8. Working with embedded books

An embedded book is a Sophie book that is used as a resource in another Sophie book. Embedded books can be either fully embedded - meaning that they are part of the parent book's resources - or linked in which case they are not part of the parent book (what we'll call a Sophie book that contains another Sophie book) and can be used for other things, although they appear like a resource when used on the page. Embedded books currently always appear on the page of a parent Sophie book. Here's how an embedded book might look on a page when it is selected:

The inner red frame is the margin of the embedded book's page; the outer red frame shows the embedded book's margin, just like any other frame in Sophie. This embedded book has multiple pages; in the lower left corner of the frame, there are controls that allow both authors and readers to flip through the pages of the book.

Embedding books in Sophie Author

To embed a book in your current book, choose Insert > Book from the file menus, choose whether you want the book to be fully embedded or linked, and select the Sophie book that you want to embed on the current page.

All the books that are embedded in your current book will be listed in the Embedded Books palette in the Books tab on the left side.

Books in this list that are linked rather than fully embedded have [LINKED] next to their names. If you double-click an entry in this list, it will be opened for editing.

Manipulating embedded books

An embedded book can be manipulated like any other frame in Sophie. Note, however, that the content of the embedded book cannot be edited from the page on which it is embedded. If you open the embedded book up in its own window (as a regular book) changes made to that version of the book will also be made in the embedded book.

Embedded books have their own halo, the embedded book halo, which appears to the upper left of an embedded book selected on the page in Sophie Author:

If this halo is clicked, the embedded book HUD appears. It looks like this:

This HUD has two buttons: by default, both are selected. Clicking them will turn the page-turning arrows on or off. If your embedded book contains page-turning controls of its own, you might want to turn off the page-turning arrows.

Links in a book can turn pages in an embedded book. See the section on working with links for information about constructing links that can turn pages in an embedded book. Links from a parent book can control an embedded book; however, links in an embedded book can't control a parent book.