the Marker window determines how that index entry is displayed in the index. Therefore, some up-front planning and subsequent decisions save you from going back later to redo marker text that was input inconsistently.

This section discusses key decisions to keep in mind while you index. This is not a guide to the art of indexing, but rather a guide to how some decisions affect indexing as it relates to the world of FrameMaker. Although some examples of marker text are revealed in relation to how index entries are displayed in the index, step-by-step how-to exercises can be found in the section "Creating Index Entries" on page 272.

Capitalization of Headings and Subheadings

You can format headings and subheadings in an index in many ways, with respect to capitalization. Take a look at the three decision examples in Table 9.3. Notice how the marker text is exactly what's displayed in the index. Therefore, if you decide to input marker text in documents, say, using the first initial caps for all entries, and later decide you prefer the no initial capitalization, you have to change all previously entered marker text in order to get that result in the index.

As you read through other index formatting decisions, keep in mind that the heading and subheading capitalization decisions hold true in all the other decisions as well. In other words, if you are deciding whether cross-reference index entries are sorted at the top or bottom of a subentry list, you still have to consider capitalization of words in that particular cross-reference index entry.

Subheading Levels

Indexes typically have either one or two subheading levels. As you can see in Table 9.4, the marker text for one subheading level is different from the marker text for two subheading levels. Therefore, if you decide after the fact to change the number of subheading levels in the index, you must do a bit of editing work in previously entered marker text.

Cross-References

You've seen cross-references in indexes many times. Cross-references are typically used to point out related terms to the reader. Usually, index cross-references appear in either the top or bottom of a subentry list and often are accompanied by the words "See also." To be consistent, you should decide whether cross-reference index entries always appear at the top of a subentry list or the bottom. As you can see in Table 9.5, the marker text for a cross-reference entry that appears at the top of the list is a little different from a cross-reference entry that appears at the bottom of the list.

Alphabetization

You have to make plenty of alphabetization decisions in an index, such as sorting word by word, letter-by-letter, sorting alphabetically after numerics, or vice versa. However, those types of decisions are not all implemented with index marker entries. Concentrate on alphabetization decisions that are implemented using index marker entries. Later in this chapter, sorting methods that are implemented from the reference page are explored in detail.

Table 9.6 shows a typical example of an alphabetizing decision. In this case, an asterisk is an index entry. You can have this index entry show up under the symbol heading, the alphabetized A heading, or both of these. As you can see, the marker text for each of these decisions is different.

Creating Index Entries

Now that you have an idea of how index marker entries work to produce an index in FrameMaker and some important decisions that you ought to plan for before starting, it's time to get started creating index entries.

Once you get acquainted with the various types of index entries that are available, you will feel right at home including them in documents. In this section, we explore the following:

• Markers Understand the role of index markers in source documents.

• Simple index entries Learn the methods for including index entries that don't require extra typing, easy ways to select text as an index entry, and the widely used method of typing text for index entries.

• Multi-level index entries Learn how to include subentries under a first-level entry heading as well as how to avoid mistakes that are common to this method.

• Complicated index entries Learn how you can enhance index entries by changing the sort order, including cross-references in index listings, suppressing or restoring page number references, and including page ranges in entries. In addition, you'll see how to reduce markers in source documents with multiple index entries and add character formatting to all or part of an index entry.

A Word About Markers

Back to Basics

You can select View > Text Symbols to display markers.

Index entries are contained in markers. Markers are inserted in various locations that you have determined throughout the document. Be aware of markers while you edit documents. If you accidentally delete a marker, index entries contained in that marker are also deleted and, therefore, not included the next time you update the index. It's a good idea to work with text symbols turned on while you edit so that you can see the markers and avoid deleting them.

Another marker annoyance: When you insert more than one marker at the same location, the markers appear as one because they are actually piled on top of each other. Try to avoid inserting multiple markers in the same location. Whenever possible, place multiple index entries inside one marker. For more information on this, see the section "Multiple Index Entries in One Marker" on page 281.

Simple Index Entries

FrameMaker provides the means to create index entries that are very simple to insert in documents. Depending on what you want to index, a simple entry might not even require typing. Now you explore how to input simple index entries and understand some sleight-of-hand consequences.

No Typing Required

The simplest index entry is the entry that doesn't require any typing. Use this index-entry method when there's a single word somewhere in the document that you want to show up in the index on its own. You can't use this method if you want an index entry to be listed as a subentry of a main entry.

To begin this exercise, find a word in your document that you want to have appear in the index:

1. Place the insertion cursor just before the word that you want to have appear in the index.

   The cursor is inserted immediately to the left of the word.

