[Scribus] inserting a frame into already linked frames

[Gregory Pittman]

Nik wrote:
> Hi Grag,
>
> Thanks for your response.
>
>   
>> Message: 4
>> Date: Sun, 09 Jul 2006 11:14:56 -0400
>> From: Gregory Pittman <gpittman at iglou.com>
>> Subject: Re: [Scribus] inserting a frame into already linked frames
>> To: scribus at nashi.altmuehlnet.de
>> Message-ID: <44B11D70.8030903 at iglou.com>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
>>
>> Nik wrote:
>>
>>     
>>> Hi All,
>>>
>>> I have encountered this situation in most documents, and still haven't 
>>> found a good solution. The issue is that for various reasons, I find I 
>>> need to insert a frame somewhere in the middle of an existing set of 
>>> linked frames. The problem is that Scribus doesn't seem to allow me to 
>>> link my new frame to any frame which has existing links. So the only way 
>>> that I have found to successfully insert a frame is to manually unlink 
>>> all the frames from the insertion point to the last frame in the chain, 
>>> link in my new frame, and then manually re-link all the frames together 
>>> that I just had to unlink. If the chain has many frames (if I have 
>>> tables, then there can be 50 or more frames invloved, then this is very 
>>> tedious.
>>>
>>> I have looked around for some way to force link or unlink a frame, but 
>>> have found nothing so far. Is there something I've missed which makes 
>>> this easier?
>>>  
>>>       
>> I think the key may be in identifying the last of the linked frames, 
>> which I was able to add a linked frame to. You cannot add to anything 
>> upstream from the last one.
>>     
>
> Why not? It seems to be a useful feature.
>
>   
>> Do not start by selecting 
>> the frame you want to link to, it has to be the one you are linking from.
>>     
>
> Is this for linking, or unlinking?
>
> Greg, thanks for your advice. I now have two further questions in my mind:
>
> Q1: Why the restriction that I cannot insert (or remove) a frame in the 
> middle of a chain? It seems arbitrary, and forces me into a 
> unnecessarily time-consuming workflow.
>   
Perhaps the developers will know -- seems a rather complex operation to 
accomplish.
> Q2: If I have understood you correctly, and it is intentionally 
> impossible to insert or remove a frame in/from the middle of a chain, 
> then should I create an RFE to have this as a new feature?
>
> I have at least three situations in which it is certainly more efficient 
> to insert a frame into a chain than to add to the end of the chain:
>
> 1. I have a chapter of a document which goes over multiple pages. Each 
> page therefore has at least one text frame, and these frames are linked 
> to flow the chapter over the pages. Interspersed within the text of this 
> document are diagrams in image frames and sidebars in text frames, etc. 
> In the process of editing, one or more paragraphs are added somewhere in 
> the middle of the chapter. When I reimport the new text, the extra text 
> causes the diagrams and sidebars to be out of position relative to the 
> text. What I want to do is insert a page in the middle of the chapter, 
> create a text frame on that new page, and insert the frame somewhere in 
> the middle of the chain of linked text frames. But to do this, I have to 
> unlink every text frame from the insertion point up to the end of the 
> chapter, just so I can link in the new frame, and then ... re-link all 
> the previously unlinked frames, in the same order. Lots of work for no 
> purpose.
> My other option is to insert the new page at the end of the chapter, 
> create a text frame on that page, and link it to the end of the chain. 
> Now I have to fix all the out-of-position frames. So I have to go to 
> each page between the text insertion point and the end of the chapter, 
> and cut-and-paste the diagram and sidebar frames and move them, 
> typically to a later page. Of course, as I delete each frame, the text 
> which previously wrapped around that frame moves up, so it is basically 
> guess-work as to where I put the frames, meaning that the task typically 
> requires multiple passes over the frames. In fact, I usually perform the 
> first pass in last-to-first order, since the only spare space is at the 
> end of the chapter, where the new page has been added. Once I've got the 
> frames on approximately correct pages, then I can move them around to 
> get the best new location.
>
> 2. The new text involves inserting a new table. In this case, I cannot 
> usefully add the new frame at the end of the chain, since the new frame 
> is a table frame. I *must* insert the new table frame in the middle of 
> the chain. In this case I am *forced* to go through the 
> unlink-just-so-I-can-relink  procedure.
>
> 3. A change to the size of a table is needed. This may be due to a 
> change in the number of columns or rows in the table, or it may be a 
> need to split a table over a page break. In either case, the change to 
> the table requires that the old table be deleted, and a new one created. 
> Even if this is changed in future so table size can be modified, adding 
> or deleting table cells will still often require inserting or removing a 
> frame from the middle of a chain.
>   
As far as I know, you can delete/insert content in the middle of a 
series of linked frames.

Greg