Resources/Images folder

This forum is for all Flare related Tips and Tricks.
Have a tip or trick you use while working in Flare? Share it here.
Post Reply
Gary Niemen
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 222
Joined: Fri Sep 12, 2008 1:57 am

Resources/Images folder

Post by Gary Niemen »

We currently have all of our images - about 500 of them - in one folder but that folder is not Resources/Images. Some questions:
1) Is there an advantage in having our images in Resources/Images?
2) If so, what is the best way to move them over? Is it okay to rename Resource/Images to Resources/Images_old and then move in our images folder and rename to Images. Will all the links update?
Any tips/help appreciated.
NorthEast
Master Propellus Maximus
Posts: 6359
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:33 am

Re: Resources/Images folder

Post by NorthEast »

1) Not that I know of.

2) Flare will update links if you move files in the Content Explorer. However, the last time I tried this (in Flare 2.5), it had a tendancy to crash when I tried to move a large number of files at the same time (say 50+). Flare 3 or 4 may be better now, but I'd make a backup before you try.
KevinDAmery
Propellus Maximus
Posts: 1985
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:18 am
Location: Darn, I knew I was around here somewhere...

Re: Resources/Images folder

Post by KevinDAmery »

Like Dave, when I move many files at once Flare freezes up on me; however, when I restart it to date it has always updated all the links correctly, so for me at least it's an annoyance rather than a deal killer.

As far as where your images should go, are you running into any problems that you think might be related to the location of the files? If everything is running well, I'd probably leave it alone. I don't think the exact path is essential to things working, as long as the links are valid.
Until next time....
Image
Kevin Amery
Certified MAD for Flare
NorthEast
Master Propellus Maximus
Posts: 6359
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:33 am

Re: Resources/Images folder

Post by NorthEast »

Yep, I think the updated links work, but I'm never 100% confident about things like that when a program bombs out!

I do use the Resources/Images folder, but just for images that I reference in my stylesheet. That helps me keep images that are part of my 'template' separate to images that I use in the actual help topics (e.g. screenshots) - which I keep elsewhere.
SteveS
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 2087
Joined: Tue Mar 07, 2006 5:06 pm
Location: Adelaide, far side of the world ( 34°56'0.78\"S 138°46'44.28\"E).
Contact:

Re: Resources/Images folder

Post by SteveS »

It's a convention.

The advantage to having your images in one place is, well, your images are in one place and easier to find :shock:

I don't think I'd try to move 500 images - just in case, but if I had to move them I'd make a copy of the entire project and then move the images in small groups, especially at first.

If you set up a new project I'd certainly use a directory structure in resources\images\
Image
Steve
Life's too short for bad coffee, bad chocolate, and bad red wine.
LTinker68
Master Propellus Maximus
Posts: 7247
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:38 pm

Re: Resources/Images folder

Post by LTinker68 »

Well, I found out one advantage. Sort of. In the Stylesheet Editor (and probably the Skin Editor), when you click the drop-down box next to an image field you get the list of all the image files in your project. Initially, I had all my images in the Resources\Images folder, but categorized in several sub-folders. I just created an "images" folder in the root of the project and moved my screenshots and diagrams into that folder (still in their sub-folders). All that's left in the Resources\Images folder are project-related images, like the icons I'm using for the toggles, my custom note paragraph image, etc.

What I discovered after moving things around is that the drop-down box next to an image field displays all of the images in the "images" folder before it lists all of the images in the Resources\Images folder. I'm guessing that it's because "images" comes before "Resources" alphabetically. If I were to rename "images" to "zimages" then the images in the Resources\Images folder would probably be listed in the drop-down boxes first.

Thought I'd point that out in case you wanted to organize your image folders in such a way to control (somewhat) how they're displayed in the drop-down image boxes.
Image

Lisa
Eagles may soar, but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines.
Warning! Loose nut behind the keyboard.
DocuWil
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 344
Joined: Thu Feb 09, 2006 1:22 am
Location: Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Resources/Images folder

Post by DocuWil »

But .....
A disadvantage is that images you don't use in the project will also be copied to your destination map when you build your output!
I just checked it to be sure that it is.
I think it would be good if Flare would put only files in the output that are really used.
This is the reason that I only put images in my projects that I really use in the project.
Wil Veenstra

Documentation and Training Centre
Infologic Nederland
(Using Flare 11.1.2, Capture 7.0.0 and Mimic 7.0.0 in Windows 10 64-bit)
RamonS
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 4293
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:29 am
Location: The Electric City

Re: Resources/Images folder

Post by RamonS »

That is true for any file and can be of advantage. You may want to include pages in the output that are not linked to and are not in the ToC, but are desired to show in the search. So as long as a file is in the project folder Flare considers it as part of the project. I think the way it works now is not only by design, but also the way it should work. As you pointed out, if there are files that are truly not part of the project move them to a place outside of the project folder.
LTinker68
Master Propellus Maximus
Posts: 7247
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 9:38 pm

Re: Resources/Images folder

Post by LTinker68 »

RamonS wrote:As you pointed out, if there are files that are truly not part of the project move them to a place outside of the project folder.
Or put them in a separate folder in the project and apply an exclude condition to the folder. That way they're associated with the project for easy reference but aren't actually included in the output.
Image

Lisa
Eagles may soar, but weasels aren't sucked into jet engines.
Warning! Loose nut behind the keyboard.
Post Reply