2. Select Special > Marker.

   The Marker window appears.

3. Select Index from the Marker Type pop-up menu (see Figure 9.2).

   Figure 9.2. An example of a no-typing-required index entry.

   Index is the marker type used for this entry. The Marker Text field remains empty.

4. Click on New Marker.

   An index marker is inserted to the left of the word.

Besides being simple, another benefit of using this index-entry method is if the word to the right of the marker changes, this new information will be automatically updated the next time the index is updated. If you were to type text in the Marker Text field and you wanted to change the word that appears in the index list, then you would have to go into that marker's text to make the change.

Selecting Text for a Marker

You can select text to use as marker text. Use this index-entry method when a word or series of words are together in the document that you want to have appear in the index list just as they are on the document's body page. This method saves you from typing the same information in the Marker Text field.

To begin this exercise, find a word or series of consecutive words in your document that you want to have appear in the index:

1. Select the word or series of words that you want to have appear in the index.

   The selected text is highlighted.

2. Select Special > Marker.

   The Marker window appears. The highlighted text is inserted in the Marker Text field.

3. Select Index from the Marker Type pop-up menu (see Figure 9.3).

   Figure 9.3. The selected text as an index entry.

   Index is the marker type that's used for this marker. The Marker Text field contains the same text as the text you highlighted.

4. Click on New Marker.

   An index marker is inserted to the left of the first word in the selection.

Tip

Make sure that the selected text does not include a marker of any type.

When you select text using this method, if the text on the document page changes, the index entry in the index does not change the next time the index is updated with new source information. The reason is that when you select the text on the page, which is subsequently captured in the Marker Text field, it's the same as if you typed in the Marker Text field. That marker text is not based on text to the right of it, as you saw previously in marker text that you don't have to type.

Inputting Marker Text

Often, you might find that a particular word in a document's body page does not capture the essence of the concept that needs to be included in the index. Therefore, the previous methods for creating an index entry will not suffice. In this case, and most of the time, you must type in the Marker Text field to include terms of any type in the index. You also use this method to input multi-level entries and control index entry locations in the index list.

Using the example, suppose that the word Alphabetization is not detailed enough information for an index. Suppose the phrase Alphabetization Decisions better describes the concept. You must type the concept term in the Marker Text field.

This method of inputting marker text is common, as you'll see in more-complicated index entries. When you type text to use as an index entry, make sure that you place your insertion cursor at the location where you want to refer the reader. This is where the marker is inserted and thus the page to which the reader is referred.

1. Place the insertion cursor at the start of the paragraph where you want to refer the reader.

   The cursor is inserted at the beginning of the paragraph.

2. Select Special > Marker.

   The Marker window appears.

3. Select Index from the Marker Type drop-down menu.

   Index is the marker type used for this marker.

4. Type Alphabetizing Decisions in the Marker Text field (see Figure 9.4).

   Figure 9.4. Typing marker text as an index entry.

   The typed text is inserted in the Marker Text field. This is exactly how the index entry appears in the index.

5. Click New Marker.

   The marker is inserted at the cursor location. The next time you update the index, Alphabetization Decision will be one of the index entries.

Multi-Level Index Entries

Previously, you saw how to create simple index entries that produce a single entry that appears in the index at the first index level. This section looks at how to create multi-level index entries; that is, index entries that appear in the index as a subentry of a first-level entry.

For this example, suppose that you want two subentries or more to appear under one first-level heading in the index. The result might look something like this:

I

Index Entries

Multi-Level 8

Simple 6

Here are the steps required to create one subentry where Index Entries is the first level and the words Multi-Level and Simple are the subentries:

1. Place the insertion cursor at the start of the first paragraph where you want to refer the reader.

   The cursor is inserted at the beginning of the paragraph.

2. Select Special > Marker.

   The Marker window appears.

3. Select Index from the Marker Type drop-down menu.

   Index is the marker type used for this marker.

4. Type Index Entries:Simple in the Marker Text field.

   The typed text is inserted in the Marker Text field. Index Entries is the first-level heading that appears in the index. The colon (:) indicates a separate level in an index entry. Simple is the subentry that appears under the Index Entries heading.

5. Click New Marker.

   The marker is inserted at the location. The next time you update the index, this multi-level entry will be included in the index, as shown in Figure 9.5.

   Figure 9.5. Typing multi-level entry marker text.

Creating Another Subentry Under the Same Heading

Typically, you'll have more than one subentry appearing under one first-level heading in an index. Following the example, add the next subentry so that it appears under the same heading:

Note

You can create a third-level entry by using a colon as the level separator First Level: second level:third level.

