List of Examples[link]

If an example shows the icon 📥^🖹 then you can click on that icon to try downloading the example source code from a location relative to this document. You can also try using:

〉_
texdoc -l ffuserguide-example〈nnn〉

1. Introduction[link]

This chapter provides a brief overview of the package, the package options and the various frame types.

This document is the user manual for the flowfram package. Advanced users wanting further details of the package should read the documented code flowfram-code.pdf. Sample files are provided with the documentation.

The flowfram package is a LaTeX package designed to enable you to create text frames in a document such that the contents of the document environment flow from one frame to the next in the order that they were defined. This is useful for creating posters or magazines or any other form of document that does not conform to the standard one or two column layout. There’s an optional helper application called FlowframTk (distributed separately) if you prefer to use a graphical user interface to set up the document layout (see §7.3).

Each frame has an identification number (IDN) that’s unique to the particular type of frame that may be used to identify it. You may also assign an identification label (IDL) for reference purposes to make it easier to remember. In general, a command or environment with both a starred and unstarred version that requires an ID will need the IDN for the unstarred version and the IDL for the starred version. Some commands may allow keywords (all, odd or even) instead of a numeric value for the unstarred versions.

If the geometry package is required, it’s best to load it first and setup the page dimensions before flowfram is loaded. You can load geometry afterwards and the typeblock dimensions will automatically be updated after it has been loaded, but they won’t be correct if you later change the settings with \geometry. The lengths governing the typeblock are:

These lengths identify the dimensions and vertical offset of the typeblock to ensure that all defined frames are in the correct relative positions. If these dimensions change then the available area used by commands like \onecolumn, \twocolumn and \Ncolumn might be incorrect.

If you need to switch frames on and off, it’s best to use the pages=absolute package option if the page counter is reset in the document.

🖹
\documentclass[11pt]{book}
\usepackage[a4paper,outer=3in,marginparwidth=2cm,
 columnsep=4pt]{geometry}
\usepackage[pages=absolute,draft]{flowfram}
\usepackage{lipsum}% provide dummy text
\pagestyle{plain}
\onecolumn[1][single]% only use on page 1
\setflowframe*{single}{margin=inner}
\twocolumn[>1][left,right]% all pages except p.1
\setflowframe*{left}{margin=left}
\setflowframe*{right}{margin=right}
\newdynamicframe{2in}{\typeblockheight}% width & height
 {\typeblockwidth+\columnsep}{0pt}% position
 [sidepanel]% label
\newcommand{\Hugebf}{\Huge\bfseries}
\setdynamicframe*{sidepanel}
 {evenx={-2in-\columnsep}, style={Hugebf}}
\setdynamiccontents*{sidepanel}{Side Panel on
Page \thepage.}
\begin{document}
First page.\marginpar{note1}
\mainmatter
Start sample.\marginpar{note2} \lipsum[3-5]
End sample.\marginpar{note3}
\end{document}

Note that this example document has narrow columns with a small gap between them. This can cause overfull lines and a cramped layout, but it’s for illustrative purposes only.

In Example 1 the page counter is reset by \mainmatter (which also does \cleardoublepage). With pages=relative, the page list “1” refers to any page where the page counter is 1 so the “single” flow frame would be used on both the first and third page and the “left” and “right” flow frames (which have page list >1) wouldn’t be selected on the third page but would still be selected on the second page. However, with pages=absolute the page lists now refer to the absolute page.

The flowfram package provides three types of frame: flow frames, static frames and dynamic frames, each with a custom width, height and position. (These may be changed later, see §2.4.4.) The main contents of the document environment flow from one flow frame to the next in the order of definition (for the flow frames that are valid on the current page), whereas the contents of the static and dynamic frames are set explicitly using commands such as \setstaticcontents (see §2.2) and \setdynamiccontents (see §2.4).

The page list (pages), exclusion list (excludepages), and the hide and hidethis settings determine whether or not a frame is valid for a particular page.

1.1. Frame Stacking Order[link]

The material on each page is placed in the following order:

1. 1.Each static frame that’s valid for the current page in ascending order of IDN (shown in magenta in Figure 1.1).

2. 2.Each flow frame that’s valid for the current page in ascending order of IDN (shown in yellow in Figure 1.1).

3. 3.Each dynamic frame that’s valid for the current page in ascending order of IDN (shown in cyan in Figure 1.1).

4. 4.Bounding boxes if the draft package option has been used.

This ordering can be used to determine if you want something to overlay or underlay everything else on the page. Note that the frames do not interact with each other. If you have two or more overlapping frames, the text in each frame will not attempt to wrap around the other frames, but will simply overwrite them.

First, some flow frames are defined. I’ve given them labels to make them easier to reference when changing their attributes:

🖹
\newflowframe
 {0.4\typeblockwidth}% width
 {0.6\typeblockwidth}% height
 {0pt}% x
 {0.6\typeblockwidth}% y
 [upper]% label
\setflowframe*{upper}{border=plain}

\newflowframe
 {0.4\typeblockwidth}% width
 {0.6\typeblockwidth}% height
 {0.6\typeblockwidth}% x
 {0pt}% y
 [lower]% label
\setflowframe*{lower}{border=shadowbox}

\newflowframe
 {0.4\typeblockwidth}% width
 {0.6\typeblockwidth}% height
 {0.3\typeblockwidth}% x
 {0.3\typeblockwidth}% y
 [middle]% label
\setflowframe*{middle}{backcolor=yellow}

Order of definition matters. The above are defined in the order: upper (IDN 1), lower (IDN 2), and middle (IDN 3). This means that the document text will start in upper, flow into lower, and then into middle.

A custom counter helps to demonstrate the order in which contents are processed:

🖹
\newcounter{sample}

Next a dynamic frame is defined:

🖹
\newdynamicframe
 {0.5\typeblockwidth}% width
 {0.5\typeblockwidth}% height
 {0.75\typeblockwidth}% x
 {0.25\typeblockwidth}% y
 [sample]% label

🖹
\setdynamiccontents*{sample}{% 
 \hfill\stepcounter{sample}
  Sample \thesample\␣(dynamic).\par
 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]
   {example-image-a}
}

🖹
\newstaticframe
 {0.5\typeblockwidth}% width
 {0.5\typeblockwidth}% height
 {0.5\typeblockwidth}% x
 {0.4\typeblockwidth}% y
 [sample]% label

🖹
START.
(sample \stepcounter{sample}\thesample).
\lipsum[1-2]
END.

