Flare 8 Niggles

[kbradley]

I see that there is a new UI Text section in the HTML5 skin editor (which is nice). However, it only gives you the option to add tooltips to the delivered default toolbar buttons. I cannot specify a tooltip for any of my custom toolbar buttons. Dang it!

[rob hollinger]

I see that there is a new UI Text section in the HTML5 skin editor (which is nice). However, it only gives you the option to add tooltips to the delivered default toolbar buttons. I cannot specify a tooltip for any of my custom toolbar buttons. Dang it!

There is a work-around to get Tool tips on your buttons.
In the Skin editor, click on the UI Text tab
Scroll to the bottom and locate the "Toolbar Button.Print"
Change the Value for this button to the tooltip you want for your custom button and save the file.
Open the skin up in the text editor and locate the tool tip towards the bottom.
Change the name from Print to the name of your custom button and save.
When you build, you should now see a tool tip on the custom button.

[sarrants]

My project has many email links. When I build it as HTML5, I get a warning for each one: "Topic contains a topic popup to an email address. Topic popup will be converted to a hyperlink." I don't get these warnings when building the old targets (HtmlHelp and WebHelp).

I tried deleting the link and re-adding it (using the Flare Insert Hyperlink dialog and specifying Link to Email), and I still get the warning. The link works, but I don't want two hundred warnings every time I build the HTML5 target! What gives?

I saw these warnings too, but the Help that I get doesn't do anything differently. The links still resolve, the email program still opens to send a message, etc. I think Flare is either being too zealous or mistaking a hyperlink for a popup.

[sarrants]

Not a ig deal, but the Add Target dialog cuts off the Add and Cancel buttons. Re-sizing the dialog doesn't fix it.
Image attached

[LTinker68]

Same thing happened to me. This is what support said to do:

For XP:
>> Close Flare
>> Go C:\documents and settings\[user]\application data\MadCap Software\Flare
>> Find the MDI folder and open it.
>> Inside that folder, delete all the sub folders.
>> Launch Flare and make sure it looks right.

For Win7 (same steps, but different location):
>> Browse to:
>> C:\Users\[USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\MadCap Software\Flare\CatapultMdiEditor
>> Delete the folders in this location.

NOTE: I believe this resets your whole layout back to the default, so you might need to recreate your layout in Flare.

[Nita Beck]

A friendly reminder to everyone posting to this thread:

If you think you see a bug in Flare 8, it's really important that you not only post your "niggle" here but also submit a bug report at http://www.madcapsoftware.com/bugs/submit.aspx

[msletten]

Same thing happened to me.

Can you tell us which niggle you were responding to with this?

Thanks,

Mark

[sarrants]

Same thing happened to me. This is what support said to do:
...

Didn't work--I'm still getting the buttons cut off.

[i-tietz]

Not a ig deal, but the Add Target dialog cuts off the Add and Cancel buttons. Re-sizing the dialog doesn't fix it.

I can see you switched your theme to green and transparent. Did you change anything else? Font? Font-size? Zoom? ...
Most developers like to test their products with standard settings only and are "amazingly amazed" by users who don't use standard settings.

[kbradley]

There is a work-around to get Tool tips on your buttons.
In the Skin editor, click on the UI Text tab
Scroll to the bottom and locate the "Toolbar Button.Print"
Change the Value for this button to the tooltip you want for your custom button and save the file.
Open the skin up in the text editor and locate the tool tip towards the bottom.
Change the name from Print to the name of your custom button and save.
When you build, you should now see a tool tip on the custom button.

Thank you, Rob. Works great.

[sarrants]

Not a ig deal, but the Add Target dialog cuts off the Add and Cancel buttons. Re-sizing the dialog doesn't fix it.

I can see you switched your theme to green and transparent. Did you change anything else? Font? Font-size? Zoom? ...
Most developers like to test their products with standard settings only and are "amazingly amazed" by users who don't use standard settings.

Even switching back to Windows 7 default theme doesn't change the dialog box. Dialog boxes and the UI should be responsive to user choices...
Anyway, I submitted it as a bug. Like I said, no big deal.

[lauraj]

My project has many email links. When I build it as HTML5, I get a warning for each one: "Topic contains a topic popup to an email address. Topic popup will be converted to a hyperlink." I don't get these warnings when building the old targets (HtmlHelp and WebHelp).