First Level

second level

third level

1. Place the insertion cursor at the start of the paragraph where you want to refer the reader.

   The cursor is inserted at the beginning of the paragraph.

2. Select Special > Marker.

   The Marker window appears.

3. Select Index from the Marker Type drop-down menu.

   Index is the marker type used for this marker.

4. Type Index Entries:Multi-Level in the Marker Text field.

   The typed text is inserted in the Marker Text field. Index Entries is the first-level heading that appears in the document.

5. Click New Marker.

   The marker is inserted at the location. The next time you update the index, the multi-level entry is included in the index, as shown in Figure 9.6.

   Figure 9.6. Typing multi-level entry marker text.

What Can Go Wrong?

What an excellent question. You must be careful when you insert marker text that refers more than one subentry to a single first-level heading. For example, if you put in an extra space or did not spell the first-level entry portion of the marker text (before the colon) exactly the same for all occurrences of subentries that will appear under that first-level heading, these are displayed as separate entries. Let's explore what will happen.

Suppose that, when you typed the marker text for the second entry, Multi-Level, you used lower-case letters for the words "index entries", rather than uppercase letters as you did for the first entry, Simple.

Figure 9.7 illustrates the marker text and the result. Multi-Level is a subentry but "index entries" is included in the index as a separate entry from Index Entries because the first letters of each word are lowercase.

When adding multi-level entries as marker text, you must be careful about typing the characters in exactly the same way for each occurrence that appears under the same first-level heading.

When this type of inconsistency happens, you must go back into the marker text for that particular index entry and correct the problem. See the section "Changing Existing Index Entries" on page 287 to learn various ways to go back into a marker and change the existing marker text.

Complicated Index Entries

So far, you explored simple index entries that appear as a single-level entry in an index and multi-level index entries that appear as subentries under a first-level heading. This section explores various methods to enhance marker text with Building Blocks to control the form and location of index entries in the index list.

For example, you might want to control the sort order of particular index entries, or suppress page numbers and add character formatting.

Sort Order

Usually, index entries are sorted in a particular order. For example, indexes typically list symbols, then numbers followed by alphabetical terms. Therefore, if you list a numerical entry, that entry appears under the numerical headings. You might want to list a numerical entry under its alphabetical letter instead, as if it were spelled out.

Suppose the year 1900 is an index entry. Without any special controls in the marker text, this entry appears under numerics in the index. Use a special sorting Building Block and you can change how this number is sorted in the index to appear under the letter N instead, as shown in Table 9.7. Notice how you can control this entry to appear under both numerics and the letter N.

The control features are enclosed in the square brackets. Brackets indicate special sort orders for an entry. After you include brackets in marker text, the information inside the brackets is used for sorting and not the marker text itself. If you want index entries to appear under more than one sorting category, use a semicolon (;) in between sorting information, as shown in the last marker text example in Table 9.7.

Cross-References

You've seen cross-references in indexes many times. Cross-references are used to refer the reader to related information that appears elsewhere in the index. Typically, cross-references look like this:

C

Color Definitions

Pantone 3

Trumatch 5

See also online color library

When you insert cross-reference index entries, you must use the sort order Building Block, brackets ([]), in order to force that cross-reference entry to the top or bottom of a subentry list. If you do not do this, the index entry sorts just as everything else in the list and looks like this:

C

Color Definitions

Pantone 3

See also online color library

Trumatch 5

In addition, you are using another Building Block to suppress the page number of this entry.

Suppressing Page Numbers

To suppress a page number, use the Building Block before the marker text of the entry for which you want to suppress the page number.

Sort orders are specified in square brackets. Because this particular cross-reference entry is a subentry of Color Definitions, the sort order in between the square brackets must also include the words Color Definition; this is the first-level entry that you want the cross-reference sorted under (see Table 9.8). Sort order Building Blocks are always inserted at the end of marker text.

In this case, the zzz indicates that you want this entry to appear last in the list under Color Definitions. In the same way, aaa indicates that you want this entry to appear first in the list under Color Definitions.

You could use zz instead of zzz. However, if an entry in that same list begins with zzy, that entry beginning with zzy would appear last in the list instead.

Multiple Index Entries in One Marker

You might wonder where exactly in a document an index marker, such as a cross-reference, is inserted. You could place this type of index marker anywhere because it has no page reference with it. Using the example, a more logical place for this type of index marker is combined with some other marker text that is also a subentry under Color Definitions.Thus, you reduce the number of markers by creating a single marker that includes multiple index entries.

Tip

Marker text is limited to 255 characters.

Regardless of what type of index entry you are creating, you can combine more than one index entry into one marker. You probably noticed that, with many index entries, a multitude of markers are inserted throughout text in documents. Combine index entries into one marker whenever possible to cut down on the number of markers in your documents.

