Hi everyone,
Brand new to the Flare-verse, just getting started but wanting to make sure we start where we need to be, so that we don't have to backtrack. We will be doing the following:
- one master EN project, HTML5 output
- one FR project, HTML5 output
EN and FR projects linked; tri-pane HTML5 output with ability to switch between languages.
We will have context sensitive help - both @ an article (topic) level and we would like to have anchors within articles (topics) that we can link to as well.
I have a few questions:
-What is the difference between alias and header files? I have read a few forum postings and the online help, and it seems like the alias file populates the header file... ?
-We plan to have the same IDs in the EN alias file as in the FR alias file so that our app can open the EN or FR article, depending on which language the user comes from in the app... is this doable?
-I found one link that said alias and header files were optional, and another that said they were needed for webhelp outputs... which is it? Does it depend if we use javascript or not?
-How do we note alias IDs for anchors within articles (topics)? To link to those anchors?
Please let me know if there's anything else I've forgotten; in the meantime, I'll keep doing my research!
TIA
Adriana
Header file, alias file, etc. etc.
-
adrianaharper
- Propeller Head
- Posts: 26
- Joined: Tue Apr 21, 2015 9:27 pm
-
GregStenhouse
- Sr. Propeller Head
- Posts: 330
- Joined: Tue May 13, 2008 3:27 pm
- Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Re: Header file, alias file, etc. etc.
Hi Adriana
You are right, the alias file does populate the text-based header file. There should be no need to go in and change the header file at all. That file is meant to be sourced from the developers (if they define the IDs), or sent by you to the developers if you are defining the IDs. If you use another means to communicate the IDs and the parts of the app they apply to (e.g. Excel file, emails...) then you can pretty much disregard the header file (leave it there though as it's used to link topic identifiers to IDs and build the context links in the final help).
Sharing identifiers between projects is definitely doable, I would look into global project linking for this.
Alias and header files are optional, but recommended for context sensitive help. The alternative is for the developer to link directly to topics - and this creates additional overheads if you move or rename your topic files.
There is a 'bookmark' button in the Identifiers section with tooltip "Select a bookmark from the assigned topic". Firstly double click a topic from the Topics list to assign it to the identifier, and then click that button to select a bookmark, heading etc to open the topic at that location when calling help from the application.
Hope that helps,
Greg
You are right, the alias file does populate the text-based header file. There should be no need to go in and change the header file at all. That file is meant to be sourced from the developers (if they define the IDs), or sent by you to the developers if you are defining the IDs. If you use another means to communicate the IDs and the parts of the app they apply to (e.g. Excel file, emails...) then you can pretty much disregard the header file (leave it there though as it's used to link topic identifiers to IDs and build the context links in the final help).
Sharing identifiers between projects is definitely doable, I would look into global project linking for this.
Alias and header files are optional, but recommended for context sensitive help. The alternative is for the developer to link directly to topics - and this creates additional overheads if you move or rename your topic files.
There is a 'bookmark' button in the Identifiers section with tooltip "Select a bookmark from the assigned topic". Firstly double click a topic from the Topics list to assign it to the identifier, and then click that button to select a bookmark, heading etc to open the topic at that location when calling help from the application.
Hope that helps,
Greg
Re: Header file, alias file, etc. etc.
The header and alias files are legacy constructs that go back to Winhelp, and all other help systems have inherited them in some form. The alias editor in Flare hides this, allowing you to edit everything in one place, but under the hood these multiple files exist:
But in your case, it sounds like you want to have one header file (one shared set of numbers and IDs) and two alias files (each linking the IDs to different topics). One strategy is global project linking, as Greg said. You would have a shared header file which is edited in the master project and imported into the other, where it is never edited - in that project, you only use the alias editor to link topics to the newly created IDs.
You might also have a single project with all the content and two targets. Define conditions for English and French, exclude the English from the French target and vice versa. Condition each of your alias files and make EN and FR folders under Content. Apply the conditions to the folders, so you don't have to mess with conditioning each topic.
Images (if they do not have text in them), the style sheet, and other content can be outside the conditioned folders, or also shared from the master project, with the above mechanisms, in both cases allowing the same files to be used for both outputs.
In either case, you will have two projects which could be installed in parallel folders on a server or local installation, and the help could call (some path)/(product)/EN/EN.htm#cshid=1 to reach English topic one and
(some path)/(product)/FR/FR.htm#cshid=1 to reach French topic 1.
- The header file links ID strings (Identifier in Flare's alias editor) to numbers, sometimes called map numbers (Value in the alias editor), and is written in a form that can be imported into a program as a C-style header file.
- The alias file links the same ID strings to topic files (Topic in the alias editor).
But in your case, it sounds like you want to have one header file (one shared set of numbers and IDs) and two alias files (each linking the IDs to different topics). One strategy is global project linking, as Greg said. You would have a shared header file which is edited in the master project and imported into the other, where it is never edited - in that project, you only use the alias editor to link topics to the newly created IDs.
You might also have a single project with all the content and two targets. Define conditions for English and French, exclude the English from the French target and vice versa. Condition each of your alias files and make EN and FR folders under Content. Apply the conditions to the folders, so you don't have to mess with conditioning each topic.
Images (if they do not have text in them), the style sheet, and other content can be outside the conditioned folders, or also shared from the master project, with the above mechanisms, in both cases allowing the same files to be used for both outputs.
In either case, you will have two projects which could be installed in parallel folders on a server or local installation, and the help could call (some path)/(product)/EN/EN.htm#cshid=1 to reach English topic one and
(some path)/(product)/FR/FR.htm#cshid=1 to reach French topic 1.