Variables in index resolve in PDF, Help, but not Word

[Nita Beck]

Hi gang,

So I'm using some variables in an index for a project from which I output to .CHM Help, PDF, and Word. I've got the variables themselves set at the project level, rather than at the individual target level.

The variables in the index are properly resolving in the CHM and PDF targets, but in Word, they are not. For example, instead of seeing "Operator group, 2" in the Word index, I'm seeing "[%=UIVariables.UserGroup_Limited%], 2".

As an experiment, I set the variables at the Word target level (even though they were no different than at the project level), but got the same result.

Does anyone here know whether this is a limitation of Flare's Word engine?

A search of Flare's Help, the Single-Sourcing forum, and the Printed Documentation forum offered no insight. (I welcome a link to anything I overlooked!)

[LTinker68]

If you use the variable in a TOC entry, does that convert correctly in the Word output?

[Nita Beck]

Irrelevant, right? Flare isn't creating the table of contents in Word from the Word target's TOC. The Word target's TOC just tells Flare which topics to grab and in which order to output to the Word doc. (And the variables in the TOC do resolve correctly in the CHM.)

But if a variable is in a topic's heading, yes, the variable is resolving correctly in the Word doc.

[LTinker68]

Flare isn't creating the table of contents in Word from the Word target's TOC.

Oh, yeah. But if it works in the topic's heading but not the generated index then I'd say it's a bug, most likely in the order that Flare processes the output. Or it misses the step of converting the variable in the index tag in the topic altogether. I would think it would do it at the same time it builds the topic, but it probably puts the keyword into a temp file without converting it first. In either case, the workaround would be to do a find-and-replace in the generated Word output. Long term, submit a bug report.

[Nita Beck]

the workaround would be to do a find-and-replace in the generated Word output. Long term, submit a bug report.

If no one knew the magic spell to make it work, I was planning on doing precisely as you suggest.

Thanks anyway!

[Nita Beck]

To anyone following this post, MadCap support has confirmed this as a bug in Flare 6.1.