Begin with the combination of cross-reference marker text and another subentry in that same first-level heading. The semicolon (;), as shown in Table 9.9, separates more than one entry, just as if you placed the marker text in another marker. In this example, the marker text is for the "Pantone" and "See also" subentries in the index.

What happens if you combine three sets of marker text into one marker? Hopefully, you have input all the information correctly and it displays as it should in the index. Take a look at some of the anomalies that can happen if you do not.

Using the same example, suppose that you decide to add yet another marker text entry following the second marker text entry in that marker, as shown in Table 9.10. You would do this because perhaps another term or concept is in that same short paragraph that must be listed in the index.

Restoring Page Numbers

Notice that the index entry in Table 9.10, Defined, has no page number. Looking at the marker text, you see that the Building Block was used in the second index marker text. Therefore, all entries to the right have no page number when they're displayed in the index. In this case, you must use another Building Block to restore the page number for the next entry in the marker text.

The Building Block <$singlepage> restores the page number for multiple entries where the page suppression Building Block,, was used. Table 9.11 shows how to include the Building Block <$singlepage> to restore the page number for the Color Views:Defined index entry.

If you want to avoid using both of these Building Blocks in one marker, consider placing marker text entries that use the Building Block last in the series of entries.

Typing Special Characters

Thus far, you have seen that index entries contain certain characters in the Building Blocks that are used to control certain aspects of the index entry. Specifically, these are colon, semicolon, square bracket, and angle bracket. What can you do if you need to include one of these special characters in the index entry? If you type a colon, you create a multi-level index entry. If you type a semicolon, you create another index entry.

To include any of these special characters in index entries, type a backslash (\). Because the backslash is used to indicate that the character that follows is part of the index entry and not a control Building Block, you also have to use a preceding backslash to include a backslash in an index entry.

Table 9.12 shows how to create a symbol index entry. In this example, the symbol index entry is the backslash (\) and is located on page 3. In order to create this entry, you must precede the backslash that you want to have appear in the index with a backslash to indicate that it's an entry and not a control character.

Page Ranges in Entries

Another common technique used in indexes is to use page ranges. This is useful when index information spans more than one page in a document.This might look like

Color Definitions

Pantone 3-5

Trumatch 5

Note

To learn how to automatically include page range information, see Table 9.14 on page 292.

Page ranges in index markers are manually created. In other words, you have to insert an index marker at the beginning of the information and another at the end of the information. Each marker uses its own Building Block to indicate that marker text is either the beginning or ending of the page range. Here is how to create the index markers for a page range entry. For this example, suppose that the information for Pantone, under the Color Definitions heading, begins on page 3 and ends on page 5.

To create the first page of a page range, follow these steps:

1. Place the insertion cursor at the start of the paragraph that begins the information that you want included in the page range.

   The cursor is inserted at the beginning of the paragraph.

2. Select Special > Marker.

   The Marker window appears.

3. Select Index from the Marker Type drop-down menu.

   Index is the marker type used for this marker.

4. Type <$startrange>Color Definitions:Pantone in the Marker Text field. Then click New Marker.

   The typed text is inserted in the Marker Text field. <$startrange> is the Building Block that indicates the first page of the range for this index entry. Color Definitions:Pantone is a multi-level index entry. The second level in the entry, Pantone, contains the page range information.

To create the last page of a page range, follow these steps:

1. Place the insertion cursor at the end of the paragraph that ends with the information that you want included in the page range.

   The cursor is inserted at the end of the paragraph.

2. Select Special > Marker.

   The Marker window appears.

3. Select Index from the Marker Type drop-down menu.

   Index is the marker type used for this marker.

4. Type <$endrange>Color Definitions:Pantone in the Marker Text field. Then click New Marker.

   The typed text is inserted in the Marker Text field. <$endrange> is the Building Block that indicates the last page of the range for this index entry. Color Definitions:Pantone is the multi-level index entry that the page range information applies to. This entry must be identical in every way to the marker text that was input for the first page of the page range.

   The next time you update the index, this index entry will be included with its page range (see Figure 9.8).

   Figure 9.8. The start and end range marker text.

If the start and end range markers happen to fall on the same page, a page range isn't displayed in the index, but rather as a single page number.

If the information in the two markers does not exactly match with respect to upper- or lowercase, spaces, and spelling, you see question marks appear in the index list for that index entry. Here is what the error might look like:

Color Definitions

Pantone 3 ??

Question marks in a page range index entry are a clear indication that marker text representing the start and end ranges do not match. You must go back into the marker text for both entries and fix the problem.

