Error with page layout and Word output

[awargo]

I am trying to create an additional output for Word but when I try to View Output I am getting an error that says "Page Layout "X" contains more than one body frame. Only the first body frame will be used. Heading.AnyLevel is not a supported variable in Word outputs. Levels 1 through 6 should be used instead." Could someone please explain what this means and how I can fix it?

[LTinker68]

I think for Word output if you want to use page layouts then you can only have one page in the page layout. In other words, just a Normal page, not a Left page and a Right page, for example. And in that one page you can only have one body frame. You can have a header, body, and footer frame, but you can't have header, body, body, footer.

I don't build Word output anymore, but I'm pretty sure that's what the error relates to. I think it's recommended that you use masterpages for Word output and page layouts for PDF output. Can't remember what's recommended for Framemaker output.

[awargo]

I would definately prefer not to have to deal with a PDF and a Word output but you do what you have to . I got the page layout to work but it places one sentence or one image on every page, the project ended up being 1100 pages that way. Any ideas for why it is doing that?

[LTinker68]

Ok, I checked an old project where I had generated Word output for review purposes only. The Word target was pointing to a layout called "layoutChapter", and layoutChapter had multiple pages in the layout (First, Left, Right, Empty), but each page had a single body frame. I was using the same TOC that I used for PDF output and the TOC called multiple page layouts at different times, so it must have been setting the "master page layout" field in the Word target to layoutChapter is what made it work. It wasn't the prettiest output because I didn't correct it for Word output, but it generated the text for review.

So did you set the "master page layout" field in the Word target to the name of the page layout you're using? If it's set to default, make sure to set it to the specific page layout you're using.

That's in v4.2, BTW.

[awargo]

I tried creating a master page but I am getting the same error. Is that because the TOC I use still references the page layout for my PDF?

[LTinker68]

Just to clarify, in the target, there is a "master page layout" field on the Basic tab that is where you specify the page layout. In the Advanced tab there is a "master page" field where you specify the masterpage to use. You do one or the either for Word output -- not both.

If you're going to use a page layout, then you select the page layout in the Basic tab and enable (checkmark visible) the "Disable master pages for FrameMaker and MS Word output" field on the Printed Output tab (I forgot to mention that before).

If you're going to use a masterpage, then you set the "master page layout" in the Basic tab to (default), specify the masterpage in the "master page" field of the Advanced tab, and disable (no checkmark visible) the "Disable master pages..." field in the Printed Output tab.

Don't ask me why the "master page layout" and "master page" field aren't on the same screen, or why it's "master page" instead of "masterpage" like it is everywhere else in Flare.

[awargo]

I have selected the correct master page in the Advanced tab and selected Default in the Basic tab. I am still getting the same errors as before. Do I need to create a new TOC for this output?

[LTinker68]

I don't think I needed to do anything special to the TOC -- I'm using the same one I use for PDF output, which calls something like five different page layouts at various points in the TOC. But that was using a page layout, not a masterpage.

What you might want to do is create a test project from scratch and see if you can get it to build Word output without any problems. Maybe that'll lead you to what's causing your problem.

I should also mention that my project was created from scratch in v4 -- it didn't start in v3.x or lower, nor was it imported from Word or RoboHelp. Don't know if any of those conditions may be a factor.

[awargo]

I fixed it by copying the TOC and changing all of the chapter breaks to my word page layout. From your posts I don't think it is the "right" way but it works. Thanks for the help.