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H o w a n e n d u s e r w o r k s w i t h a t t r i b u t e s
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A status attribute in a section element can describe the current review stage of the
section's contents (Status=Alpha).
•
An author attribute in a chapter element can identify the author of the document
(Author=pjr).
•
A size attribute in a graphic element can specify the width of a frame (ArtWidth=8.5).
For XML you provide a CDATA value, and for SGML you can provide a number value.
Attributes can store source and destination information for elements. These are often used
for cross-referencing between elements. For example:
•
An identifier attribute in a head element can uniquely identify the element as a source for
cross-references (ID=Intro).
•
A reference attribute in a cross-reference element can store the ID of the source element
that is referred to (Reference=Intro).
You can also use attributes to determine the appearance of an element in a FrameMaker
document. For example:
•
A type attribute in a list element can specify whether the list should be numbered or
bulleted (Type=Bulleted).
•
A prefix attribute in a note element can provide a text string to display before the
element's content (Prefix=Important).
How an end user works with attributes
In a document, an end user provides values for particular instances of attributes. The user
can also validate the document to be sure that the attribute values meet the criteria of your
definitions. To develop an environment that is reasonable for the user, it may help to
understand a few things about how the user edits and validates attributes.
An end user supplies values for an attribute in the Attributes dialog box. The dialog box
shows information from the attribute definition—name, type, range or choices, and default
value—to guide the user to enter values that are appropriate. If the user tries to enter a
value that is not valid according to the definition, FrameMaker does not accept the value
and displays an alert.
You can also define read-only attributes with values that are set by an structure API client
or by a FrameMaker cross-reference. An end user cannot modify read-only attributes.
Even though an end user cannot enter invalid attribute values in the Attributes dialog box,
it is still possible to end up with inappropriate values or to have attributes in an element that
is not defined to contain them. This usually happens because the user has pasted values
or attributes or imported a new Element Catalog with different attribute definitions, or
because of changes made to the document by a structure API client.
The end user can see attribute name/value pairs for each element in the Structure View.
The view displays all attributes, no attributes, or only attributes with required and specified
Attribute Definitions
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