Adding Character Formats to Index Entries

Index entries are viewed or printed in the Paragraph Designer's default font as specified in the index file. If you apply a character format to index entry text in the index list, the next time you update the index file, all your hard work is deleted and replaced with new index entry information that does not contain the character formatting.

Therefore, if you want character formatting applied to particular text in index entries, you have to add this information in the index marker text so that each time the index file is updated, the character formatting that you want is also included.

Here is a good example of why you would use character formatting in index entries. Suppose that you have many cross-reference index entries in the index list. Typically, cross-reference index entries begin with the words See also and are commonly placed in italics to set this type of entry off from other index entries. Thus, a cross reference entry might look like this:

See also online color library

Back to Basics

To create new character tags, select Format > Characters > Designer, then Commands > New Format.

To use a character tag in an index marker, that character tag must already be part of your Character Catalog in the index file. If you plan to use an italic character tag for certain index entries, but do not yet have an italic character tag in the Character Catalog of the index file, you must create it first.

Suppose that you have an existing character tag, Emphasis, that specifies italics. Table 9.13 shows how to add it to specific text in an index entry.

Notice that this index entry is a multi-level entry, with the cross-reference as subentry under Color Definitions. Therefore, the character tag Building Block is inserted in the definition after the first level (after the colon). Furthermore, if you specifically want just the words "see also" to be in italics, and the words "online color library" not in italics, you must reset the rest of the entry back to the default font of the paragraph. Use the <Default Para Font > Building Block to reset text back to the default font of the paragraph tag. If you do not, all text to the right remains in the applied character format.

Although a character format Building Block formats characters to the right, this is only true for the specific index entry that the character format precedes. In other words, if you have a multi-level entry, and the character format precedes the first part of that entry, the subentry (following the colon) or the next entry (following a semicolon) will not be in the character format.

Changing Existing Index Entries

There are a number of reasons why you might have to edit existing index entries. Perhaps there is an error in how a particular entry is displayed in the index list or you might want to simply change the entry.

Because each index entry is contained inside a marker, you must go inside each marker to change particular marker text index entries. For starters, turn on Text Symbols because you need to see the markers in a document.

Selecting Markers

Let's first explore a tedious method to edit an index entry, before moving on to a more stream-lined approach. You could locate an index marker by viewing markers in the document's body pages. Once found, select the index marker, then select Special > Marker from the menu. The marker text contained in the selected marker is displayed. Make your changes to the marker text, then click Edit Marker. The next time you update the index, the new information for that index entry will be included.

Although this method works for the occasional marker text edit, it does not work well when you have many index entries that you want to edit for any reason.

Using Hypertext Links

When you set up the index, you can turn on hypertext links to automatically be included in each index entry listing. With hypertext links present, you can jump from an index entry listing in the index file, to the index entry marker in the source document.

Each hypertext link in the index is a marker, as shown in Figure 9.9. To jump from a hypertext link to its source, hold down Control + Alt on your keyboard and click once on the index entry in the list. This is a quick and easy way to jump from the index entry to the source marker. You can select Special > Marker to display the marker text of the source marker.

Using Find/Change

FrameMaker's powerful Find/Change tool is an efficient method to move between markers in documents. Use this method when you want to look inside many markers in a document rather than the occasional marker, or if several markers are piled on each other. Before using Find/Change, select Special > Marker to display the Marker window. Move the Marker window to the left or right of your screen so it does not interfere with other windows. Now you can begin your search for index markers:

1. Select Edit > Find/Change.

   The Find/Change window appears.

2. Select Marker of Type from the Find drop-down menu.

   Marker of Type means that you will search for a particular type of marker rather than just any marker type.

3. Type Index in the Find Text field to the right of the pop-up menu.

   By typing Index, this search is restricted to index markers only. If you search for another type of marker, you type the name of that marker in the text field. For example, if you create a custom marker called Index2, you can type Index2 in the Find Text field.

4. Click Find.

   The first index marker is selected and its marker text is displayed in the Marker window, as shown in Figure 9.10.

   Figure 9.10. The Marker Text window and Find/Change.

If the marker text needs editing, make the appropriate changes to the marker text and click Edit Marker. Keep this window open. Then use Find/Change again to find the next index marker. The next time you update the index file, the new index entry information is displayed in the list. Therefore, if you want to test edits that you make to index entries, you must update the index each time you want to perform a test.

Creating an Index List

So far, you learned the process by which index entries are created. Now it's time to discover how to create the index file that will contain the index entries extracted from documents. You also learn how to customize the structure of index entry information and format the look.