I tried deleting the link and re-adding it (using the Flare Insert Hyperlink dialog and specifying Link to Email), and I still get the warning. The link works, but I don't want two hundred warnings every time I build the HTML5 target! What gives?

I saw these warnings too, but the Help that I get doesn't do anything differently. The links still resolve, the email program still opens to send a message, etc. I think Flare is either being too zealous or mistaking a hyperlink for a popup.

I know, but I'm going to put in a defect report on this. It's too easy to miss a real, important warning when I have a couple of hundred bogus warnings on every build. I'm not sure I will be able to adopt Flare 8 until this is fixed.

[wbrisett]

For anybody doing DITA importing, I discovered a small flaw. The DITA <note> tag somehow got broke in the Flare 8 import. It comes through as node instead of note. As a temporary fix in my css, I have copied each of my div.note tags and renamed them div.node. This way when the importer gets fixed I don't have to touch the css again.

(I should also mention this has been reported and confirmed by support).

[LTinker68]

Same thing happened to me.

Can you tell us which niggle you were responding to with this?

The one about buttons being cut off at the bottom of the Add or New screen or however it's labeled. My response was right below the one I was responding to.

[i-tietz]

Found one bug that's still around: The merge tool isn't working correctly.
Two identical bits left and right (cannot show the whole lines here - so you wil have to believe me), but the merge tool tells me, it's "new":

merge-tool-still-not-working.png

With a buggy tool like this I cannot trust the messages I get from interactions with source control - may it be a "get latest version" or a "check in".
Something like that makes me - I have to check EACH SINGLE ONE of the conflicts almost letter by letter, because it might be a real one! And the vast majority of the conflicts are just like this one: A waste of time!

[rob hollinger]

Not a ig deal, but the Add Target dialog cuts off the Add and Cancel buttons. Re-sizing the dialog doesn't fix it.

I can see you switched your theme to green and transparent. Did you change anything else? Font? Font-size? Zoom? ...
Most developers like to test their products with standard settings only and are "amazingly amazed" by users who don't use standard settings.

Even switching back to Windows 7 default theme doesn't change the dialog box. Dialog boxes and the UI should be responsive to user choices...
Anyway, I submitted it as a bug. Like I said, no big deal.

To fix this, you have to make a change in the registry.
Make sure Flare is closed.
To open your registry click the start button and type 'Regedit' in the find box just above the button.
Browse to the following location:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\MadCap Software\Flare
Locate a key called "Dialog Settings"
Select it and delete it.
This will return all dialogs to the original install state.
Open Flare and make sure the dialogs are now correct.

[LTinker68]

To open your registry click the start button and type 'Regedit' in the find box just above the button.

Fair warning that screwing up the registry will seriously mess up your computer. If in doubt, get your IT guy or gal to modify the registry. That way you can blame them if they hose your computer.

[Phlawm53]

RESOLVED 2012-03-13: See http://forums.madcapsoftware.com/viewto ... =4&t=14750

Evidently Flare 8 does not, ala Flare 7, permit users to control which side of the Flare 8 window tools such as Content Explorer or Project Organizer will be docked.

Instead, Flare 8 evidently forces tools to be docked in mandatory sides of the Flare 8 window. For example, the aforementioned Content Explorer and Project Organizer must, as best I can tell, be docked on the left side of the Flare 8 workspace — period.

I would be very happy to be proven wrong, but my research indicates that Flare 8 has taken a significant step backwards in usability, not because of the new look, but rather by forcing users to adapt to a "mandatory" layout of docked tools. For example, I've been in the habit of putting my Content Explorer and other tools on the right-side of the Flare window: Evidently Flare 8 will deny me that choice.

Sigh…
RBV
SFO

[wclass]

You're in luck - it can be done.
I have to admit that my first few tries I struggled to put windows and panes where I wanted, but it is all doable (hint, Reset Layout is on the Window ribbon - I needed that a few times while experimenting).
Things I have discovered:

• The "drag pane" in the top left of the Project Organiser or Content Explorer will drag all panes on that side at once (this is what tricked me).
• To move just one pane at a time you need to use the "drag pane" in the bottom right of the pane you want to move.
• When you are in the middle of a "drag" icons appear to dock in the top/left/right/etc of an area, OR there are extra icons at the sides to make it float elsewhere. To dock on the right you have to pick the right icon.
• When you do dock on the right, it sometimes looks like it docks over the top of others and some disappear - no, they are just hidden. There is a "down arrow" on the right of the title bar of the pane you have moved - click that for a menu. It seems to get set to "Standard Tabs Top" when what you (ie, I) really wanted was "Accordian Tabs".