🖹
\setstaticcontents*{sample}{% 
 \stepcounter{sample}
  Sample \thesample\␣(static).\par
 \includegraphics[width=\linewidth]
   {example-image-b}
}

Some things to note from Example 2:

• •The static frame has its contents set in a box register, which means that the sample counter is incremented as soon as the contents are set, but \setstaticcontents was placed at the end of the one-paged document. The first increment of the sample counter occurs at the start of the first paragraph of the document text, so the counter has the value 1 when \setstaticcontents is processed. Therefore the contents of the static frame shows “Sample 2”.

  Static frames are always positioned on the page first, so the sample static frame is drawn first and is partially obscured by the other frames with overlapping positions. Although the flow frames were filled first (because the document text came before \setstaticcontents), they are still drawn on top of the static frame.

• •The document text automatically flows into the flow frames (using a similar mechanism to the way the standard two-column mode works). However the column order is determined by the order of definition of the flow frames. In this example, the order leads to the document text starting at the top left, continuing in the bottom right, and then moving into the middle of the page. Flow frames are always positioned after static frames so the middle and lower frames obscure the static frame that has an overlapping position.

• •The dynamic frame has its contents stored in a token list variable which isn’t expanded until the output routine positions it on the page so, although the frame contents were set in the preamble, the sample counter increment in the dynamic frame contents doesn’t take effect until the end of the current page. Dynamic frames are always positioned after the other types of frame, so the sample dynamic frame obscures the others with overlapping positions.

• •If more content is added to the document text before \setstaticcontents then the first page may be completed before the contents of the static frame are set. In which case, the “B” image won’t show until the next page and the sample counter increment won’t occur until after it has been incremented by the dynamic frame when the first page is shipped.

So it’s important to consider the order when defining frames but it’s also important to consider the frame type and when and how the different types of frame are filled and processed.

1.2. Package Options[link]

Some options may only be set when the package is loaded, some may be set in the preamble (before any command affected by the setting is used) and a few may be used anywhere. For those options that may be changed after the package has loaded, you can set them with:

Available options are listed in the sections below or see §9.3 for an alphabetical list.

1.2.1. Thumbtabs, Contents and Mini-Tocs[link]

Thumbtabs are dynamic frames with a special label that can be created with \makethumbtabs (see §6.1). If enabled, they correspond to a particular sectioning unit (such as chapter), with the frame’s content set to the number or the title or both. These dynamic frames are aligned against the edge of the page and are designed to be shown only in the applicable sectioning unit.

Each thumbtab frame has a corresponding index frame which may be shown in the table of contents. This requires adjusting the \tableofcontents command to show the index frames. The relevant sub-block in the table of contents may be adjusted so that it fills the height of the corresponding thumbtab index frame

Mini-tocs are a sub-set of the table of contents that may be displayed at the start of the applicable sectioning unit. This may or may not be the same unit as the thumbtabs (if also present). The default is to match them if both thumbtabs and mini-tocs are required. The mini-toc information is obtained when flowfram’s modified \tableofcontents parses the toc file.

This means that if the adjust-toc=off option is used to restore the \tableofcontents definition that’s in effect when flowfram is first loaded, then neither mini-tocs nor thumbtab indexes can be supported.

Specifies whether \tableofcontents should be adjusted to allow for thumbtab indexes and mini-tocs. This may take one of the following values:

Adjust the table of contents, including the header. This may change the way the page header is displayed, if a page style with headers is used.

Adjust the table of contents, but not the header.

Don’t adjust the table of contents. There’s no support for thumbtab indexes or mini-tocs with this setting.

Classes that support \backmatter tend to suppress the chapter number but not section numbers. As this can cause interference, flowfram by default adds code to \backmatter that sets secnumdepth to -1. This option may be used to prevent this.

If \backmatter is defined, flowfram’s additional code won’t alter secnumdepth.

Make \backmatter (if defined) set secnumdepth to -1.

Indicates whether or not thumbtab indexes should be shown in \tableofcontents and whether or not to align them. Note that the alignment setting should only be used if the table of contents is on a single page. It’s not appropriate for longer content. This setting has no effect with adjust-toc=off.

Divide the table of contents into blocks that are the same height as the corresponding thumbtab. This assumes that the start of the table of contents is aligned with the vertical offset identified when the thumbtabs were created. If the thumbtabs are shifted too far up or down the 〈y-offset〉 will need to be adjusted in the first optional argument of \makethumbtabs. This setting is only applicable for singled-paged table of contents.

Don’t align the sub-block in the table of contents with the corresponding thumbtab and only show the thumbtab indexes on the first page of the table of contents.

Show the thumbtab indexes on every page of the table of contents.

Don’t show the thumbtab indexes in the table of contents.

Indicates whether or not unstarred sectional units should have thumbtabs. Note that this is not the same as unstarred but unnumbered sectional units in the front matter or back matter. (See matter-thumbtabs below, for that.)

This option will have no effect if thumbtabs aren’t enabled when the applicable sectional units occur.

Indicates if unstarred sectional units outside of the main matter should have thumbtabs. Unstarred commands such as \chapter are not usually numbered outside of the main matter but behave slightly differently to the starred version. For example, \chapter without a star may not be numbered but may be added to the table of contents. This setting does not affect the starred version.

This setting will have no effect if thumbtabs aren’t enabled outside of the main matter.

Only support thumbtabs for unstarred (numbered) units in the main matter.

Support thumbtabs for all unstarred units.

Only support thumbtabs for unstarred (numbered) units in the main matter and back matter but not in the front matter.

Only support thumbtabs for unstarred (numbered) units in the main matter and front matter but not in the back matter.

Indicates which thumbtabs should have \hyperlinks (if supported). You will need to load hyperref if you want \hyperlinks.

Only have \hyperlinks in the thumbtab indexes that are shown in the table of contents.