Determining What's Included in the Index

Before you start this step, it's a good idea to know ahead of time what marker type you used in documents to create index entries. If you select an incorrect marker type for source information you want to include in the index, the index will have no entries.

For this exercise, suppose that you will include the marker type Index in the index list. Index is the marker type that contains the marker text of index entries that you want to appear in the index list.

Begin the example with a single document containing index markers. Although this exercise shows how to create an index for a single file, the sidebar notes contain steps from a book file:

Book Note

From a book file window, select Add > Standard Index.

1. Select Special > Standard Index.

   The Standalone Standard Index message is displayed. This reminder from FrameMaker tells you that you are not currently in a book file (but that option is available).

2. Click Yes.

   The Set Up Standard Index window appears.

3. Double-click on Index on the Don't Include side (see Figure 9.11).

   Figure 9.11. You can move between lists in the Set Up Standard Index window.

   Index moves to the Include Markers of Type: list on the left. The marker text of Index markers are included in the index list.

4. Click on Create hyperlinks.

   Hyperlinks are included in each index entry after the index is created. Hyperlinks enable you to quickly jump from an index entry to its source index marker. For more information, see the section "Using Hypertext Links" on page 287.

5. Click on the Set button.

   The Set Up Standard Index window closes and a new file is created and displayed. The filename is the same as the document filename that was the active file when you set up the index. The filename includes the IX suffix, as in filenameIX.fm. The new index file contains a list of the index entries of the marker type that you included in the setup. The index list has the default FrameMaker look and format.

Book Note

Using a book file, the filename is the same as the book filename and includes the IX suffix.

How to Structure and Format an Index

After you create an index list the first time, it might not be exactly the way you want it to look, or display the information in the way that you require. For example, the sort order for the information in the list might be ordered as symbols, numerics, and alphabetics. You might prefer alphabetic, symbols, numerics (or some other sorting order).

This section explores the basics of rearranging the sort order of information and making changes to category headings and page number separators.

Viewing the Current Structure

Take a look at and understand the structure behind the index list before you attempt to fix it:

1. Select View > Reference Page.

   The first reference page appears.

2. Select View > Go To Page. Then select IX from the drop-down menu (see Figure 9.12) and click on the Go button.

   Figure 9.12. The Go to Reference Page window.

   The reference page that contains the Building Block structure for the index appears. You selected IX from the Go To Page drop-down menu because IX was the suffix used in the Index Set Up window when you created the index.

3. View the Index Building Block structure. In the example shown in Figure 9.13, each line or paragraph contained in the reference IX page corresponds to either a paragraph tag or marker type.

   Figure 9.13. The initial Building Block structure.

Back to Basics

Paragraph tag names appear in the status bar on the lower-left corner of the screen.

Any changes that you make to the structure contained on the IX reference page cannot be viewed on the index body pages until the index is updated from either the book file or the individual file (if you created a stand-alone index file).

Any formatting changes that you make to paragraph tags can be viewed immediately.

Making Changes to the Index Structure

After an index is created, you can change a number of controls that determine how information is displayed in the index. Keep in mind that after you introduce any change to the index structure on the reference page, you must update the index file in order to see these changes. In other words, if you make a change to the reference page index structure, and view the body page of your index, you won't see any change until you update the index file from either the book file or the single file that you used to create the index in the first place.

Table 9.14 provides information on how to introduce changes to the way information is structured in the index. All changes shown in Table 9.14 are made from the IX Reference page of the index.

Adding Prefixes to Page Numbers

The default index structure works fine if you use page numbers throughout documents without a prefix. However, your documents might use chapter-based page numbering, in which case, you must make a slight change to the Building Block structure on the IX reference page. Just because you use chapter-based page numbering in documents does not mean that the generated index will automatically implement that same page numbering for index entries.

Chapter-based page numbering looks like this:

9-1, 9-2, 9-3 ... in Chapter 9 and

5-1, 5-2, 5-3 ... in Chapter 5, etc.

Begin this exercise to add a prefix to an index entry page number from the IX reference page of the Index list.

1. Place the insertion cursor just before the Building Block <$pagenum>.

   The insertion cursor is inserted just before the left pointy bracket of the <$pagenum> Building Block. <$pagenum> represents the page number of each index entry.

2. Type <$chapnum>-.

   <$chapnum> represents the chapter number for each document file containing the source marker text of the index. The dash (-) is the character used to separate the chapter number from the page number: 9-1, 9-2, and so on. You can type any character you want. For example, you might choose to use a decimal (.) 9.1, 9.2, and so on.

Back to Basics

You can select Format > Document > Numbering to set up chapter or volume numbers of individual document files.

