Text frames from subdocument doesn't appear in master document [SOLVED]

Hello!

I am formatting a master document that has several pages that need to have a single word of text vertically and horizontally on the page. I have created frames in the subdocuments for these pages to center the text exactly this way. However, when I view the master document as a whole or export as a PDF, the frames (and the text) do not appear.

How do I fix this? In the meantime, I am eyeballing and centering text on the page with direct formatting and entering spaces to center text in the way I want.

Thanks much.
Lisa

Not enough information to tell. At least, LO version and OS name.

Edit your question to attach master and one subdoc. Use the paperclip tool once you started editing your question.

So strange–I just tried to insert text frames in a master document template I was using and it seemed to work okay (exported as PDF and the text frame was still intact). I’m using LO 6.2.5.2 and on Windows 10. I am going to try to make another test master document and see if I can reproduce the problem. Thanks.

odt file

odm file

edited by ajlittoz to clean the file links

Okay, I’ve managed to reproduce the missing text frame problem. This master document (18pp.) should have a “cover page” on p. 7 with the single word BIBLIOGRAPHY centered horizontally and vertically to the text area. I’d like to do this with a text frame to avoid guessing as to placement.

The subdocument has a text frame centered in this way. However, when I look at the master document, the text frame is gone. I have a text frame in the master document itself (third page of document) that does not appear to have this problem.

I will also need to have the word BIBLIOGRAPHY in the text frame on p. 7 be in Heading 2 style so it shows in the TOC.

What am I not seeing or what am I doing wrong here?

I’ve attached master document and Chapter 1 subdocument

Any ideas welcome.

Best, Lisa

C:\fakepath\Missing text frame in master document.odm

C:\fakepath\Ch1 Introduction.odt

Your problem comes from a misunderstanding of the anchor modes of frames.

You use To page on the assumption that it will merely allow you to position the frame in the current page. The documentation may not be clear enough about it, but this assumption is faulty.

The primary consequence of anchoring To page is to lock the frame to the absolute page number at time of frame creation, say page no. 7. Subsequently, you expect this frame to follow document editing history, i.e. to keep its relative position with regard to the rest of the document. But if you remove 2 pages before, it won’t shift to page 5, it remains at page 7; if you add 1 page, it won’t shift to page 8, it remains to page 8. It remains to page 7 even if you reduce your doc to a single page, getting blank pages in between (and you can’t delete these virtual pages whatever you attempt lest you move or erase the frame).

This would have shown up immediately in a single document. With a master, it is a little more complicated. Absolute page number is a tuple (doc, page). A master can only see pages (master, page). A page like (subdoc, 7) does not exist in the master and the frame which is anchored to it can’t show up.

Remember that positioning a frame is independent from its anchoring mode. You can center in in a page even if it anchored To paragraph or To character (but not As character).

The fix is easy: you always have at least a paragraph in you intermediate “cover” pages (e.g. the paragraph containing the page break). Anchor your frame to this paragraph.

I noticed that your copyright frame is also anchored To page, this time in the master. Change its mode because preceding pages are presently empty. This will avoid unexpected effects when you type their content.

A general remark: don’t use frame for text which is part of the main discourse development. Frames are great for side remarks, marginalia, … where the order relative to the main discourse is not really relevant. Don’t do that for elements part of this discourse like headings (which is the goal of “BIBLIOGRAPHY”). The technical order in which it is taken into account may not be what you expect, creating glitches in the TOC or other constructs supposed to reflect the order of reading.

In your case, these special paragraphs are between page breaks. A dedicated paragraph style could do the trick: horizontally centered between margins, a specific spacing above (eventually a specific spacing below if they are followed by text in the same page).

Also, use more page styles than you do: First Page us just what it tells, the cover. You use it for the cover, abstract and copyright. This will prevent you from formatting separately your cover. Index is used for all the tables, which is acceptable. Default Style for chapter content is OK, but not for the “intermediate cover” BIBLIOGRAPHY and even less for the bibliography itself.

To show the community your question has been answered, click the ✓ next to the correct answer, and “upvote” by clicking on the ^ arrow of any helpful answers. These are the mechanisms for communicating the quality of the Q&A on this site. Thanks!

Hello!

Thanks so much for this very helpful explanation of the different types of text frames and how they work. I’ll take your advice and create a new paragraph style for the cover pages instead of using a text frame.

I wanted to ask about your comment about using additional page styles for this type of document. I’ll create a new page style for the abstract and copyright (which should be counted but not numbered, like the first page style). What would be the advantage of creating a separate bibliography page style and a separate style for the “cover pages” I need to create rather than using the Default page style? What would be different about it? I’ll review the documentation on page styles as well.

Your help is so appreciated! Thank you!

Best,
Lisa

A page style creates a strong division in your document. All pages laid out under this page style share identical characteristics: same margins, same header/footer, same background, same page number format (none, numeric, alphabetic, …).

Obviously the cover will be First Page without number nor footer/header. Abstract may have a Roman numbering and no header/footer. Acknowledgment or dedication has no page number, no header but perhaps a huge top margin. The chapters, usually under Default Style, have a header/footer (may be dynamically computer to show the chapter heading) and standard numbering. Finally bibliography looks like a chapter but with a dedicated header and alphabetic or Roman Numbering.

Page Styles may also be grouped into three closely related: one for the first page (e.g. no header because the chapter heading is the first paragraph in the page), one for the left page and one for the right page so that page number or header may be aligned on the outer edge.

Thanks much–I will create some additional page styles as needed to make formatting easier.