Content parts

The content parts — Spreads, MasterSpreads, and Stories — hold the document itself: its pages, the shapes on them, and the text.

In short: If the resource parts are an IDML document's shared vocabulary, the content parts are the document itself: where the pages are, what shapes sit on them, and what text those shapes hold. Three folders carry it — Spreads (pages and the items on them), MasterSpreads (the template pages they inherit from), and Stories (the text and its formatting). Each part is one file, named so the design map can point at it and so the parser can derive its Self id back from the file name. This page covers what each folder holds and how those ids tie the parts to the design map.

The design map lists these parts with idPkg:Spread, idPkg:MasterSpread, and idPkg:Story elements, each carrying a src path. The embed below shows that manifest for a two-story document — note the two idPkg:Story entries that match the StoryList and the two text frames in the single spread.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<?aid style="50" type="document" readerVersion="6.0" featureSet="257" product="20.0(32)"?>
<Document xmlns:idPkg="http://ns.adobe.com/AdobeInDesign/idml/1.0/packaging" DOMVersion="20.0" Self="d" StoryList="ustory1 ustory2" Name="two-stories.indd" CMYKProfile="Coated FOGRA39 (ISO 12647-2:2004)" RGBProfile="sRGB IEC61966-2.1" SolidColorIntent="UseColorSettings" AfterBlendingIntent="UseColorSettings" DefaultImageIntent="UseColorSettings">
  <idPkg:Graphic src="Resources/Graphic.xml"/>
  <idPkg:Fonts src="Resources/Fonts.xml"/>
  <idPkg:Styles src="Resources/Styles.xml"/>
  <idPkg:Preferences src="Resources/Preferences.xml"/>
  <idPkg:Tags src="XML/Tags.xml"/>
  <idPkg:MasterSpread src="MasterSpreads/MasterSpread_umaster.xml"/>
  <idPkg:Spread src="Spreads/Spread_uspread.xml"/>
  <idPkg:Story src="Stories/Story_ustory1.xml"/>
  <idPkg:Story src="Stories/Story_ustory2.xml"/>
  <idPkg:BackingStory src="XML/BackingStory.xml"/>
</Document>

Spreads/Spread_*.xml — pages and the items on them

A spread part holds one <Spread> element. Inside it are the <Page> elements (the spread's pages) and the page items that sit on those pages — <TextFrame>, <Rectangle>, <Oval>, <GraphicLine>, <Polygon>, and <Group>. The parser reads page bounds and a flat, z-ordered list of items per spread; a <TextFrame> is the bridge to text, because it names a story rather than containing the words itself.

A text frame nested inside a <Group> is currently skipped, and the spread records a count of how many it dropped so a consumer can detect the loss.

MasterSpreads/MasterSpread_*.xml — the master pages

A master spread is the template a body page inherits from. Its XML is the same shape as a regular spread — one <MasterSpread> element with <Page> children and the same kinds of page items — so the parser reuses the spread parser to read it. The parser loads every master first, before the body spreads, and keys each by the Self id derived from its file name (MasterSpreads/MasterSpread_umaster.xml → umaster). A page's AppliedMaster resolves against that table, whether it gives the bare id or the full MasterSpread/umaster reference.

Stories/Story_*.xml — the text

A story part holds one <Story> element: the text and its formatting, with no geometry. The parser reads it as a tree of <ParagraphStyleRange> → <CharacterStyleRange> → <Content>, collapsing the content runs into paragraphs of styled runs. The styles a story applies are named, not embedded — a paragraph range carries AppliedParagraphStyle, a character range carries AppliedCharacterStyle and any local overrides, and those names resolve against Styles.xml.

How the Self ids tie back to the design map

The design map's StoryList is just a list of story ids; each id should have a matching idPkg:Story whose src names the file, and the parser derives the story's Self id back from that file name (Stories/Story_ustory1.xml → ustory1). The same id appears again as a frame's ParentStory in some spread. That triple — listed in the manifest, named on a frame, carried on the story element — is what places a story's text on a page. Following those ids from part to part is the subject of how the parts reference each other.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a spread, a master spread, and a story? A spread part holds the pages and the page items (text frames, rectangles, and the like) that sit on them. A master spread is the template a body page inherits from, written in the same shape as a regular spread. A story holds the text and its formatting, with no geometry — a text frame in a spread links to a story by naming it in ParentStory.

How does a TextFrame connect to the text it displays? A TextFrame does not contain words; it names a story in its ParentStory attribute. The story part holds the actual text, and the frame supplies the box the text composes into — which is why a frame is the bridge from a spread to a story.

How is a content part's Self id related to its file name? For spreads, master spreads, and stories, the parser derives the part's Self id from its file name — Stories/Story_ustory1.xml yields ustory1, and MasterSpreads/MasterSpread_umaster.xml yields umaster. That id is what the design map's StoryList, a frame's ParentStory, and a page's AppliedMaster resolve against.