ExtendScript of the Week: Find/Change Cross Reference Formats / Conditional Tags / Variables

This week in “Extend Script of the Week” initiative we will showcase an extend script which will Find/Change Cross-Reference Formats (aka “XREF Formats), Conditional Tags and Variables on the Body page of a FrameMaker document. This script demonstrates how to use ExtendScript to traverse a document, find Xrefs/Conditional Tags/Variables and then change them or delete them.

Information about the Scripts

• The zip contains seven ExtendScripts:
  • ChangeFormatMenu.jsx loads the menu and calls the function to execute the work flow.
  • ChangeConditionalFormat.jsx is used to change the conditional tag.
  • ChangeVariable.jsx is used to change the variable.
  • ChangeXrefFormat.jsx is used to change the format of the XRef.
  • ChangeFormatUtils.jsx contains various utilty functions.
  • ChangeFormatUI.jsx prepares the UI to be launched in FM.
  • BookIterator.jsx is used to iterate over the book.
• The script works on FM/MIF, nested books and its components as well as on the hierarchical components.
• Any XML file, dita or map which is a part of the book is left untouched.
• The script will pick up the format/variable/tag from the document or the first non generated component of book.
• If run on a book, all unopened components will be opened silently and will be modified, saved and closed without asking. All opened components will be modified and left visible.
• User has an option to include System Variables, by default it has been excluded as it makes the list quite long.
• User also has an option to delete the conditional tag/variable/xref format which was replaced after the changes are made.
• At the end the user will be notified about the number of changes made in the document.

Steps to Install

• Download the zip file from ChangeFormat.
• Unzip the files and copy “ChangeFormatMenu.jsx” and “ChangeFormat” folder in startup folder located at “C:\Program Files\Adobe\AdobeFrameMaker10\startup\”

How to use the Script

• Launch FrameMaker
• Open a Book File or FM/MIF File eg : Doc1_10.fm
• Run Change Formats from “File -> Utilities -> Change Formats…“
• This will run the script and ask you for inputs for find/change.
• Click on the radio button to choose the object you want to change.
• 
• Choose the value to be changed in ‘Find’ dropdown.
• Choose the value to be applied in ‘Replace With’ dropdown.
• Click on Change button.
• 

I hope this will prove useful to many folks and you can add extra functionality as per your requirements to these scripts to make it even more powerful

(Resources: ChangeFormats)