Map tags to styles destroys existing formatting
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- This topic has 4 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated 10 years, 2 months ago by
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Greetings all.
Here’s a scenario that’s driving me crazy in InDesign CC (though the same problem existed in InDesign CS6).
I have imported my XML and used the map tags to styles to make, for example, the “sup” tag map to a character style named funnily enough, “sup” and have dragged a quite a few nodes on pages. I have formatted the paragraphs and everything is great.
Oops. What’s this? A new tag has been introduced in the XML that I hadn’t accounted for. Let’s call this new tag groan (you’ll see why later).
No problem. Off I go to the tags panel, and map the tag groan to a character style named groan.
Here’s where I moan and groan. Once I click OK, the formatting I had in place gets screwed up! Any paragraph style that I had applied to a paragraph that is not mapped to a particular tag has lost it’s formatting!
Adobe even mentions this in one of its PDFs but I can’t remember where I saw this PDF. What’s the matter with these software engineers? Can’t they see that this is a major problem? Imagine having formatted a 300 page book, the client resupplies some new XML at the last minute and you have to map a new tag to an existing character style. Your document is ruined.
Or is it just me? Has anyone else experienced this problem?
I look forward to any solutions. I tried duplicating the document, updating the map tags to styles, gone to my original document, used the Load button and the same thing happens.
Pull your finger out Adobe. Fix this!
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Hi Perry,
XML is really, really hard in InDesign and requires a very strict workflow where little will change. Often you need to do a lot of massage work to the XML (with something like Oxygen) before you import.But I think a bigger problem is that you are not mapping styles to all your paragraphs. Or perhaps you are, but then applying additional formatting in InDesign. That is a problem in an XML workflow, just as it is if you want to link to a Word file. Changes you make in InDesign are likely to be lost. Map everything!
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Thanks for the reply David. I know what you mean about the tagging.
The problem is that the XML uses just the <p> for a lot of parts of the body. It is used for paras that are full out, paras with indents, quotes etc. so I have to apply styles to them.
Another annoying thing is that they use the title tag for all headings. So I have to look at its attributes in the structure pane and if its display-level has a value of 1, I need to apply my style head-a; if it has a value of 2, I apply head-b and so. So I can’ t avoid applying styles.
I think it is a serious bug that needs to be fixed. I do wish they fix it promptly as I am getting more and more books supplied in XML.
I miss the power of FrameMaker. The ability to write read/write rules for SGML puts ID to shame.
Cheers and thanks
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My guess is that you’d be better of converting the XML to something like Word (doesn’t Word have an XML import filter? is that just on Windows?). Then save as .docx and import that into InDesign. But if the XML is garbage coming in (as it obviously is, if they are using the same tags for everything) then there’s no much you can do to fix it.
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The problem May be in the Paragraph styles you have created. I have faced this issue many times. You need to check whether your paragraph styles are based on some other style. Just edit the paragraph style and click General tab where is shows that whether your style is based on some other style or not. Just keep this option to No Paragraph style and everything will go as you have planned. Guess this can solve your problem.
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