PDF export--truncating running heads, and fleurons...

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Kimberly Hitchens
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Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:38 pm

PDF export--truncating running heads, and fleurons...

Unread post by Kimberly Hitchens »

Hi:

I've searched the HELP and the forums, and don't see answers for either of these. If those are here, mea culpa.
  • First item--I have a number of Topic Titles, for sections, that are apparently too long for the running heads in the PDF export. I get text in the left-aligned running head that runs over the right-aligned page numbers. Yes, of course, I can manually trim all of them, but I should prefer not to, if possible, as my clients will search or scan for those terms. Is there any way to truncate the text, or automatically size it down, so it would fit, or...I suspect the answer is "suck it up and shorten your topic area titles," but just in case, I thought I'd ask?
  • Second item--for a webhelp, this wouldn't matter, but with PDF output, I'd like to create a visual cue that says to the reader "this is the end of the topic/article." I tried a variety of ways to achieve that, in the Template editor, but...ixnay. Couldn't get it to work as I wished. Any thoughts on that? In the PDF output, even using different fonts for topic titles, subheads, etc., I just find the "end of article" distinction a bit hard to see.
Thank you.

Hitch
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Tim Green
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Re: PDF export--truncating running heads, and fleurons...

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Kim,

If the headings in your TOC are overrunning the page numbers one or possibly two things are happening:
  • The text object containing the heading variable is too wide and is overlapping the text object containing the page numbering variable.
  • You turned off word wrap for the text in the heading text object.
    • Actually, there is no longer any need to have separate text objects for the page numbers any more since the introduction of justified labels with automatically-generated dot leaders. See "Use justified labels..." in Designing a Template > Table of Contents in the Manual Designer help for instructions.

      On creating an "End of article" tag in PDF: There isn't a facility for adding content to the end of topics in the PDF template. Generally, the fact that a new heading comes after some text should be a pretty clear indicator that a part of the text has come to an end. If that isn't enough you could define automatic page breaks for the topic levels where you want clear article endings. You do this in the Page Options in the Topics section. There is a table at the bottom of that dialog where you can set page breaks individually for each of the six topic levels.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Kimberly Hitchens
Posts: 14
Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:38 pm

Re: PDF export--truncating running heads, and fleurons...

Unread post by Kimberly Hitchens »

Tim Green wrote:Hi Kim,

If the headings in your TOC are overrunning the page numbers one or possibly two things are happening:
  • The text object containing the heading variable is too wide and is overlapping the text object containing the page numbering variable.
  • You turned off word wrap for the text in the heading text object.
Actually, there is no longer any need to have separate text objects for the page numbers any more since the introduction of justified labels with automatically-generated dot leaders. See "Use justified labels..." in Designing a Template > Table of Contents in the Manual Designer help for instructions.

On creating an "End of article" tag in PDF: There isn't a facility for adding content to the end of topics in the PDF template. Generally, the fact that a new heading comes after some text should be a pretty clear indicator that a part of the text has come to an end. If that isn't enough you could define automatic page breaks for the topic levels where you want clear article endings. You do this in the Page Options in the Topics section. There is a table at the bottom of that dialog where you can set page breaks individually for each of the six topic levels.
(I fixed your list for ease of reading, Tim. I didn't alter anything else.)

Will you beat me if I tell you that neither appear to be true?
  • I did not edit the heading text object, other than changing the font via a Global Font change in the Template. I'm using one of your standard templates, modified solely with fonts.
  • The reason I'm so sure of this is because, (And I hate saying this), I honestly don't know WHERE to change that. I've rummaged through the HELP, which has no instructions, other than, use the Master page. But my Master page only has a page number header, right? NO topic or heading level or item header. I have no idea, honestly, how the header got IN there. The footer, great--it's there. The header? NOPE. (See image links) Unless the TOPIC template is overriding that, which of course, it could be.
Links for the images (sorry, I don't use IMGR and all those places):
My TOPIC template has a header and page number--but not my Master page. It doesn't make sense to me, that that's driving the running header, because the running header is NOT my most-recent topic; it's the main section head. (A level 1 heading, presumably.)

IF that is the answer--that my Heading 1, on the Topic template, is overriding the Master page template, okay, fine, but then where do I create or edit properties that allow Word wrap? I have looked everywhere. Apparently, the word "wrap" is a keyword for the "Master Page and Background" item in the Help & Manual Designer Help, but it doesn't say bupkus about it.

So--how DO I do that? The template variable area in my template does NOT override the page number variable, (even if the Heading1 variable from the topic template is used jointly with the master page template for the page number--I checked the locations) and I guess I'm an idiot, because I can not find the Word Wrap setting. Not on Page Options, not in the edit menu, not in properties...??? I'd appreciate a pointer. (Do you mean, in the STYLES in the main Project Explorer? I have word wrap turned on for everything there...???)

Thanks,
Hitch
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Tim Green
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Re: PDF export--truncating running heads, and fleurons...

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Hitch,

Just looking at your screenshots here (you can add screenshots on the forum directly, use the Upload Attachment tab below the editor window while writing a post):

Topic headings can't be defined in the master page, only in the Topics section. The master page can only define margins and header and footer components that are valid for all sections in the PDF.

What's on your master page will only be used in other sections if you activate that in those sections. That is done with the Use master page as background option in the Page Options of each section. However, you can't use topic variables (such as topic heading variables) on the master page, of course, because that can be used in all sections and your topic variables will only be valid in the topic section.

So if you want the title of topics in the page header you must switch off the master page in the Topics section and define the headers for that section there. Also, you can ONLY use level 1 heading variables in the page header, because that is the only heading variable that is valid there. Any lower level variables will always be invalid on pages that don't contain topics on those levels, so you can't use them at all in page headers. Only the top level is always valid, because even a lower level topic also belongs to its higher-level parent.

Note also that you can set all objects on a page to print on odd pages, even pages or both odd and even pages. That is set with the Print On: setting on the left side of the the object's Properties dialog. So if you are flipping margins in your page options you need to consider that and set up objects for both odd and even pages, sometimes on top of each other.

Finally, for headings to wrap properly you need to anchor them to Left, Right and Top, but not bottom, and make sure that the Word Wrap setting is on in their Properties dialogs.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
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