At 09:19 -0500 5/1/07, MATT TODD wrote:

>I am a newbie using FM 7.0.

Welcome to the Great Big Adventure ;-)

>Does FM provide a way to group character definitions or paragraph styles. For 
>example, in the Character Definition window, I'd like to place all size 
>definitions in a "Size" folder and all color definitions in a "Color" folder, 
>and I'd like those folders to appear in the Character Definition window 
>selection pop-up.

No: all tag definitions that you define in the Paragraph or Character Designer 
are listed alphabetically in the Paragraph and Character palettes. However, it 
makes sense to use similar names to collect related tag names together, for 
example by called the first and subsequent paragraph tags for a numbered list 
'Numbered1' and 'Numbered', rather than, say, 'FirstNumbered' and 'Numbered', 
which would separate them in the tag list.

Tags whose names start with '~' appear at the bottom of the list. I use this 
convention to signal tags that aren't meant to be selected by users, but which 
are part of some internal mechanisation. However, this really only applies to 
environments where FrameMaker tags are applied automatically, such as 
structured FrameMaker and - I guess - FrameScript.

However, your question may expose a misunderstanding in how tag names are, or 
ideally should be, used. Because you may decide to restyle a tag, it's best to 
name them according to their purpose and not their function. For example, don't 
call a paragraph tag '10 point Bookman', for example, but call it 'Body'. That 
way it still has a sensible name even if you decide not to use Bookman. 
Similarly, a character tag for emphasising text can be called 'Emphasis' and 
not 'Italic'. (If I've misinterpreted what you wrote, just ignore this 
paragraph.)

> I'd like the same thing in the Paragraph Designer - all paragraph styles 
> having to do with tables in a "Table" folder, all styles defining numbered, 
> lettered, or bulleted lists in a "Lists" folder - and those folders to appear 
> in the Paragraph Designer selection pop-up.

It is remotely possible that a plug-in might exist to do this, but I don't know 
of one. I also cannot see what advantage it would give you, but what do I know? 
Certainly the ergonomics of the designer dialogs are sub-optimal, but we all 
know that.

>Anyway to accomplish this in native FM, or perhaps a script? By the way, I'm 
>the same Matt who won the LavaCon registration at the 2006 Austin Chautauqua.

Well done.

-- 
Steve

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