MadCap:Xrefs not working if they span topic folders

This forum is for all Flare issues related to PDF, eBook, Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker, XPS, and XHTML book targets.
Post Reply
writer_sam
Propeller Head
Posts: 26
Joined: Thu Sep 14, 2017 6:38 am
Location: Dorset, UK

MadCap:Xrefs not working if they span topic folders

Post by writer_sam »

Apologies in advance; I wasn't sure if this belongs in this discussion or the Stylesheets one.

So I'm using Flare 2020 r2. There are a number of weirdness happening with this version that I'm not happy with but this is the biggest one.

I have a folder structure for my topics, based around how the URL will form when outputted to HTML5:

Content
...Product
...|_Folder1
......|_Topic1a
......|_Topic1b
...|_Folder2
......|_Topic2a
......|_Topic2b
...|_Product-TopicA
...|_Product-TopicB


The same topics are used to generate a PDF.
I use MadCap:xrefs throughout both outputs. There are no problems with the xrefs when used in the HTML5 output. There's a weirdness with the PDF output.

If the xref is to a topic in the same level folder, it's fine; but when it's to a topic in another folder it puts in the number of ../ required to get back to the root of my HDD when trying to go to the linked topic.

Topic A contains:
<p class="bullet1"><MadCap:xref href="Product-TopicB.htm">Some Words</MadCap:xref></p>
<p class="bullet1"><MadCap:xref href="Folder1/Topic1A.htm">More Words</MadCap:xref></p>
<p class="bullet1"><MadCap:xref href="Folder2/Topic2B.htm">A Plethora of Words</MadCap:xref></p>


Only the top link will work in the output :shock:
It's not conditioned or anything fancy.

If I change them to <a href> (which I really don't want to do as it loses the auto-update with the heading text), then it looks for the topic only in the same folder, ie. expecting Topic1A at the same level as Product-TopicB.

I really don't remember anything like this happening in previous versions of Flare or have I not been too thorough with my proof-reading?
Any ideas if there's a problem or has anyone else experienced this phenomenon?
TIA.
To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.
Post Reply