Is there a stylesheet for the XML editor?

[i-tietz]

Hello there,
I have a colleague whose sight is pretty poor and we were looking for sth. like a zoom for her to use in the editor but couldn't find one.
NOW:
A few minutes ago I was working on our stylesheets and then I opened a topic and found it formatted in Times New Roman, 12pt - in the editor only!!

That could be the solution to the above problem, but I simply don't know how I did it ... It must have been sth about stylesheets ... but what?

It's not the standard font of the browser ...

Maybe we could edit that for her and use bigger font-sizes!!

Thanks for your assistance!

[KevinDAmery]

I can think of two reasons why the topic might use a different font:

1) that topic might be referencing a different stylesheet

or

2) you might have been using a snippet (snippets usually don't reference stylesheets directly, instead they use the same stylesheet as the topic you insert them into; this means that when you edit them they usually look like default HTML)

But yes, you could do this to help your coworker. What I would do is build a CSS on her machine only that uses much larger fonts. Make sure this CSS has the same name as your normal CSS. Then, you could just open the project on another writer's machine to build output--as long as that writer's machine has the "real" CSS, the output will use the normal styles instead of the larger ones.

[i-tietz]

What I would do is build a CSS on her machine only that uses much larger fonts. Make sure this CSS has the same name as your normal CSS. Then, you could just open the project on another writer's machine to build output--as long as that writer's machine has the "real" CSS, the output will use the normal styles instead of the larger ones.

Unfortunately that doesn't work for tables ... the bigger size of the font in a table cell leads to a wider column ... that is irreversible for the one building the target, because it doesn't depend on stylesheets ...

Means: that is no way out for us ...
Follows: Flare needs a zoom!!

[LTinker68]

If you're talking about the whole Flare GUI, then if she increases the font size on the Windows display then it might help, too. I seem to remember a long time ago someone complaining that some of the icons and fields in Flare weren't displayed properly and it turned out that he had his monitor resolution set higher than 96dpi (aka "normal" font size). So upping her display resolution may also help, although parts of the Flare GUI may not display exactly correctly.

Also, if your stylesheet is based on proportionate font sizing (ems, percents), then upping the font size in the stylesheet won't necessarily work, because the XML Editor isn't dynamically generating the font sizes until you click the Preview icon. I use ems in my stylesheet and by default the text appears smaller in the XML Editor than it does in the final output. It's a minor annoyance that I've gotten used to. So if you're using proportional fonts and upping the font sizes on her machine doesn't do much for her in the XML Editor, then you may have to change the proportional font to a fixed-font size (pixels, points) and adjust it to her liking.

[LTinker68]

Unfortunately that doesn't work for tables ... the bigger size of the font in a table cell leads to a wider column ... that is irreversible for the one building the target, because it doesn't depend on stylesheets ...

If you don't specify widths for your columns then it should be fine; the column sizes will be determined at run time by the font size and the size of the user's browser window.

If you specify widths for the columns and she adjusts the widths based on what she sees, then yes, you'd have a problem. But if you let the table dynamically size then it won't be a problem.

[KevinDAmery]

Going in a completely different direction, you could adjust her display rather than Flare. Specifically, change the DPI of her monitor. For Windows XP, you can do this in the display settings under Properties>Advanced.

[doc_guy]

You could also create a different media type in your style sheet. Then your co-workers Flare XML Editor can use the alternate media type. When the output is built, the target can specify the correct (smaller) media type. Then you co-worker can still build content from his/her machine.

As far as tables go, in your alternate style sheet, you can set the same font size for tables as in the standard style sheet. That will make the table fonts harder to read, but users of the alt style will still be able to work with content in tables.

[Boone]

I searched high and low through the FLARE Help and UI to find a Zoom. I can't believe there isn't one! What about us older folks who can't see the small text? I'm becoming quite frustrated by all the mistakes I'm making working with the the teeny .htm text. Are there plans to add this to FLARE?

[doc_guy]

If the text is tiny, it's because you set it that way in your style sheet The XML editor shows you what your style sheet settings are for the media type you have selected.

If you want to increase the font size in the Flare editor, you need to change your style sheet or your display settings (try a lower resolution for your display monitor).

[KevinDAmery]

If the text is tiny, it's because you set it that way in your style sheet The XML editor shows you what your style sheet settings are for the media type you have selected.