Have \hyperlinks in all the thumbtabs.

Don’t have \hyperlinks in any of the thumbtabs.

Indicates how the text should be shown on the thumbtabs.

Turn the text sideways. This will either rotate the text to the right or to the left, depending on whether or not a two-sided layout is on and whether or not the current page is odd or even.

Rotate the text to the right.

Rotate the text to the left.

Stacks the letters vertically. This doesn’t look very good and is just provided for backward-compatibility.

No rotation or stacking.

Indicates whether or not the number or title should be shown in the thumbtabs (if enabled).

Only show the title.

Only show the number (if applicable).

Show both the number (if applicable) and the title

Don’t show either the number or title.

The flowfram package redefines the standard sectioning commands so that they have a second optional argument (which is used for the corresponding thumbtab title, if enabled), but it first saves the original definitions to use as an underlying command. Normally it will only pass the first optional argument to the underlying command.

If you are using a class, such as memoir, that also has a second optional argument, then this option identifies whether or not the second optional argument should also be passed to the underlying command. If flowfram detects that memoir has been loaded, it will automatically implement sections-extra-option=original-and-thumbtab otherwise it will implement sections-extra-option=thumbtab-only.

Only use the second optional argument as the thumbtab title (if applicable) and don’t pass it to the underlying command.

The underlying command has a second optional argument and any second optional argument should be both passed to the underlying command and used as the thumbtab title (if enabled).

The underlying command has a second optional argument and any second optional argument provided should simply be passed to the underlying command and not used as the thumbtab title.

1.2.2. Dynamic Frames[link]

Indicates whether or not \makedfheaderfooter should adjust the standard page styles. If this option is required, it should be set before \makedfheaderfooter otherwise it will be too late to have an effect.

If \makedfheaderfooter is used, it will set (\let) the empty, plain, headings and myheadings page styles to ffempty, ffplain, ffheadings and ffmyheadings.

Don’t adjust the page styles.

Indicates whether or not \chaptermark (if chapters are defined) or \sectionmark (otherwise) with the ffheadings and ffmyheadings styles should change the case of the header text.

Convert to uppercase.

Don’t change the case.

Indicates whether or not \sectionmark (if chapters are defined) or \subsectionmark (otherwise) with the ffheadings and ffmyheadings styles should change the case of the sub-header text.

Convert to uppercase.

Don’t change the case.

Use the given 〈code〉 to set the font used by \chaptermark (if chapters are available) or \sectionmark (otherwise) with ffheadings. The 〈code〉 may be declarations or the final command in 〈code〉 may be a text-block command.

If 〈code〉 is empty (but the equal sign = will still be required) no font change will be applied. For example, you may prefer to use the dynamic frame’s style command instead.

Use the given 〈code〉 to set the font used by \sectionmark (if chapters are available) or \subsectionmark (otherwise) with ffheadings. The 〈code〉 may be declarations or the final command in 〈code〉 may be a text-block command. Again the 〈code〉 may be empty.

Controls how the ffempty page style behaves with dynamic header and footer frames. Remember that with the default dynamic-page-style=adjust, \makedfheaderfooter will set the empty page style to ffempty. The initial setting is dynamic-empty-page-style=empty, dynamic-empty-page-style=hide. This means that dynamic-empty-page-style=show will revert back to showing empty frames.

If you have decorated the header or footer dynamic frame, such as setting a border or background colour, then simply setting the header and footer to empty (the usual behaviour of the empty page style), the header and footer frames will still be visible. This may or may not be desired.

The ffempty page style will set the header and footer text to empty but the frames will still be visible. This option automatically sets dynamic-empty-page-style=show.

The ffempty page style will behave like the ffplain style. The header and footer frames will be visible. This option automatically sets dynamic-empty-page-style=show.

The ffempty page style will behave like the ffheadings style. The header and footer frames will be visible. This option automatically sets dynamic-empty-page-style=show.

The ffempty page style will behave like the ffmyheadings style. The header and footer frames will be visible.

The ffempty page style will do nothing, so the previous page style will remain in effect. The header and footer frames will be visible. This option automatically sets dynamic-empty-page-style=show.

The header and footer frames will have the hide attribute set by the ffempty page style. No other change will be made, but since the frames will no longer be shown, the frame content won’t be visible.

Note that if \thispagestyle is used instead of \pagestyle then hidethis instead of hide will be set.

The header and footer frames won’t have the hide (or hidethis) attribute set by the ffempty page style. Whatever dynamic-empty-page-style setting was in effect before dynamic-empty-page-style=hide will continue.

1.2.3. Column Command Options[link]

These options govern column commands, such as \onecolumn, \onecolumninarea, \twocolumn and \twocolumninarea, which create one or more flow frames arranged as columns (see §5.1). This includes column commands that additionally create a frame to go above or below the column flow frames (see §5.2).

The order that the flow frames are defined matters, as the output routine selects the next flow frame in order of definition (that is, in ascending order of IDN) and cycles back to the start when a page is shipped out. So if the first flow frame to be defined is on the left, the document text will start on the left, but if the first flow frame to be defined is on the right, then the document text will start on the right.

The column commands, such as \twocolumn, will create flow frames from left to right. This is the default.

The column commands, such as \twocolumn, will create flow frames from right to left. The RL option may be set in the preamble but should be set before the applicable commands are used (see also §5.3).

The flowfram package redefines \onecolumn and \twocolumn for use in the preamble to define a single flow frame (\onecolumn) or two flow frames (\twocolumn). However, some commands provided by the kernel or other classes or packages may try to use \onecolumn and \twocolumn to adjust the page layout. This option indicates what to do if these commands are encountered in the document environment.

Ignore any instance of \onecolumn or \twocolumn found in the document environment. In the case of \twocolumn, if the optional argument is present, it will simply be added to the page content.

Like column-changes=ignore but does \clearpage.

