Omni Systems, Inc. |  | Mif2Go User's Guide, Version 55 |  |  |  |  |

> 18 Splitting and extracting files > 18.2 Splitting files > 18.2.2 Managing split points > 18.2.2.1 Preventing splits that leave empty files

#### 18.2.2.1 Preventing splits that leave empty files

Often the first split point is at the very first paragraph in a FrameMaker file, which results in an empty first HTML file. You could discard this file when you package output for production; however, doing so would mean that you might not be able to use navigation macros (see §20.4 Creating a browse sequence). Unless the HTML output is destined for an automated system that requires renaming files, a better approach is to prevent the split.

To suppress the first split if it would result in an empty file, set StartingSplit=No:

[HTMLOptions]

; StartingSplit = Yes (default, allows split at start of file) or No

StartingSplit = No

When StartingSplit=Yes, the first HTML file (which is named for the FrameMaker parent file) cannot be given a title based on a split-point paragraph format; see §18.4.2 Specifying page titles for split or extract files. If you discard empty files, Mif2Go removes the unwanted empty files from the wrap directory and omits them from the navigation sequence; however, the empty files remain in the project folder, where they still serve a purpose.

When StartingSplit=No, you can use a FileName marker to rename the first “real” split file to the FrameMaker chapter name with extension .htm, forcing this file to overwrite the empty file; see §34.8.3 Using custom markers to name output files. This method allows page titles based on split-point paragraphs, and does not interfere with navigation macros.

To avoid creating empty files, we recommend:

[HTMLOptions]

StartingSplit = No

If the first split is not at the first paragraph in a FrameMaker file, see §18.2.2.2 Preventing splits that create unwanted files.

> 18 Splitting and extracting files > 18.2 Splitting files > 18.2.2 Managing split points > 18.2.2.1 Preventing splits that leave empty files

| Mif2Go User's Guide: 18.2.2 Managing split points |  | Mif2Go User's Guide: 18.2.2.2 Preventing splits that create unwanted files |