1 Project/5 docs - Repeating Content in Each

[RandyMan]

I have one portal for documentation. It contains 5 different docs. I do it this way to ensure Search is enabled across all docs. In Madcap, each of the five docs has its own destination and target - typically each doc has its own directory structure in the portal. For example, assume the portal directory is http://www.portal123.com. Doc #1 is published to http://www.portal123.com/doc1/; Doc#2 is published to www.portal123.com/doc2/ and so on.

I have the settings configured so only updates are published and old stuff is deleted. It seems to work from a functional basis. However, the directory structure under each Doc directory includes copies of all of the supporting content (Content, Data, Skins, etc.) for all five different docs. For example, the subdirectory of Doc1 has the content needed to support Doc1, but it also contains copies of all the content needed to support Doc2 through Doc5.

In essence, this results in way long time periods to upload (FTP) even the slightest change and a whole lot of wasted space on the server hosting the files. I presume the answer lies in changing one small setting somewhere, but I'll be a monkey's uncle if I can figure out where or how to do it.

Any help you may have in solving this issue is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Randy

[devjoe]

So you made a separate TOC for each doc and associated it with each target?

In the targets, there is an option to only include files linked directly or indirectly from the target. If you check this, it will only include in each output the files needed for that output.

[RandyMan]

Actually, there are multiple TOCs in 3 of the 5 documents. They have considerable depth of content/topics. Despite that, I would think a single "target" would include only the content for that target, versus all content for all five targets.

Frankly, that is another issue I'm having. There is some cross-linking between targets. When I'm starting in Doc1 and have a link to Doc2, it loads the correct page in the main "frame" of the page, but the sidebar navigation remains for Doc1. Same thing when using Search and the results point to a result in a different doc. Sidebar nav (TOC) always remains true to the original document from which you started.

I'm fairly new to Madcap, so I'm guessing this is just something small that I missed. Any help is appreciated...

Thanks

Randy

[devjoe]

OK, then, two things to do:

Where you have links that go between different targets, instead of just inserting the link in the simple way, add the link as an external document and type enough ../ to go up to the common folder above doc1 & doc2, and then the path down into the destination in doc2. This will force it to load the skin of the other target, rather than just loading the copy of the topic from the same target.

These links will also thwart that "only files linked from target" option until you replace them as I describe, because they provide a pathway from one doc to the other. When they are all replaced then the option should do what you want and get rid of the duplicate content. In this form, Flare and Analyzer will think they are broken, but they will work in the combined output on the portal.

[RandyMan]

I'm hesitant to be too optimistic before I try this, but it makes complete sense! Thanks so much for the pointer! Will follow up with more praise shortly....I hope.