one project, two web outputs, two alias files not working

[awargo]

I have one project that is going to have two seperate targets. Some of the content will be the same but one of the targets will have a few different topics and exclude some topics from the original target. I have created two alias files but the identifiers in the second target are playing a disappearing act and causing problems. There are a few identifiers that are the same across both targets and that is causing an error when building to my local machine. I opened the alias file today to work on it and ALL of the indentifiers have been erased. Should I only have one alias file, does that work when some content is different, and how to stop my indentifiers from disappearing? Please help before I throw my computer out the window.

[wclass]

Hi - Firstly, I think your approach of a separate alias for each target should work. I have a project working with something similar.

But I'm not sure what you mean about identifiers in the target? Do you mean identifiers in the header file? and how many header files do you have?

I'm guessing you have one header file, but created two alias files - that should work. The first one you can set up as per normal. When you create the second alias, you will have to map all the common topics again - is that what has gone missing?

When you set up the targets, you need to set which alias file to use on the advanced tab. If that alias file has some entries in it that are not included in the build you will get a compile error - but this is really a warning as the help file is constructed OK.

Sorry I don't have a complete answer, but a few more details might help to sort it.

[awargo]

I have two header files and two alias files. Is that wher the problem is? The bummer is that the identifier could be the same but the topic it connects to is different for each target. We have different functionality for two users of our software, so some of the information for the same page is slightly different. I don't know which part is creating the issue. It is spitting errors saying that the alias files aren't there, which is just a whole new set of issues. Any tidbits of info that might help is appreciated .

[wclass]

I have two header files and two alias files.

OK - One alias per header is good. When you double-click on an alias file to edit it, identifiers from all headers are shown, which can be confusing. Make sure you select the right header file from the top selection list (where it initially says "All identifiers"). I'm not sure exactly where your problem is, so I might be telling you things you know, but you could possibly be picking identifiers from different headers in the one alias. Also, on the target, make sure you have the right alias file selected - see the Advanced tab.

What error message are you getting? There are a few that are very similar, but to fix them you have to look at either the header, the alias file, or the topic list.

[NorthEast]

The way in which alias files and header files work is a bit confusing, which is mainly down to the alias file editor.

Having multiple alias files is fine, Flare is designed to handle that - so you can have a separate alias file for each target.

Although alias files can be linked to a particular target, header files are not linked to a particular target or a particular alias file. Your alias file can use identifiers from all of the header files.
When you open the alias file editor, the list of identifiers displayed on the left are all of the available identifiers from all of your header files.
As mentioned previously, you can display the identifiers from a specific header file by selecting it from the drop-down at the top.

It's important to understand that these identifiers come from your header files, they're not actually included in your alias file until you assign them to a topic. When you unassign a topic, the identifier (and topic link) is removed from the alias file.

Of course, you don't need to map all of the identifiers, just map the ones you need for each output in the alias file used by that target.

There is a really crazy issue if you remove an identifier from a header file that is assigned to a topic in an alias file.
If you assign a topic to an identifier in the alias editor, and then remove the identifier from the header file, the identifier will not be displayed in the alias file editor any more. Yes, you read that right, Flare doesn't display it in the editor if the identifier isn't also contained in a header file.
When you build the project, Flare will report an error that you have identifiers that are not contained in any header file. So that means you have entries in the alias file that need to be fixed, but the alias file editor doesn't display them - great.
To fix the entries, you either need to (a) add the identifier back in a header file (any) so you can see it again in the alias file editor (and unassign the topic, if the identifier is no longer used), (b) open the alias file in text mode (it's XML) and delete the entry.

We get this last problem quite a lot as our header files are generated by developers, so the identifiers can sometimes change or be removed without us knowing (until build time).

[awargo]

Thanks for the help! I re-created all of the identifiers for one target and the identifiers for the other disappeared. I make sure I am adding them to the correct header file using the drop down. I can get one target alias and header file to work great but then the other target has files missing or the identifier is gone. Is this what you meant that it may still be there but you can't see it? I am going to try and see if I use the XML editor way and hope it works.

[NorthEast]

Is this what you meant that it may still be there but you can't see it? I am going to try and see if I use the XML editor way and hope it works.

For example, say you had an identifier 'hello'.

In the header file, the identifier is defined in the line:

#define hello 1

If you assign a topic to 'hello' in the alias file editor, a line will be added to the alias file:

<Map Name="hello" Link="/Content/Topic.htm" />

Now, if the identifier is removed from the header file (not using the alias editor), then you'll still have this line in the alias file, but the identifier 'hello' will not be visible in the alias file editor.
(Note that if you already have the alias file open in the editor, it will still be visible in the editor. The the list of identifiers isn't 'refreshed' until you close and open the file again.)

When you build the output, you'll get an error:

Topic identifier "hello" not declared in any header file

[awargo]

I had to make all of my identifiers again but I am hoping that everything will save. Thanks for all of your help. If something happens again I'll be back.