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U s i n g U n i q u e I D a n d I D R e f e r e n c e a t t r i b u t e s
the uniqueness of IDs as the user edits a document. For example, if the user enters an ID
that is not unique, FrameMaker does not accept the value and displays an alert. If the user
pastes an element with an ID that is not unique, the pasted element loses its attribute value.
FrameMaker cannot test for whether an entered ID is used in a different document in a
book, especially since one document can be in more than one book. When the user
validates a book, however, FrameMaker reports conflicts between IDs across documents in
the book.
An end user can edit an existing ID in the Attributes dialog box (unless the attribute is read-
only). Any cross-references already pointing to that element may become unresolved.
FrameMaker accepts the value if it is unique, but warns the user about possible unresolved
references. The user can check for unresolved cross-references by searching for an
element with an IDReference attribute value equal to that of the replaced ID.
SGML: If you plan to export documents to SGML, the SGML naming rules will
likely allow fewer characters—and different characters—for attribute values. Refer to
the concrete syntax you'll be using in SGML for the maximum name length and the
characters allowed. To ensure that your end users conform to the concrete syntax,
you may want to prepare recommendations on entering values. Remind users to
begin IDs with a name-start character and to use only name characters thereafter.
When FrameMaker generates an ID
If an end user inserts a cross-reference element and the source's UniqueID attribute does
not yet have a value, FrameMaker provides a unique value for it. The value is entered in
both the UniqueID attribute and the IDReference attribute pointing to it.
An ID that FrameMaker generates is an eight-character string that begins with a capital
letter and then has capital letters and digits. If you are exporting documents to markup,
these IDs conform to the SGML reference concrete syntax.
A generated ID is unique in its document. The ID has the form pppxxxxx, where ppp is
derived from the name of the document and xxxxx is a random string. Because two
documents in a book must have different filenames, generated IDs in the documents will
not conflict. If an end user renames a document, the ppp is recalculated for values that
FrameMaker generates thereafter, but any existing values are not replaced.
FrameMaker automatically generates an ID value if the user inserts a cross-reference to the
element, but does not insert an ID value. If you only want FrameMaker to have the ability
to enter ID values, make the attribute read-only, thereby preventing the user from setting
the attribute. For more information, see "Hidden and Read-only attributes" on page 174.
IDReference attributes
You can assign an IDReference or IDReferences attribute to any element in
FrameMaker. If you plan to use the element as a FrameMaker cross-reference, the element
should be a cross-reference object element.
Structure Application Developer's Guide
179
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