The next time you update the index file from either the book file or the single file, the chapter prefix is added to the page number of each index entry.

If you want to use the Volume number instead, just replace <$ chapnum> with <$volnum> on the IX reference page, as in <$volnum>-<$pagenum>. Or, you can combine the volume, chapter numbers, and text to display in the index:

Vol. <$volnum>, <$chapnum>-<$pagenum>

look something like this:

Color Definitions

Pantone Vol. 2, 9-1

Now that you have an idea of how to incorporate a prefix into the index page number display, it's time to move on to the more complicated multiple page number style and page number prefixes.

Working with Multiple Page Number Styles

Suppose that you are working with a book file that includes a Preface page-numbered as i, ii, iii, and so on, chapters page-numbered as 5-1, 5-2, 5-3 (for Chapter 5) and appendixes page-numbered A-1, A-2, A-3, and so on.

In order to include the chapter prefix with the page number in the index, you use the method in the previous exercise. However, you run into a problem with page numbers of index entries extracted from the Preface. The Preface page numbers have no prefix. Therefore, if you use

<$chapnum>-<$pagenum>

to produce the page numbers in the index, the Preface page numbers would also look something like this:

9-i, 9-ii, 9-iii

Even though you might not actually be using the chapter number anywhere in the Preface file, you cannot suppress this number from appearing in generated file if you use the <$chapnum> building block in a generated file. You must perform two exercises in order to have the index entry page numbers for the Preface show up as

i, ii, iii

without the chapter number preceding the page numbers. But you will continue to have the chapter number precede the chapters and appendixes.This would look something like this in the index list:

I

Index Entries

Simple 9-6

Installing the Software ii

Creating a Custom Marker Type

The first step is to create a custom index marker type that you use for the Preface only. Then you can customize the page number display in the index for those entries separately from the other index entries that you will use the marker type Index for. Here's how to do it. Begin with the Preface file:

1. Place the insertion cursor at the start of the source information where you want to refer the reader.

   The cursor is inserted at the source information.

2. Select Special > Marker.

   The Marker window appears.

3. Select Edit from the Marker Type drop-down menu.

   The Edit Custom Marker Type window appears.

4. Type Index2 (or some other name) in the CustomMarkerText field.

   The new name for the custom index marker is displayed in the Text field.

5. Click Add, then Done.

   The Marker window appears. The new custom marker type is selected in the menu.

6. Type the marker text in the Marker Text field and select Edit Marker (see Figure 9.14).

   Figure 9.14. How to create a custom index marker.

   A new index marker is inserted at the cursor location. The marker is of type Index2.

Including a Custom Marker Type in the Index Set Up

Now that you created a new marker type, you have to use the new marker for all index entries in the Preface document file only. Next, learn how to add the new marker type to be included in the index the next time you update or create the index.

The following exercise is performed from a book file window:

1. Click once on the Index file in the book list and select Edit > Set Up Standard Index. The Set Up Standard Index window appears. If you previously set up the index to include markers of type, Index, then Index is listed on the Include side of the list.

2. Double-click on Index2 on the Don't Include list (see Figure 9.15). Index2 moves to the Include list, along with Index. You now have two different index marker types that are included the next time you update the index file.

   Figure 9.15. How to include the custom marker in the index setup.

3. Click Set.

   The Update Book window appears.

4. Click the Generate Table of Contents, Lists, and Indexes check box and move the file ending in IX to the Include list. Then select Update.

   The index file is updated and now includes the index entries that were inserted in the Preface file using the Index2 marker type.

Understanding Index2 Marker Type Controls in the Index File

After you create the custom marker type that's included in the setup of the index and updated the index file, you can format the index entry information using Index2 in the same way that you would format index entry information using Index.

Take a look at the IX reference page of the index. You notice that a new line with the Building Block <$pagenum> is added. Click one time in that Building Block and look in the status bar display (in the lower left of the document window). You see that it refers to Index2IX, the custom marker you created. The next line, which already existed in the index file, refers to IndexIX, the original index marker you used throughout the chapter and appendix files. This is illustrated in Figure 9.16.

Therefore, because the <$pagenum> referring to Index2IX has no chapter number Building Block preceding it, all index entries that were created using Index2 marker type have no page number prefix.

Using Section Numbers Instead of Page Numbers

Just when you thought that there were no more of FrameMaker's fabulous features for referencing index entries, we explore yet another method to indicate where a reader might find the source information that is listed in the index.

If you are using military-style headings in documents that is, numbered heading levels as in 9.1, 9.1.1, 9.1.1.1, and so forth, you also might require that index entries refer to the section number rather than a page number. If this is the case, you have to make a small change to the IX reference page.

