Leading Frames

Overview

Many catalog productions need leading numbers to connect images with their corresponding text content. A leading number is a short label, for example 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C, that sits on an image and is repeated next to the matching caption, price, or legend entry. Leading Frames builds this link with two placeholders and one Panel Action.

How It Works

Leading Frames uses two placeholders and the Set_Leading_Numbers Panel Action.

Placeholder "Leading Number Parent"

Placed on top of the image frame, the leading element. Two function variables control the output:

• gNumberingStyle sets the number format.
• gNumberingArea sets where the count resets.

The Panel Action reads these variables from the first Leading Number Parent placeholder it finds in the document. All parent placeholders share that one style and area.

Placeholder "Leading Number Child"

Placed on or inside the text frame that should show the matching number, for example the caption or legend. It needs no function variable. The placeholder ID is all that is required.

Panel Action "Set_Leading_Numbers"

Run this action after building the document. It works in these steps:

1. Reads the two placeholder IDs from the document attributes ParentPlaceholderID and ChildPlaceholderID.
2. Reads gNumberingStyle and gNumberingArea from the first parent placeholder. The defaults are style kNumber and area kPage.
3. Walks every page in the document.
4. On each page it collects all Leading Number Parent placeholders, sorted by position, and gives them sequential numbers.
5. For each parent placeholder it writes the current number in the chosen style. It then searches the whole document for the Leading Number Child placeholder that links the same data record and writes the same number into it.
6. Increases the counter by 1 after each parent.

The match between parent and child is done by the linked data record, not by position. A child receives a number only when its record matches a parent that was numbered on the page.

Numbering style (gNumberingStyle)

Value	Output	Description
kNumber	1, 2, 3	Plain integers. This is the default.
kZero	01, 02, 03	Zero-padded for the values 1 to 9. From 10 on, plain integers.
kChar	A, B, C	Uppercase letters. The value 1 becomes A, 2 becomes B, and so on.

Numbering area (gNumberingArea)

Value	Reset point	Description
kPage	Every page	The count restarts at 1 on each page. This is the default.
kSpread	First page of a spread	The count restarts at 1 on the first page of a spread and continues across the other pages of that spread.

Document attributes

Attribute	Holds
ParentPlaceholderID	Placeholder ID of the Leading Number Parent placeholder
ChildPlaceholderID	Placeholder ID of the Leading Number Child placeholder