hypertext links used with FrameMaker for pdf file

[Lisa McG------- <LMcG------- -at- thefund -dot- com>]

Hi, I think that, as it is late, this query will need till next week for
folks to answer. Susana at my company tried to collect some emails from me
and put them together in a note to a consultant and she cc'd it to TECHWR-L
earlier today. I have re-collected the emails from me (below hers) into one,
following, so that it might make a little more sense:

------------
We're creating a book in FrameMaker that we're converting to an Acrobat PDF
file. There are hyperlinks in the FrameMaker file, created using the
hypertext (Gotolink) Jump to Destination command. Is there a way to send the
user back to the location he jumped FROM? The Open Document command to links
in other chapters doesn't seem to leave a second window in PDF, and besides
some of the hyperlinks jump within the same chapter.

Is the only option we have the BACK button in the Acrobat PDF? This book
file will be continuously updated in FrameMaker so we need to keep our
options limited to Frame, not Acrobat.

Please advise. (See email below for details.) 


Thank you very much for your help!


Susana Maria Rosende
Supervisor of Technical Publications/IS Department
Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund
6545 Corporate Centre Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32822
(407) 240-3863, ext. 7657
SRosende -at- thefund -dot- com


Lisa McG-------
Assistant Editor
Legal Division/Special Legal Services Dept.
Attorneys' Title Insurance Fund
6545 Corporate Centre Blvd.
Orlando, FL 32822
(407) 240-3863, ext. 7355
LMcG------- -at- thefund -dot- com

------------------------------------------------------------

Background (from emails):

The manual we are working on is a book of company policies for customers
numbered by sections which are called "title notes." It is created in
FrameMaker 5.5.6 for WindowsNT and is being prepared for the creation of a
pdf from this file. It has been a long-running print book and will continue
to have a supplemented print edition for binders. The FrameMaker book file
for this book is composed of 32 chapter file documents plus a couple of
other documents, such as appendices. The references in the text to other
title notes are placed in hypertext links that jump the user to the
referred-to title note. Some of the references are to title notes in the
same chapter; others are to title notes in other chapter files in the same
book.

When I first made the links in the text I originally created them the same
way I did the links to title notes in the table of contents and index -- via
Jump To Named Destination links that do not return the user to the place
he/she was at before jumping. I first created destination links for every
single title note before making the jumps.

Later I realized that the jumps from text references were not appropriate to
leave in such a way that the user was not returned back to the place of
origin so that they could finish reading the section they had started
reading when they came to the reference link that jumped them to another
title note. The simple answer to this problem for a jump to a title note in
a *different chapter* is to change the link from Jump to Named Destination
link to an Open Document link; they would then have two windows and could
close the window they jumped to afterward (assuming the user is aware that
the previous window is still behind the window they jumped to -- and we
haven't seen how this looks in the pdf yet because we're still working in
the FrameMaker file that is maintained each year). But this Open Document
method doesn't open a separate window if the reference is to a title note in
*the same chapter*.

*What do you think is the best way to make hypertext links from a reference
in the text of a title note to another title note in the *same FrameMaker
chapter document* and to return to the original reference or title note
afterwards, given that the Jump Back hypertext link is listed in the manual
as not working in PDF? (Additionally, I'm not sure the Jump Back link would
have been any use anyway even if pdf could work with it because you have to
specify the place to jump back to, which is not appropriate if you are
jumping to the same title note from several different locations in the same
chapter, as happens frequently in this book.)

*The "back" button in Acrobat may be the only option to return the user to
the previous place? Anything requiring extra instructions be given the title
notes user may be a problem since the instructions would likely be printed
in the cdrom sleeve and lost, plus they might not be understood by these
attorneys.

*We may even need to consider whether Open Document is the best method to
use for links jumping the user to a title note in a different chapter file,
since it is unclear whether the user would know the original window is still
there?

*Also we are doing most of our work in FrameMaker because the book is
updated significantly every year and we think it would be easier to maintain
the changes in FrameMaker, since we have to update it in FrameMaker anyway
for the print version of the book. It doesn't make sense to also reupdate
all the links in Acrobat too, right? 

*This book is one in which we are not allowed to add items that will change
the FrameMaker book design beyond subtle changes in text such as making a
link blue which will print close to black. We can't add graphics and the
like throughout the FrameMaker book files if that would help the user of the
pdf to find their way back, as we are trying to minimize noticeable changes
to the print version in FrameMaker where possible to minimize the cost of
printing. The book has about 800 pages and normally just has a supplement
replacing certain pages each year. The pdf is a new development.