Switch to the designated frames, which will first need to be identified. If you use \onecolumn or \onecolumninarea in the preamble (see §5.1), the first instance will automatically identify the flow frame to use for any \onecolumn found in the document. Alternatively, you can identify the required flow frame with:

Similarly if you use \twocolumn or \twocolumninarea, the first instance will automatically identify the flow frames to use for any \twocolumn found in the document. However, this is a little more complicated as a frame for the header and shorter columns are also needed in the event that \twocolumn is used with its optional argument. Commands such as \twocolumnStop or \twocolumnDtop will identify the frames to use in this case. You can also identify the desired frames with:

The first non-headed flow frame is identified by 〈col1〉 and the second non-headed flow frame is identified by 〈col2〉. If the optional arguments are omitted, then this just establishes the two flow frames to use.

To identify a frame for the header and the two flow frames accompanying it, the optional arguments are required: 〈header-type〉 is the frame type for the header (flow, dynamic or static). Note that dynamic frames are best for this, although they can cause dependent counters to go out-of-sync. The header frame is identified with 〈header-id〉. The first headed flow frame is identified with 〈header-col1〉 and the second headed flow frame is identified with 〈header-col2〉.

1.2.4. Other[link]

All frames have an associated page list that determines which pages they should be shown on. By default, this uses the page counter, but as that is sometimes reset (for example, when changing from front matter to main matter) this can be ambiguous. Version 1.14 introduced the absolutepage counter which is incremented every time a page is shipped out and should not be reset, which allows for unambiguous references in the page lists.

Use the absolutepage counter.

Use the standard page counter. Note that the page lists always uses the numeric value (1, 2, etc) not the formatted value (i, ii, etc). This is the default setting for backward compatibility.

If true, don’t rotate frames, regardless of the angle setting.

The remaining options are provided for backward-compatibility.

Equivalent to setting both prohibit-frame-rotation=true and thumbtab-text=stack. The original version of flowfram was released in 2005 when there was less support for rotation, so the default was no frame rotation and no thumbtab text rotation. This is no longer applicable, so this is no longer the default.

If true, this option is equivalent to setting both prohibit-frame-rotation=false and thumbtab-text=rotate-right. If false, this option is equivalent to norotate.

Include the title in the thumbtabs (if enabled). This doesn’t affect whether or not the number is shown. Use the thumbtabs option instead.

Don’t include the title in the thumbtabs (if enabled). This doesn’t affect whether or not the number is shown. Use the thumbtabs option instead.

Include the number in the thumbtabs (if enabled). This doesn’t affect whether or not the title is shown. Use the thumbtabs option instead.

Don’t include the number in the thumbtabs (if enabled). This doesn’t affect whether or not the title is shown. Use the thumbtabs option instead.

If true, enable colour support. Note that the color package is now always loaded regardless of this option but setting this value to false will prevent the textcolor, backcolor and bordercolor frame options from having an effect.

Equivalent to color=false.

1.3. Floats[link]

The standard figure and table commands will behave as usual in the flow frames, but their starred versions, figure* and table* behave no differently from figure and table. This is because the arbitrary layout of the flow frames makes it difficult to determine where to put them.

If you really need floats to behave normally on a particular page, you can temporarily restore the normal output routine with \FlowFramRestoreOR (see §1.5). Note that all the defined frame won’t be used until you revert back to flowfram’s output routine with \FlowFramUnrestoreOR.

Since floats can’t go in the content of static frames or dynamic frames, the flowfram package provides two environments that may be used instead. Unlike their figure and table counterparts, they are fixed in place, and so do not take an optional placement specifier.

Simulate a figure in a static or dynamic frame.

Simulate a table in a static or dynamic frame.

The \caption and \label commands can be used within staticfigure and statictable as usual, but remember that if the frame is displayed on multiple pages, you may end up with multiply defined labels. You may want to consider setting the clear attribute to automatically clear the frame contents on every page.

1.4. Draft Mode[link]

The flowfram package’s draft option will draw the bounding boxes for each frame that has been defined. At the bottom right of each bounding box (except for the bounding box denoting the typeblock), a marker will be shown in the form: [〈T〉:〈IDN〉;〈IDL〉], where 〈T〉 is a single letter denoting the frame type, 〈IDN〉 is the IDN for the frame and 〈IDL〉 is the IDL for that frame. Values of 〈T〉 are: F (flow frame), S (static frame) or D (dynamic frame). Markers of the form: [M:〈IDN〉] indicate that the bounding box is the area taken up by the margin for flow frame with IDN 〈IDN〉.

There are conditionals that govern what types of bounding boxes should be shown. The draft option sets all these conditionals to true. You can instead selectively switch on or off the applicable conditions instead of using draft or in addition to using draft.

You can see the layout for the current page (irrespective of whether or not the draft option has been set) using the command:

1.5. Output Routine[link]

The flowfram package modifies the output routine to ensure that all frames are placed in the correct location and that \textwidth and \textheight and related dimensions are correctly set. In particular, it removes the page header and footer code from their normal place to allow for the header and footer to be placed in dynamic frames with arbitrary dimensions and locations.

This can cause a conflict with other packages that rely on an unaltered output routine or expect \textwidth and \textheight to reflect the one column size. For example, the geometry package’s showframes option will be confused and may draw the outline of the typeblock shorter or narrower that it ought to be, which will consequently push the footer frame out of place. Therefore, if you want to view the page layout, use flowfram’s draft option instead.

If you need to use a command or environment that requires the normal output routine, you can restore it with:

You can later revert back to flowfram’s output routine with:

1.6. Chapters[link]

If the \chapter command has been defined, the flowfram package will add the following commands to the cmd/chapter/before hook:

\ffprechapterhook
\thispagestyle{\chapterfirstpagestyle}

These hooks are largely redundant now that there are more convenient hooks provided with the new LaTeX hook management system, but they are retained for backward-compatibility.

If you want to use a different style, you will need to redefine \chapterfirstpagestyle to the name of the relevant page style. Note that some classes provide their own way of adjusting the style of the first page of each chapter.

Chapter titles can be placed in a dynamic frame. See §2.4.1 for further details.

2. Defining New Frames[link]

This chapter describes how to define new frames, and how to identify and set frame contents. See also §4.3.

There are three types of frame: flow frames, static frames and dynamic frames. They each have their own set of commands to define a new frame and to set the frame’s attributes. Their identifying labels (IDLs) and numbers (IDNs) are unique to each type of frame. For example, the first flow frame to be defined will have IDN 1, but the first static frame and the first dynamic frame will also have IDN 1.

