MadCap Software Forums

Say there!

I build on three machines (my desktop, my laptop, and on the build system). I use publishing, batch targets, the whole kit.

I need to be able to control the publish output directory build by build.....

Ideally, madbuild would take a param, -publishdir or something, so I could control the publish dir from the cmd line.

How?


Thanks!

You can specify different publishing parameters in each target and then specify which target(s) to build/publish using the command line. Search in Flare v7 help on "madbuild" and it'll return you the topic that discusses the options.

LTinker68 wrote:You can specify different publishing parameters in each target and then specify which target(s) to build/publish using the command line. Search in Flare v7 help on "madbuild" and it'll return you the topic that discusses the options.

That means making 2 or 3 copies of 7 targets....

Does not sound workable to me?

Why do you need to make 2 or 3 copies of each target? You build from three machines but are all three publishing to different locations? Why publish to three locations instead of one final one that all three build machines point to?

LTinker68 wrote:Why do you need to make 2 or 3 copies of each target? You build from three machines but are all three publishing to different locations? Why publish to three locations instead of one final one that all three build machines point to?

I won't bother you with the build environment here. It is big and complicated.

The problem in Flare is that:

Target is tied to Destination

and

Batch Target is tied to the discrete destinations set on the Targets


So the only "Flare" way to modify the output is to have multiple TARGETs.

If madbuild had some ways to override these properties, it would be golden.

As it is, the entire command line compile feature of Flare is, in fact, useless. I can use it on ONE system, but cannot use it on ALL systems.

The command line compile, while nice on paper, is a bit of a joke in real life.

samjones6 wrote:

LTinker68 wrote:You can specify different publishing parameters in each target and then specify which target(s) to build/publish using the command line. Search in Flare v7 help on "madbuild" and it'll return you the topic that discusses the options.

That means making 2 or 3 copies of 7 targets....

Does not sound workable to me?

I don't see why you need copies, as you'd just need the targets/destinations required for that particular machine; e.g. you don't need build or laptop targets/destinations on your desktop machine.

So presumably all you need to do is edit the publish destination file(s) on each machine.

LTinker68 wrote:Why do you need to make 2 or 3 copies of each target? You build from three machines but are all three publishing to different locations? Why publish to three locations instead of one final one that all three build machines point to?

Dude,

Please don't argue with my process.

My needs are what they are.

Flare is as flexible as it is (or isn't).

I am just looking to meet my needs. Nothing special.

Dave Lee wrote:So presumably all you need to do is edit the publish destination file(s) on each machine.

I have one project ... just one... in version control.

I can't maintain machine specific elements of the Flare files... Total zoo.

I am just trying to use a batch file to build... nothing too crazy about that, right?

samjones6 wrote:

LTinker68 wrote:Why do you need to make 2 or 3 copies...

Dude,

Dude?

There you got some folks who want to help you out, but nothing is ever good enough.

All,

I cannot edit any Flare target/destination files on a per machine basis.

What I have in my other tools is a single batch file, that does the build, knows which machine it is on, and sets its outputs in the batch correctly based on what is needed.

The problem with Flare is that madbuild does not let me set the output dir.

It appears my batch file may have to:

1) Make the target or destination file RW (it is RO since it comes from SCM)
2) Change the output dir in the target/destination xml
3) Run madbuild
4) Execute an SCM command to roll back the target/destination file (so the modified file is not accidentally checked in later)

That is a lot of circus compared to the (dreamed of) -publishdir param for madbuild.

samjones6 wrote:

Dave Lee wrote:So presumably all you need to do is edit the publish destination file(s) on each machine.

I have one project ... just one... in version control.

I can't maintain machine specific elements of the Flare files... Total zoo.

Then you'd have to create a separate version of each target for each machine - the only difference being the destination each will publish to.
If you're also using batch targets, then set up a batch target for each machine too, to build all the targets for that machine.

Not ideal, but then again it wouldn't actually take that long to set up - less time than already spent on this thread.

Dave Lee wrote:Not ideal, but then again it wouldn't actually take that long to set up - less time than already spent on this thread.

You are mistaken, and that comment is a little insulting.

(I do not have time to waste. Please don't suggest that I do.)

It would take significant time to setup and test (running a single build takes 10-20 minutes) on multiple machines (multiply that).

Over months or years, however, it would take a lot of time and headache to maintain (these things get forgotten, cause they "just run").

The right way is to do it... the right way.

The build script is the place to do this stuff.

What madcap has essentially done with the Publish feature is this:

"We know that build and publish are distinct, so we are going to give you the two features, one called "target" and the other called "destination." However, we won't let you bind destinations to targets, rather you have to bind the target to the destination. Further, we will give you essentially no control from the madbuild command line over any of the attributes in either the target or destination.

Now we won't really document any of this clearly, but a smart user will struggle with this for awhile, and will figure out that if you need control over the process from your build batch file, then you need to forget about the Flare publish feature. Just use madbuild for the compile, and then use xcopy, ftp, or whatever in your build batch file to put the content where you want it.

It is true that Flare gives TONS of control over css, publishing, single source, etc. However for building, we really don't give you the control (via cmd line params) that a sophisticated user would look expect to find."

There it is!

samjones6 wrote:You are mistaken, and that comment is a little insulting.

(I do not have time to waste. Please don't suggest that I do.)

It would take significant time to setup and test (running a single build takes 10-20 minutes) on multiple machines (multiply that).

Well, I made that comment because there seemed to be more focus on debating the lack of functionality, rather than resolving the issue at hand.

The reason I didn't think it would take a long time to set up, is because all you need to do is make two copies of each target, and alter a single tick box in each copy to change its publish destination. I didn't see that taking longer than a few minutes on each machine.

Running test builds would take a long time, but then you'd need to do that for whatever method you choose; if you used scripts, you'd have to run test builds for those too.

And if you're happy creating scripts to do this, then great; that's probably a better solution for those able to do that.

Although I can't agree with the OP's tone, I have to agree with his issue. I am also very disappointed in the lack of override controls in MadBuild. For now, it isn't much of a problem for me since I am the only author but this will become a problem later on.

Unless someone can explain the reason for this limitation, it seems reasonable to expect that one should be able to override destinations in a Madbuild batch.

I can only suggest submitting a feature request. Given that this thread was dead for over two years it appears not to be a hot issue for most users.

RamonS wrote:I can only suggest submitting a feature request. Given that this thread was dead for over two years it appears not to be a hot issue for most users.

The next best thing...or how I solved this problem... was leaving the target destination as (default) and that way the output is in a predictable location. Good enough perhaps in the future, as well.

Yes, I did send a feature request.