Currently, the page number is indicated with each index entry, as you have seen in the last two exercises. Looking at the IX reference page, we see the Building Block <$pagenum>, which represents the page number for each index entry.

Replace the <$pagenum> Building Block with a combination of typed text and the <$paranumonly> Building Blocks to have index entries refer to a section number rather than a page number. This looks like

Section <$paranumonly>

on the IX Index page, and

Color Definitions

Pantone Section 9.1.2

Trumatch Section 9.2.1

in the Index list. If you want the "Section number" to be in italics to set it off from the entry itself, add a character format Building Block to the definition on the IX reference page. The character format must already be included in the Character Catalog of the index file in order for this to work. Suppose the character format Emphasis produces italics. Then

<Emphasis>Section <$paranumonly>

on the IX index page produces the following:

Color Definitions

Pantone Section 9.1.2

Trumatch Section 9.2.1

in the index list.

Working with Static Text

Note

For more information, see the section "Working with Static Text" in Chapter 8, "Creating Tables of Contents and Other Lists."

FrameMaker contributes greatly to the speed and efficiency with which you can create an index because you can update an index at any time with new information in source documents in just a few seconds, or minutes. The paragraph tags assigned to items in the index list contain the IX suffix. This suffix is automatically added to each index entry-level paragraph. This means that, each time you update the Index, FrameMaker replaces all the information in the list tagged with paragraph tags that contain the IX suffix.

If you want to include a title in the index that remains static each time you update the index list, you must tag it with a paragraph tag that does not have a IX suffix.

There is always a catch. In this case, if you include static text in between index list items, that static text remains in the file after it's updated, but will appear just before the start of the index list. It's no longer in the location where you originally inserted it.

Static text works well for a title because a title starts at the top of a page, before the index list begins. Static text doesn't work well for text in other locations.

Working with an Index Template

After you create and format an index file for the first time, you can use this file as a template for other documents and books that use the same index marker types. The methods I explore work similarly to the method used for a table of contents or another list.

Importing Formats from a Template

This first method is fairly straightforward. Assume that you have a nicely formatted index file that you used for another book. Now you plan to start a new document that utilizes the same document templates as the first book. The new book has a new name, as will each document file that you create, although you are using the same template.

Create a new index file for the first time for the new book file. The resulting index file has the default look and structure offered by FrameMaker. Now open up the index template that you or someone else previously created:

1. Select File > Import > Formats from the New Index File window.

2. Select the name of the index template from the Source Document drop-down list.

3. Select all the items in the list and click Import.

After you complete importing the formats from the index template into the new index, you have to update the new index before you see all the changes.

Creating a Named IX File

Here is another method that you might like to use. Suppose that you created a new book file that contains several document files and all the files are contained in one directory on your computer. Further assume that the name of the book file is "runner.book":

1. Find the index template that you plan to use for the new book file.

2. Make a copy of this template file and place it in the same directory as the new book file "runner.book".

3. Change the name of the copied index template file to the same name as the book file. In this example, you can change the name of the index template to runnerIX.fm. Be sure not to change the IX suffix, or this file isn't recognized as an index file.

4. Select Add > Standard Index from the Book File window.

   The Set Up Standard Index window appears; select the marker types that you want to include in the index.

5. Update the book file by selecting Edit > Update Book.

   The index is created in the new template format.

Including IX Specifications as Part of Document Files

Here is yet another method that is more streamlined than the previous two methods. Use the method that you feel most comfortable with.

You can include the index specifications in a document file that is stand-alone or included in a book file. In other words, if the Building Block structure on the IX reference page is also part of a document file, when you create an index the first time, that IX reference page is also automatically included in the created index list. Then you would not have to adjust the Building Blocks the first time the index is created. You can also include the paragraph tags used to format the index paragraphs in a document file. These will also be included in the index, which again saves you time from editing those formats.

Here's an easy way to do this:

1. Open the index template and a document file that's included in the book file or stand-alone.

2. From the document file, select File > Import > Formats.

3. Select the index filename from the Source Document drop-down list.

4. Select paragraph formats and reference pages from the list of items to choose from.

5. Click Import.

Now when you create the index the first time, it is formatted according to the index information that currently resides in the document file.

Summary

FrameMaker's indexing features are semi-automatic, providing you with the tools you need to assign index entries in documents and display those entries in a systematic arrangement in an index list. It's really a three-step process, made up of index markers that enable you to include particular words, concepts, or phrases to be extracted from documents, a mechanism to include that source information in an index list, and finally, a variety of ways in which to structure and format the final resulting index list.

Although the initial setup requires time and planning, after your index is in place, you can update the index at any time with the latest source information.