2.1. Flow Frames[link]

The flow frame is the principle type of frame. The text of the document environment will flow from one frame to the next in order of definition. Each flow frame has an associated width, height, position on the page and optionally a border.

The first optional argument, 〈page list〉, indicates the list of pages for which this frame is defined. A page list can either be specified by the keywords: all, odd, even or none, or by a comma-separated list of either individual page numbers or page ranges. If 〈page list〉 is omitted, all is assumed. A page range can be a closed range (such as, 2-8) or an open range (such as, <10 or >5). For example: <3,5,7-11,>15 indicates pages 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and all pages greater than page 15. These page numbers refer to the integer value of the page counter by default, so if you have a page i and a page 1, they will both have the same layout (unless you change the page list setting somewhere between the two pages).

With the pages=absolute package option, the numbers in the page list refer to the absolute page number (as given by the absolutepage counter). In which case page 1 refers to the first page of the document only, regardless of whether there is another page 1 or page i later in the document.

Each flow frame has its own unique IDN, corresponding to the order in which it was defined. So the first flow frame to be defined has IDN 1, the second has IDN 2, and so on. This number can then be used to identify the flow frame when you want to modify its settings. Alternatively, you can assign a unique IDL to the flow frame using the final optional argument 〈label〉. If omitted, the IDL will be the same as its IDN.

There is no equivalent command that will expand to the IDN. Instead you need to fetch the value with:

For example, suppose the first flow frame has been defined with:

🖹
\newflowframe{0.6\textwidth}{\textheight}{0pt}{0pt}[main]

The label for the first flow frame 
is ``\getflowlabel{1}''.
The flow frame labelled ``main'' has 
IDN \getflowid{\myid}{main}\myid.

If the document continues beyond the last defined flow frame (for example, the flow frames have only been defined on pages 1 to 10, but the document contains 11 pages) then a single flow frame will be defined, emulating one column mode for all subsequent pages.

2.1.1. Prematurely Ending a Flow Frame[link]

You can force text to move immediately to the next defined flow frame using \newpage or \pagebreak. These work in an analogous way to the way they work in standard two-column mode.

The \framebreak command is similar to \newpage in that it forces a break in the flow of the document text but, unlike \newpage, if \framebreak is used mid-paragraph it forces a break without given the appearance of a break in the paragraph.

If a paragraph spans two flow frames of unequal width without using \framebreak a warning will be issued. If a subtle difference in frame widths is caused by rounding errors (for example, if the frames were created using FlowframTk) you can adjust the tolerance to suppress these warnings.

🖹
\setlength{\fftolerance}{3pt}

If you want to start a new page, rather than simply move to the next flow frame, use the command \clearpage, or for two-sided documents, to start on the next odd page do \cleardoublepage.

2.2. Static Frames[link]

A static frame is a rectangular area in which text neither flows into nor flows out of. That is, you have to explicitly set the contents of this frame. A static frame may have non-rectangular content (see §3.2).

There is no equivalent command that will expand to the IDN. Instead you need to fetch the value with:

For example:

The label for the first static frame 
is ``\getstaticlabel{1}''.
The static frame labelled ``backleft'' has IDN
\getstaticid{\myid}{backleft}\myid.

2.3. Setting the Contents[link]

For advanced users: Unlike dynamic frames, which store their contents in a global token list variable, static frames set their contents in a box. A box variable, \staticframe, is used for temporary storage when the content is set in an lrbox environment.

The actual box variable associated with the static frame contents is then set after the flowfram/staticbox/after hook. Since this always occurs within the staticcontents or staticcontents* environment (either explicitly or implicitly via \setstaticcontents), any changes made by the hooks will be scoped by the usual environment grouping.

2.3.1. Continued Text[link]

Although text can’t flow into or out of a static frame, it’s possible to simulate this effect.

For example, if \continueonframe is used within the body of staticcontents then 〈ID〉 refers to the next static frame’s IDN (since staticcontents references the frame by its IDN), but if \continueonframe is used within the body of staticcontents* then 〈ID〉 refers to the next static frame’s IDL (since staticcontents* references the frame by its IDL).

This command is actually just a convenient shortcut where the behaviour is determined by the encapsulating command or environment. For example:

🖹
\begin{staticcontents}{1}
Some text…
\continueonframe[Continued/]{2}
Some more text…
\end{staticcontents}

🖹
\begin{staticcontents}{1}
Some text…
\ffcontinuedtextlayout{Continued/}
\end{staticcontents}
\begin{staticcontents}{2}
\ffstaticpostcontinued{1}{2}
Some more text…
\end{staticcontents}

🖹
\begin{staticcontents*}{leftframe}
Some text…
\continueonframe[Continued/]{rightframe}
Some more text…
\end{staticcontents*}

🖹
\begin{staticcontents*}{leftframe}
Some text…
\ffcontinuedtextlayout{Continued/}
\end{staticcontents*}
\begin{staticcontents*}{rightframe}
\ffstaticpostcontinued{〈IDN1〉}{〈IDN2〉}
Some more text…
\end{staticcontents*}

The optional argument 〈text〉 specifies some continuation text to place at the end of the first frame. If 〈text〉 is omitted, then (for static frames) the default is:

By default, \ffdefaultstaticcontinuetext ignores its arguments and simply expands to:

🖹
\renewcommand{\ffdefaultcontinuetext}{Continued/}

The formatting of the supplied 〈text〉 is applied by:

For example:

🖹
\begin{staticcontents*}{frame1}
Some text in the first frame. (Let's
assume this frame is somewhere on the
left half of the page.)

\continueonframe[Continued on the right]{frame2}

This is some text in the second frame. (Let's
assume this frame is somewhere on the
right half of the same page.)
\end{staticcontents*}

Alternatively, just redefine \ffcontinuedtextlayout and \ffdefaultpostcontinued. However, there seems little point in using \continueonframe in this case. You may just as well use two staticcontents environments to set the contents separately.

The content of the continuation static frame will start with:

Both arguments are always numeric irrespective of whether or not the starred or unstarred version of staticcontents or \setstaticcontents was used (the second argument is an integer variable whereas the first is the actual number).