[dgc]

One thing that bugs me is what isn't there. I have raised lots of bugs/feature requests over time (it's been several years for some Word bugs) and many of them are still not fixed.
When will I see these errors fixed?

• better import mapping options for lists (why won't Flare just map to "ul")
• link to selected style sheet instead of creating a new one
• export to standard Word styles instead of creating an endless supply of p_1, p_2, p_3, li_1, li_2, etc

Amen, wclass. The last problem has bothered me since 2007. See this forum discussion. Madcap absolutely will not admit it's a bug. Or rather, they have admitted it's a bug, but have claimed it's a bug in Word.

I'm not sure that's correct.

[Phlawm53]

Margaret:

Thanks but I'm not getting any U.I. assistance when I move the panels to the right side.

So I'm not sure what sort of bug I'm looking at, but based on what I've been told and read, Flare 8 evidently isn't working properly.

To be continued…

Cheers & thanks,
Riley
SFO

[Phlawm53]

It appears that Flare 8's import document feature improperly handles Windows links (.lnk filename extension).

Update 2012-03-12: Confirmed as a bug by Madcap support.

To demonstrate this, you will need a Windows link that points to a folder that contains multiple files, only one of which you want to import. I'll do this exercise with the Microsoft Word document type.

1. In Flare 8, choose Project —> Import —> MS Word Documents. Flare 8 displays the Import Microsoft Word wizard.

2. In the import wizard, click New Project, type and choose the project settings, then click Next. Flare 8 displays the Choose Files dialog box.

3. In the Choose Files dialog box, click Add Files, then in the file selection dialog double-click a Windows link (.lnk) that points to a folder containing Word documents. Flare 8 displays the Choose File dialog box: The list of files incorrectly includes the literal value of the link that points to a folder containing files.

4. In the Choose Files dialog, click Next. Flare 8 "barfs" a lengthy error message — obviously the literal value of the link isn't meant to be added to a list of files to import into Flare.

This behavior of course occurs for all other importable file types.

I've submitted a bug report for this…

Cheers & enjoy,
Riley
SFO

[wclass]

One thing that bugs me is what isn't there. I have raised lots of bugs/feature requests over time (it's been several years for some Word bugs) and many of them are still not fixed.
When will I see these errors fixed?

• better import mapping options for lists (why won't Flare just map to "ul")
• link to selected style sheet instead of creating a new one
• export to standard Word styles instead of creating an endless supply of p_1, p_2, p_3, li_1, li_2, etc

Amen, wclass. The last problem has bothered me since 2007. See this forum discussion. Madcap absolutely will not admit it's a bug. Or rather, they have admitted it's a bug, but have claimed it's a bug in Word.
I'm not sure that's correct.

So what's the etiquette, or standard procedure, for bug submission? Should I resubmit my list of Word bugs that are still outstanding for this new version? (I once worked at a place where the support team would do nothing until the third request was made ). I think I'll post my Word issues (again) into the Print forum to see if anyone else has the same problems.

[nickatwork]

Not sure if this is browser specific but it is HTML5 related. Shows up in both Firefox 10 and IE7 (though I'm not surprised by IE as it doesn't sully support html5)

Anyway,
snippets that contain an expanding drop-down do not keep their header formatting. I use quite a few drop-downs in this way and it seems its only happening with those that have come from snippets.

Create a snippet.
Add text
Create a drop-down hotspot
Format the drop-down's header
Build to html5
Header formatting is not applied.

Reported.

[RamonS]

Not sure if this is browser specific but it is HTML5 related. Shows up in both Firefox 10 and IE7 (though I'm not surprised by IE as it doesn't sully support html5)

Anyway,
snippets that contain an expanding drop-down do not keep their header formatting. I use quite a few drop-downs in this way and it seems its only happening with those that have come from snippets.

Create a snippet.
Add text
Create a drop-down hotspot
Format the drop-down's header
Build to html5
Header formatting is not applied.

Reported.

That makes it more a Flare issue rather than an HTML5 / browser issue, because when the drop-down is not in a snippet then it works fine, right?