Flare 7 Snippets not viewable in html file

[dcorry]

I am still pretty new to Flare and need some input please. Should I be able to see the snippet verbiage in the .html file from my hard drive/flare project/content folder before I generate the file?

[LTinker68]

I'm not quite sure what you're asking.

If you insert a snippet into a topic file, then you should be able to see it in the topic in the XML Editor and the Preview window. If you leave it as a snippet block then you'll see all the contents, but you won't be able to click in it to edit it and the code block on the left side of the XML Editor (if enabled) will indicate it's a snippet block. If you convert the snippet to text then you'll be able to edit it in the topic, but it's no longer inheriting from the original snippet file.

If you double-click on a snippet file to open it for editing, then you'll be able to view it in the XML Editor and in the Preview window. If you try to open that snippet file directly in a web browser, then I'm not sure if that will work or not since it's a Flare-specific file type, although it contains HTML code. But why would you want to do that anyway?

Once you compile the output, there won't be a snippets folder or separate snippet files -- the contents of the snippet files are incorporated into the topic files at build time so they're no longer separate entities.

Does that help?

[dcorry]

Thanks Lisa.

Let me try to clarify what I am asking.

Background Steps:
1. I created a topic in flare and included text and snippets. I then saved.
2. Then, before I generated the build, I went to my hard drive, under the project, into the Contents folder and located the topic I created and the file extension was .html.
3. When I double-clicked the topic .html file, it opened in a browser which is what I expected.
4. When I looked at the file in the browser, the only information that displayed on the .html page was the text. To my surprise, none of the snippet text I had added to the topic displayed on the page.
5. I tested this in a test flare instance, followed steps 2-4 above and again, none of the snippet text displayed on the page.

The reason I ran into this was I need to send an .html file to my supervisor for review. My supervisor prefers a .html file prior to generating the build and vice it being copied to word and my supervisor does not have flare.

Question:
Will the snippet text display in the .html file (located under the project, in the Contents folder) prior to generating the build?

Hopefully this is more clear.

Thanks for your help!
Debbie

[lacastle]

i don't think the snippet will show because it is not directly in the html file (it is linked to the snippet file). snippets join the html only during the build process.
if you convert the snippet to text (right-click on the bar on the left side of the editor), it will no longer be linked to the original snippet, but it will be part of the html.
does your supervisor have to be able to edit the html? if not, you could just take a screenshot of the page in flare and send it. personally, i think it would be quicker to copy/paste the text into an email or Word (than finding the html in the Content Explorer and sending that, and then having to edit the html in a text editor).

[LTinker68]

Yeah, what Laura said.

I'm guessing that when you opened that HTML file in the browser, you also didn't see your styles, correct? That's because the reference to the stylesheet file isn't added to the HTML file until the project is built. The XML Editor simulates that the reference is there, but it really isn't. In the case of the snippet, the reference is in the topic, but since you're not sending the snippet file with the HTML file and in a relative location, then there's nothing to display. (Of course, even if the stylesheet were referenced in the topic the styles still wouldn't show up unless you included the stylesheet file in the appropriate relative path to the topic.)

Why not just put the compiled help on a file server that your boss has access to? Then he can see the whole finished help when he evaluates the topic, including index, glossary, navigation, etc.