The default definition simply ignores its arguments and expands to:

\par \noindent \ignorespaces

The arguments of \ffstaticpostcontinued provides a way of referencing back to the previous frame.

🖹
\onecolumnStopinarea{1in}
 {0.5\typeblockwidth-10pt}{\typeblockheight}
 {0pt}{0pt}
\setstaticframe{\value{maxstatic}}
 {label=upper,border=plain}

\onecolumnSbottominarea{1in}
 {0.5\typeblockwidth-10pt}{\typeblockheight}
 {0.5\typeblockwidth+10pt}{0pt}
\setstaticframe{\value{maxstatic}}
 {label=lower,border=plain,parindent=1em}

Now the defaults are changed:

🖹
\renewcommand{\ffdefaultstaticcontinuetext}[2]{% 
 Continued 
 \relativeframelocation{static}{#2}{static}{#1}% 
 
}
\renewcommand{\ffstaticpostcontinued}[2]{% 
 
 \ffcontinuedtextlayout{% 
   Continued from 
  \relativeframelocation{static}{#1}{static}{#2}% 
 
 }% 
 \ffdefaultpostcontinued
}

🖹
\begin{staticcontents*}{upper}
Some text…
\continueonframe{lower}
resuming where we left off…

Next paragraph.
\end{staticcontents*}

The lipsum package is used for filler text. Note that because of the narrow columns, there are some overfull lines.

2.3.2. Important Notes[link]

When you set the contents of a static frame, the contents are immediately typeset and stored in a TeX “box” until it is time to put the contents on the page. This means that if you use any information that varies throughout the document (such as the page number) the value that is current when you set the static frame’s contents will be the value used.

However, if \label is used inside a static frame, the label information will be written to the auxiliary file each time the static frame is displayed until the contents of that frame have been changed. This means that you may end up with multiply defined labels.

2.4. Dynamic Frames[link]

A dynamic frame is similar to a static frame except that its contents are re-typeset on each page. As with static frames, a dynamic frame may have non-rectangular content (see §3.2).

The contents must be set and will remain the same until changed. There are some special types of dynamic frames that have their content automatically set. The clear attribute may be set to automatically clear the contents whenever a page is shipped out but this may interfere with the special dynamic frames.

Special frames have special labels that should not be assigned to non-special dynamic frames: header, footer, evenheader, evenfooter (see §2.4.2), thumbtab〈n〉, thumbtabindex〈n〉, eventhumbtab〈n〉, and eventhumbtabindex〈n〉 (see §6.1).

There is no equivalent command that will expand to the IDN. Instead you need to fetch the value with:

For example, if the first dynamic frame is defined as:

🖹
\newdynamicframe{0.38\textwidth}{\textheight}{0.62\textwidth}{0pt}[chaphead]

The label for the first dynamic 
frame is ``\getdynamiclabel{1}''.
The dynamic frame labelled ``chaphead'' has IDN
\getdynamicid{\myid}{chaphead}\myid.

The contents of a dynamic frame may be set with either a command or an environment but, in either case, the content can’t include any verbatim material.

Unlike static frames, you can append content to a dynamic frame.

2.4.1. Putting Chapter Titles in a Dynamic Frame[link]

If \chapter is defined, you can make the chapter heading appear in a dynamic frame instead of in its usual place in the flow of document text. There is no facility for placing other sectional types in a dynamic frame.

This feature was originally implemented with \dfchaphead which hacked the internal commands commonly used in the definition of \chapter but this is problematic and doesn’t work with some classes so version 2.0 provides a new approach. The old \dfchaphead command is still available but its use is now deprecated.

The flowfram package redefines all the standard sectioning commands (\chapter is only redefined if it’s already defined). The modified \chapter places the original definition in the content of the chosen dynamic frame, but there are some problems with this approach. Normally, the contents of a dynamic frame aren’t expanded until the output routine positions the frame on the page, and since dynamic frames are always positioned after flow frames this can cause counters and labels to be out-of-sync.

To avoid this problem, \ChapterInDynamic ensures that the chapter heading is first expanded by putting it in a box of the same width as the dynamic frame, but it first needs to locally disable problematic commands, such as \clearpage. This means that the page break usually performed by \chapter is now implemented with:

There are hooks available in the event that there are other problematic commands that may need adjusting. These hooks are only defined if \chapter is defined.

For example, this hook can be used to change the text colour of just the heading without affecting the colour of any content that is subsequently added to the frame:

🖹
\AddToHook{flowfram/chaphead/box/before}{\color{blue}}

For example, the PDF version of this document defines a new dynamic frame called chaphead and uses it for chapter headings:

🖹
\newdynamicframe{0.38\textwidth}{\textheight}{0.62\textwidth}{0pt}[chaphead]
\setdynamicframe*{chaphead}{evenx=0pt,clear}
\ChapterInDynamic*{chaphead}

The document class is scrbook so the KOMA-Script command that adds extra vertical space is redefined to do nothing (since the dynamic frame has its own custom dimensions):

🖹
\renewcommand\chapterheadstartvskip{}

🖹
\addtokomafont{chapter}{\color{blue}}

A mini-toc is also added to the same frame (see §6.2):

🖹
\appenddfminitoc*{chaphead}

I then defined a custom command to add a summary after the chapter heading:

🖹
\newcommand{\chapdesc}[1]{% 
 \appenddynamiccontents*
 {chaphead}{\par \normalfont \emph{#1}}% 
}

🖹
\chapter{Defining New Frames}\label{sec:newframes}

\chapdesc{This chapter describes how to define new frames…}

Modern classes, such as memoir and the KOMA-Script classes provide ways of adjusting the style of chapter headings. These can be adjusted, as in the example above. However, if you are using the standard book or report class, flowfram will adjust the definitions to make it easier to change the style.

2.4.2. Putting Headers and Footers in a Dynamic Frame[link]

Page headers and footers can be turned into dynamic frames using:

Below, header frame and footer frame refer to the dynamic frames with the special labels header and footer, but also (if applicable) to the evenheader and evenfooter frames created with FlowframTk.

