I actually have a book on my shelf which had the “intentionally left blank” line left in… :-(

It really is kind of silly…

This is a really interesting problem!

David, very nice trick! The problem would be automating hundreds of these doodads…

The way I would probably handle this would be to create a script which would change the paragraph style on verso pages to one with a right-to-left direction (in CS4) and the appropriate bullet. The recto pages would get a left-to-right direction and another bullet…

(You can use World Tools to set the paragraph directions.)

Harbs

Here's a script (totally untested):

(Change the “names” to what you need.)

var styleName = “Side Heads”;
var rectoStyleName = “Recto Side Head Style”;
var versoStyleName = “Verso Side Head Style”;

var doc = app.docuemnts[0];
var objStyle = doc.objectStyles.item(styleName);
var rectoStyle = doc.paragraphStyles.item(rectoStyleName);
var versoStyle = doc.paragraphStyles.item(versoStyleName);

var anchoredFrames = doc.stories.everyItem().textFrames.everyItem().getElements();

for(var i=0;i<anchoredFrames.length;i++){
var curFrame = anchoredFrames[i];
if(curFrame.appliedObjectStyle != objStyle){continue}
var parentFrame = curFrame.parent.parentTextFrames[0];
if(!parentFrame){continue}
if(parentFrame.parent.side == PageSideOptions.RIGHT_HAND){
curFrame.parentStory.applyParagraphStyle(rectoStyle);
} else {
curFrame.parentStory.applyParagraphStyle(versoStyle);
}
}

This is a really interesting problem!

David, very nice trick! The problem would be automating hundreds of these doodads…

The way I would probably handle this would be to create a script which would change the paragraph style on verso pages to one with a right-to-left direction (in CS4) and the appropriate bullet. The recto pages would get a left-to-right direction and another bullet…

(You can use World Tools to set the paragraph directions.)

Harbs

Here's a script (totally untested):

(Change the “names” to what you need.)

var styleName = “Side Heads”;
var rectoStyleName = “Recto Side Head Style”;
var versoStyleName = “Verso Side Head Style”;
 
var doc = app.docuemnts[0];
var objStyle = doc.objectStyles.item(styleName);
var rectoStyle = doc.paragraphStyles.item(rectoStyleName);
var versoStyle = doc.paragraphStyles.item(versoStyleName);
 
var anchoredFrames = doc.stories.everyItem().textFrames.everyItem().getElements();
 
for(var i=0;i<anchoredFrames.length;i++){
  var curFrame = anchoredFrames[i];
  if(curFrame.appliedObjectStyle != objStyle){continue}
  var parentFrame = curFrame.parent.parentTextFrames[0];
  if(!parentFrame){continue}
  if(parentFrame.parent.side == PageSideOptions.RIGHT_HAND){
    curFrame.parentStory.applyParagraphStyle(rectoStyle);
  } else {
    curFrame.parentStory.applyParagraphStyle(versoStyle);
  }
}

Depending on exactly how you want to balance the columns, AutoFlow Pro (using dynamic exansion of text frames) might also be a candidate.

Here's a (solution?) for preserving line breaks. Please don't blame me for this!

https://in-tools.com/wordpress/&#8230;..omposition

Harbs

FWIW, There was a discussion on the feature request area of the InDesign U2U forum here: https://forums.adobe.com/messag&#8230;..73#2280373

I posted a couple of GREPs there…

In CS4, they improved the composer, so that you end up with less one word lines at the end of the paragraphs. Unfortunately, this can cause text reflow when moving a file from CS3 to CS4. The text should only reflow after you edit the text in CS4.

Harbs