Date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 18:29:17 -0400 From: JIm Owens <jow...@magma.ca> Subject: Floating figures and tables was RE: question about overrides To: "'Framers'" <framers at lists.frameusers.com>, "Mike Bradley" <mbradley at techpubs.com> Message-ID: <.1215815357 at magma.ca> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
>Floating figures and tables are useful for automating page breaks, >but I too have encountered people who insist that the figure must >always immediately follow the reference. Can anyone help me understand >where this rule originated? >In Framemaker, setting them up requires a bit more effort. To save >time, I would usually create a new figure exhibit by copying and >pasting an existing one, replacing the image, and manually resizing >the figure frame. >On Fri 11/07/08 5:44 PM , "Mike Bradley" mbradley at techpubs.com >sent: >If I'm writing a typical user manual, my preferred solution for >pagination .overrides is to float tables and figures. Floating rarely produces >pagination >problems--that's the main purpose of floating, as far as I can tell. >I give >tables and figures numbered titles and I'm careful to cite each one >in the text, >whether by Xref alone or with an explanation of their contents, so >that the >reader can find it (floating is an option for tables but not frames, >so I put >all graphics in tables). >Some clients are uncomfortable with floating. They insist that the >table or >figure must appear directly before or after the text to which they >refer, but >I've never had a user complain about it. Floating moves the table >only a page >away. >= Mike Bradley > www.techpubs.com Just check with any mil-spec writer. This requirement seems to have originated in military manuals. A table or figure shall follow its reference in text. It is acceptable for the figure or table to appear on the following page. Also, one NEVER referenced forward in a document, only BACKWARD. The first time an acronym was used, it had to be explained - IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion), or JERK (Junior Engineer Reeking Knowledge).