The flowfram package provides page styles that are customised for header and footer frames, which are listed below. Remember that you can set the frame style with the style setting, but you may prefer to modify the helper commands instead (which may counteract the style setting):

For example, suppose you have created fancy header and footer frames with a background and border. It may look strange to have these frames showing with empty content, so the default setting hides them as well. However, if you still want the frames to show, then you would need to change the dynamic-empty-page-style option to a setting that doesn’t hide them, such as dynamic-empty-page-style=empty.

\dfOddFooterStyle{\thepage} 

\dfEvenFooterStyle{\thepage} 

This style sets \@oddfoot to

\dfOddFooterStyle{\thepage} 

\dfEvenFooterStyle{\thepage} 

\dfOddHeaderStyle{\rightmark} 

\dfOddHeaderStyle{\leftmark} 

If \chapter is defined, \chaptermark is redefined to encapsulate the mark with \flowframchapterheader and \sectionmark is redefined to encapsulate the mark with \flowframsectionheader.

If \chapter is not defined, \sectionmark is redefined to encapsulate the mark with \flowframsectionheader and \subsectionmark is redefined to encapsulate the mark with \flowframsubsectionheader.

In either case, if ffempty is set to hide the special header and footer frames, the ffheadings style will ensure that hide and hidethis are set to false to counteract any previous instance of ffempty.

2.4.3. Continued Text[link]

As with static frames, in the body of dynamiccontents or dynamiccontents* or within the text of \setdynamiccontents, you can move onto another dynamic frame using:

\continueonframe[〈text〉]{〈ID〉}

In this case, if \continueonframe occurs within dynamiccontents*, 〈ID〉 refers to the IDL of the other dynamic frame, otherwise it refers to the IDN of the other dynamic frame. It’s not possible to continue onto a different type of frame.

For example, suppose I have defined two dynamic frames labelled frame1 (IDN 1) and frame2 (IDN 2), then:

🖹
\begin{dynamiccontents*}{frame1}
Some text in the first frame. (Let's
assume this frame is somewhere on the
left half of the page.)
\continueonframe[Continued on the right]{frame2}
This is some text in the second frame. (Let's
assume this frame is somewhere on the
right half of the same page.)
\end{dynamiccontents*}

\begin{dynamiccontents*}{frame1}
Some text in the first frame. (Let's
assume this frame is somewhere on the
left half of the page.)
\ffcontinuedtextlayout{Continued on the right}
\end{dynamiccontents*}
\begin{dynamiccontents*}{frame2}
\ffdynamicpostcontinued{1}{2}
This is some text in the second frame. (Let's
assume this frame is somewhere on the
right half of the same page.)
\end{dynamiccontents*}

When \continueonframe is used with dynamic frames it has analogous commands to those used with static frames. If the optional 〈text〉 is omitted, the default is obtained with:

2.4.4. Important Notes[link]

• •Verbatim text can’t be used in a dynamic frame. This includes the body of the dynamiccontents and dynamiccontents* environments.

• •\continueonframe can’t be used in the argument of any of the commands that append to the contents of a dynamic frame, such as \appenddynamiccontents.

• •\continueonframe causes a change in scope so any local changes made before the command won’t still be in effect after it.

• •Dynamic frames are painted on the page after all the static and flow frames. If the location of a dynamic frame overlaps the location of any static or flow frames, the contents of the dynamic frame will obscure the contents of the overlapping frames.

3. Modifying Frame Attributes[link]

This chapter describes how to modify frame attributes, such as the size and location.

Once you have defined the flow frames, static frames and dynamic frames, their attributes can be changed. The three types of frame mostly have the same set of attributes, but some are specific to a certain type.

Flow frames attributes are modified using:

Static frames attributes are modified using:

Dynamic frames attributes are modified using:

In each of the above \set〈type〉frame commands, if the starred version is used then 〈ID-list〉 should be a comma-separated list of IDLs that identify the frames for which the attributes need to be applied. Note that you can’t use ranges or the keywords described below with the starred versions.

In the case of the unstarred version the 〈ID-list〉 can either be a list or range of IDNs that identify the required frames or one of the keywords all, odd or even. The all keyword is essentially equivalent to using the corresponding \setall〈type〉frames. The odd keyword indicates that all frames with an odd IDN should be set. The even keyword indicates that all frames with an even IDN should be set.

The 〈key=value list〉 argument is a comma-separated list of 〈key〉=〈value〉 settings. Make sure that you group the 〈value〉 if it contains one or more commas or equal signs. Available options are listed in §3.1.

3.1. Set Frame Options[link]

Some attributes are shared by all types of frame but some are only available for a particular type of frame.

3.1.1. Identification and Scope[link]

The frame’s IDL can be assigned with the label option. This may be needed when a frame is created by a helper command, such as \Ncolumn (see §4.3). In general, it’s best to set the IDL when the frame is defined. (If you do not specify a label when you first define a frame it will be given a label identical to its IDN.)

The frame’s page list is set when the frame is defined. The default is all. The pages option may be used to change the page list. The value may be either 〈page-list〉 or 〈keyword〉.

Allowed values for 〈keyword〉:

none

The frame should not be displayed on any page.

all

The frame should be displayed on all pages, unless exceptions apply.

even

The frame should only be displayed on even pages if the document is two-sided, unless exceptions apply.

odd

The frame should only be displayed on odd pages if the document is two-sided, unless exceptions apply.

Otherwise the value should be 〈page-list〉, a list or range of numbers identifying on which page or pages the frame should be shown. Ranges may be closed, such as 3-9 (which indicates pages 3 to 9 inclusive), or open-ended, such as <3 (which indicates any page less than 3) or >9 (which indicates any page greater than 9). The 〈page-list〉 may be a single range or a comma-separated list of individual pages or ranges, such as <3,5-12,>20.

The page list may also be set using:

The numbers refer to the counter identified by the pages package option. With pages=relative, the numbers refer to the value of the page counter (not the formatted text obtained with \thepage). This can be ambiguous if the page counter is reset in the document. With pages=absolute, the numbers refer to the value of the absolutepage counter, which should not be reset in the document and is incremented by the output routine whenever a page is shipped out.

