Rouge Unresolved Cross-Reference to...

[bowen192]

Hello ,

W7, FM11.

When I update a book, the Book Error Log gives me two errors for each document of an Unresolved Cross-Reference to document.

When I click the link, it takes me to the relevant document, but not the actual error.

This is true in Body Page, Master Page and Reference Page view.

Any suggestions?

[Arnis_Gubins]

Have you tried using the Find > Unresolved Cross-References option in those documents?

[bowen192]

In one of the documents, it finds two Unresolved Cross-References.

It shows the text in the Find box, and it is something I'd expect to find, but I still can't locate it.

[Arnis_Gubins]

The Find places the insertion point in the Cross-Reference. Simply double-click on it and it will bring up the Cross-Reference dialog and any specific error message to allow you to fix the cross-ref.

[bowen192]

This is the problem, though; when I click the link, it takes me to the relevant document, but not the actual error.

I've searched  visually, but cannot locate the error.

[Arnis_Gubins]

Just so I  understand your problem. You've done the following steps:

1. Updating the Book reports unresolved x-refs in documets.

2. Clicking on the Book Error log opens the document, but doesn't take you to the broken link.

3. You use Find in this newly opened document to get to the unresolved x-ref.

4. You double-click on this unresolved x-ref and it opens another document (with no error messages reported)?

[bowen192]

I update the book

The book creates an Error Log.

The Error Log shows two Unresolved Cross-Reference on each file in the book.

Clicking on the Unresolved Cross-Reference link takes me to the document but not the actual Unresolved Cross-Reference.

The exact same thing happens with the Find Unresolved Cross-Reference.

[Arnis_Gubins]

As Error suggests, you should check the Master Pages as well as the Reference pages. FM will only open to the Body pages when you click on a link between FM files (the Error Log is just a special format .fm file).

Also, be aware that applying any conditionals may inadvertantly hide a target and create a broken link.

[Bob_Niland]

In this case it sounds like the problem was hidden MP.

But what the heck, let's memorialize all the causes we can think of for:

"can't find unresolved cross reference"

I'll start with:

• on a Master Page hidden due to Pagination
• in Conditional text presently hidden
• flowed out of sight at frame edge (usually a disconnected or sub-frame)
• in a text frame obscure by object(s) in front of it
• in a text frame that is itself beyond a frame edge
• in plain text hidden by Color Views
• in an imported text inset, which is a single object in the current document
• present, but in white-on-white text
• (speculation) present, but blank due to defective font substitution

any others?

[kmacdowe+brdcom]

Thanks Error7103. Regarding "in Conditional text presently hidden"  this is a bug.

In prior releases, if a condtion was hiding a cross reference, there would be no error - that is the way it should be.

Does anyone know if this has been corrected?

[Arnis_Gubins]

kmacdowe+brdcom wrote:

In prior releases, if a condtion was hiding a cross reference, there would be no error - that is the way it should be.

Could you please provide an example of what you mean by this?

If you're referring to the target of a cross-reference, then no that's not a bug - it's the way it should be and has always been. If you conditionally hide the target, then any x-ref to it breaks.

If you conditionally hide an inserted x-ref, then FM does not care and doesn't show any errors. This is the way it still works in FM11.

[kmacdowe+brdcom]

I am using/referring to FM10; sometimes when a reference to something is

hidden, I still get a error that it is broken (even though it is hidden).

[Arnis_Gubins]

If you hide a cross-ref target, then any cross-ref pointing to the target tries to satisfy the building block requirements by using the container that the newly inserted conditional hide marker is in (typically the following paragraph). Depending upon where this marker falls, it may be become unresolved if it hits the end of flow (e.g. what's the$paratext of the end-of-flow?). If it doesn't hit the end of flow, then the cross-ref will use the content of the paragraph holding the conditional marker. That's the way it's always been in FM.

SO, sometimes you will get an unresolved error message (cause FM has nothing left to grab to satisfy the cross-ref requirements) and other times you won't, depending upon the location of the conditional hidden marker. It's not a bug - you've inadvertantly created a paradox for FM.

[kmacdowe+brdcom]

Arnis, thanks for letting me know about this "paradox" and the reason why.

You have an impressive knowledge of building blocks.

The "paradox" scenario is probably what is happening in my case. My xref

target is in another document within the same book. Not the next paragraph

(odd default). Perhaps the order in which I turn the xref and its target

doc conditions on and off (and save) may play into this. If I find any

further insight into this behavior I will share. I still say the rule

should be, if an xref is hidden, it should never generate an error. Thanks!

[Simone5CDE]

Adobe doesn't correct anything, hasn't in decades. But Adobe will introduce more and worse bugs with every release.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

@Simone5CDE - I beg to differ - FM's on a more frequent update route now than ever.

[Bob_Niland · Accepted solution]

When this happens to me, and it does, the usual obstruction is that the orphan Xref is on a Master Page that is hidden because the Pagination is set to Single Sided.

If your Format > Page Layout > Pagination is set to <*> Single Sided in the suspect document, change it to <*> Double Sided and search MPs again.

[bowen192]

Error7103 wrote:

When this happens to me, and it does, the usual obstruction is that the orphan Xref is on a Master Page that is hidden because the Pagination is set to Single Sided.

If your Format > Page Layout > Pagination is set to <*> Single Sided in the suspect document, change it to <*> Double Sided and search MPs again.

I truly love you, Error7103. 

[Timothy H]

Other possible culprit discovered: missing font in Target Doc!

see http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1372674?tstart=0