• Introduction

  FlowWatch is part of the FlowMaster XTension toolbox. The FlowMaster XTension contains a collection of features to control the text flow of a document (see below for a more detailed description). One of these features is to automatically display a warning if the text in a document has reflowed since it was last saved.

  If this feature is enabled, FlowMaster (or FlowWatch) records information about the text flow in a document when it is saved and compares this recorded information with the current text flow when the document is opened. This way, FlowMaster detects every text reflow that might be due to missing or different fonts, different preferences, different hyphenation languages, transfer from a Windows to a Macintosh system, etc.

  The XTension FlowWatch contains the recording part of this detection process: if FlowWatch is enabled, it records the text flow of a document whenever it is saved. If the document is then for example passed to a service bureau that uses FlowMaster, there will be a warning in case of a text reflow in the document.

  If you want to benefit of this automatic reflow detection when passing documents to your service bureau, the service bureau has to employ FlowMaster in order to make use of the information provided by FlowWatch. You can obtain a list of  service bureaus that are using FlowMaster to allow automatic reflow detection from the address given at the end of this text. For your convenience, the FlowWatch 1.0 Read me document contains a request form that you can use for this purpose. Please specify the geographical area in which you are looking for a service bureau, as well as information about the kind of services you need (e.g. Mac or Windows documents, b/w, color or 4c-seps).

• The FlowWatch dialog

  The FlowWatch dialog is opened by selecting FlowWatch…  in the Utilities menu. It contains the following items:

  Create flow tables on save: this option enables or disables the automatic recording of a document's text flow. If it is enabled, FlowWatch records the text flow in a document when it is saved. If the option is disabled, FlowWatch removes any previously recorded text flow information from the document.

  Show XTension icon on startup: if this option is selected, FlowWatch shows its icon in the QuarkXPress startup screen.

• More about FlowMaster

  Besides the ability to detect unwanted text reflows when opening a document, FlowMaster offers a manual mode in which you can record the text flow of any selection of text stories in a document at any time. Later, you can compare the recorded information with the current text flow. The positions where the text has reflowed are marked and you can quickly jump from one position to the next.

  Another feature of FlowMaster is the ability to lock the text flow in a document or parts of it. If the text flow of a story is locked, all hyphenations and line breaks are effectively turned into hard hyphenations and line breaks. It is now possible, for example, to modify the runaround of obstructing objects without affecting the text flow. Also, documents with locked text keep their flow and hyphenation, even when they are opened with a version of QuarkXPress that uses a different hyphenation language. Documents or texts can thus be easily exchanged between different international versions of QuarkXPress. Of course, locked text can be unlocked again.

  For more information on FlowMaster, please contact the address given below.

• FlowWatch 1.0,  Copyright 1994-97 Tobias Boskamp.

  FlowWatch is freeware and may be distributed to and used by anyone, as long as it is distributed together with its original electronic documentation (FlowWatch 1.0 Read me) the XTension and the documentation are not modified in any way and there is no charge for the distribution.

  FlowWatch and FlowMaster were created by Tobias Boskamp.

  If you have any questions, suggestions or criticism, if you want to know more about FlowMaster or if you need a list of FlowMaster service bureaus, please contact:

    Tobias Boskamp
    Ostendorfer Str. 39
    D-27726 Worpswede
    Germany

    Tel.: +49-4792-95 04 75
    Fax: +49-4792-95 04 76
    E-Mail: T_Boskamp@compuserve.com