Certain pages can be excluded from a frame’s page list. For example, if a frame’s page list is set to all but it has excludepages={2,9} then the frame will be shown on all pages except for page 2 and page 9. Note that in this case the value is just a list of numbers. See also §3.3 for switching frames on and off mid-document.

It’s also possible to set the exclusion list the following commands:

A frame can also be omitted if the boolean hide option is set. If true, this overrides the page list and omits the frame for all pages.

A frame can also be omitted if the boolean hidethis option is set. If true, this overrides the page list and omits the frame for this pages. The value will be reset when the current page is shipped out.

3.1.2. Content Attributes[link]

This boolean option is only available for static frame and dynamic frame. If true, the frame contents will be cleared on each new page.

In the PDF version of this document, I have used \ChapterInDynamic to put the chapter titles in a dynamic frame called chaphead. This isn’t a special frame, but the contents are reset every time \chapter is used. I’ve also used \appenddfminitoc which then appends the chapter’s mini-toc to that frame. And finally, I have a custom command that appends a brief summary. For example, this chapter is started with:

🖹
\chapter{Modifying Frame Attributes}\label{sec:modattr}
\chapdesc{This chapter describes how to modify frame attributes,
such as the size and location.}

I’ve also used \makedfheaderfooter and \makethumbtabs. This automatically defines a set of special dynamic frames. In this case, the clear option should not be set as clearing the content will remove the code that ensures the header, footer and thumbtab show the correct information.

This option is only available for static frames and dynamic frames. The value should be a dimension (either explicit, such as 5pt, or a variable, such as \sdfparindent, or an expression, such as 1em + 0.1\linewidth). The default is \sdfparindent.

The dimension won’t be evaluated until the contents of the frame are typeset. For static frames this is when the frame content is set, and for dynamic frames this is every time the frame is placed on the page by the output routine.

This option is only available for dynamic frames. The value may be the keyword none (equivalent to @firstofone) or the name of a declaration or a text-block command (without the leading backslash).

For example:

🖹
\setdynamicframe{1}{style={emph}}

Bear in mind that text-block commands such as \emph and \textbf introduce grouping which may result in subtle spacing issues. If this is a problem, try using the analogous declaration instead. For example:

🖹
\setdynamicframe{1}{style={em}}

Example 1 provided a custom command:

🖹
\newcommand{\Hugebf}{\Huge\bfseries}

🖹
\newcommand{\Hugebf}[1]{\textbf{\Huge #1}}

If you are not using FlowframTk and you need more than one command to apply the style then you will need to define your own custom command and use that instead (as in Example 1).

This key is only available for static frames and dynamic frames and sets the paragraph shape for the frame contents. See §3.2 for further details.

This key is only available for static frames and dynamic frames and sets the vertical alignment of the content within the frame. The default is c for static frames and t for dynamic frames.

3.1.3. Layout Attributes[link]

This option is only available for flow frames and indicates on which side of the flow frame the margin should be placed. The value may be one of the keywords: inner, outer, left or right.

For two-sided documents, inner places the margin on the left for odd pages and on the right for even pages, and outer places the margin on the right for odd pages and on the left for even pages.

For one-sided documents, inner is the same as left (place to the left of the frame) and outer is the same as right (place to the right of the frame).

Sets the frame’s offset to take the border into account. The value may be a dimension or the keyword compute, which will compute the offset if the frame has a known border (\fbox, \ovalbox, \Ovalbox and \doublebox). If the border is unknown then the offset for \fbox will be used.

If the frame has a border set and it takes up extra space (caused by the padding between the border and the text and the size of the frame) then this attribute needs to be set to shift the frame so that the bottom left corner of the text area within the frame is at the designated x and y-coordinates.

Set the width of the frame to the given 〈dimension〉. This is available for all types of frame but be careful not to change this value after any content has been added to the frame.

The width can be obtained for a flow frame with:

Set the height of the frame to the given 〈dimension〉. This is available for all types of frame but be careful not to change this value after any content has been added to the frame.

The height can be obtained for a flow frame with:

Set the x-coordinate of the frame for all pages on which it’s defined. This is available for all types of frame. Note that x=〈position〉 is equivalent to setting both oddx=〈position〉 and evenx=〈position〉.

Set the y-coordinate of the frame for all pages on which it’s defined. This is available for all types of frame. Note that y=〈position〉 is equivalent to setting both oddy=〈position〉 and eveny=〈position〉.

Set the frame’s x-coordinate for all even pages on which it’s defined (only applicable if the document is two-sided). For example:

🖹
\setflowframe*{main}{evenx={0.4\typeblockwidth}}
\setdynamicframe*{chaphead}{evenx=0pt}

The even-page x-coordinate can be obtained for a flow frame with:

Set the frame’s y-coordinate for all even pages on which it’s defined (only applicable if the document is two-sided).

The even-page y co-ordinate can be obtained for a flow frame with:

Set the frame’s x-coordinate for all odd pages (or all pages for one-sided documents) on which it’s defined.

The odd-page x-coordinate can be obtained for a flow frame with:

Set the frame’s y-coordinate for all odd pages (or all pages for one-sided documents) on which it’s defined.

The odd-page y-coordinate can be obtained for a flow frame with:

There are also commands available to swap the odd and even co-ordinates:

3.1.4. Appearance[link]

Rotates the frame by 〈angle〉 degrees. Note the bounding boxes are not rotated in draft mode.

Sets the frame’s border. The 〈value〉 may be the keyword plain (use a plain border, equivalent to border=fbox), false (no border) or may be the control sequence name (without the leading backslash) of a frame making command. If you set a border for a frame, you may also need to specify the offset if the default computation is incorrect.

The fancybox package provides the commands \shadowbox, \doublebox, \ovalbox and \Ovalbox, which may all be used as a border. For example, border=ovalbox. Remember to load the fancybox package if you want to use any of these commands as a border.

For example, to make the first static frame have an oval border:

🖹
\setstaticframe{1}{border=ovalbox}

🖹
\newcommand{\greenyellowbox}[1]{\fcolorbox{green}{yellow}{#1}}
\setstaticframe{1}{border=greenyellowbox}