If you want to increase the font size in the Flare editor, you need to change your style sheet or your display settings (try a lower resolution for your display monitor).

Well.... thing is, usually you'll want a fairly small font size for your final output (presumably no one here is building webhelp with p tags at 14 points, for example). While editing, though, you may want something bigger. And I don't think I'd want to get into a situation where I had an "editing" CSS and a "production" CSS--there'd be too many opportunities to inadvertently do a build with the wrong one.

[NorthEast]

I searched high and low through the FLARE Help and UI to find a Zoom. I can't believe there isn't one! What about us older folks who can't see the small text? I'm becoming quite frustrated by all the mistakes I'm making working with the the teeny .htm text. Are there plans to add this to FLARE? :shock:

If font size is a problem, I'd suggest setting your screen to a lower resolution. There is also a screen magnifier built-in to Windows (XP and Vista) - look for Magnifier in Programs > Accessories > Accessibility/Ease of Access.

I don't think the default text size in Flare is any smaller than any other application that I use, or Windows.

[SteveS]

My mouse at work (at home so I can't give you a model number, but it is a MS product) has a zoom button, operated with a thumb click if you're right handed. Zoom (magnification) and zoom window size can be configured on the fly as well.

I find it really useful - its quicker than using the window's zoom controls. And, in the case of Capture (which doesn't have zoom capabilities) I can magnify the captured image to precisely place the cropping boundaries. It's worth a look. (No pun intended - but if anyone laughs I'll accept it!)

[MarinaMichaels]

I have the same problem with the teensy-tiny text in the XML Editor. My style sheet settings are fine, thankyouverymuch, and the font is still tiny. I have carefully read through all the suggestions, and none of them work for my situation and probably for most others whose eyes are aging for the following reasons:

A. I LIKE working with a high resolution on my monitor (which isn't that high--1600x1200). For most applications, I have no problem with seeing what's going on (except FrameMaker's tiny index entry box, but I use Silicon Prairie's Index Tools Professional to get around that). Also, when I am working, I have a lot of open applications. Reducing the monitor resolution makes my workspace unusable.

B. The Magnifier, though a nice idea, isn't useful. It opens a bar of magnified area at the top of the screen, which I can make shorter or taller, but otherwise can't do anything with, and it just doesn't work. If I have it follow the mouse focus, the magnified area jumps around too much and doesn't consistently show the area I am typing in. If I disable that option, the area I want to view isn't visible.

C. It doesn't look like the Windows font sizes can be changed within the editing area of applications anymore, at least not with XP SP2. It used to be you could go wild and customize everything, but now they've tidied that away under an Advanced button and have limited the choices there anyway. It is possible to change the Windows fonts as a whole from Normal to Extra Large--but that doesn't affect the editing areas in Flare.

D. My Logitech Trackman Wheel mouse, which is the best ergonomic mouse I have ever found (and therefore you will have to pry it from my cold dead hands), doesn't have the magnify option. Unless the mentioned Microsoft mouse is identical to my mouse, that option does me no good either because I am not going to switch mice just because of one application.

I would prefer to just click an option within Flare itself to increase the application's font size. This reminds me of the bad old days when people would hard-code their Web sites in 8-point type instead of using one of the friendlier, proportional sizings like ems. Surely we are all past that now?

What does work is to work in text editing mode--that at least brings the font up to a readable size (for me). And since I am used to hand-coding things in non-WYSIWYG editors, that's okay. But I prefer the WYSIWYG. Already. *grumble*

I am, BTW, new to these forums and to Flare, and although I have only been using Flare for an incredibly short amount of time, I suspect Flare is going to join my mouse in the pry-from-my-cold-dead-hands category. I really, REALLY like it. A Lot. *hugs her copy of Flare*

[LTinker68]

Hi, Marina, welcome to the forums. Be sure to submit your feature request for larger fonts in the XML Editor at http://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx. And you might check the Blaze beta to see if it has that functionality. If it does, then it'll be in Flare v4. If it doesn't, then submit the request.

[MarinaMichaels]

Thanks! In the spirit of exploration, I reduced my resolution to 800x600, and the fonts are still tiny. So I will definitely make that request.

[scott]

Just to follow up, Flare 4 and Blaze have new zoom and font scale features. They're both at the bottom of the XML Editor.

[i-tietz]

I know. And my colleague was very pleased to see that!