Using a shared folder for all images?

[sdcinvan]

Am I missing something?

I am finally getting around to consolidating all my images for all my publications. I want to place all the images (final copies and sources) into one folder, appropriately organized. Not only are many images shared by multiple Flare documents but also by other programs, such as Adobe Illustrator and Microsoft Word.

BUT Flare is the only program causing me grief. I am perplexed by the fact that Flare needs to force a copy of the source image from this shared image folder and defeating my objective of NOT having unnecessary multiple copies of images. Furthermore (unless I am misreading this), the function to "Keep file(s) synchronized..." doesn't work. That means that when I update an image, the update isn't automatically reflected in Flare.

This is another situation where Flare can't seem to do something so trivial, even Microsoft Word can do!

But, I welcome someone explaining that I am doing something wrong.

Image_consolidated_resource.png

NOTE: I am not using MadCap Capture because it cannot do the edits that I need in my documentation, it doesn't support vector images (like .svg), and I need to reuse images in multiple documentation tools.

[sdcinvan]

BTW, the behavior I am expecting from Flare is an automated update.

What I am experiencing... I need to go into edit image and then reselect the source image. Flare will ask me if I wish to replace the copied version.

This is not an efficient workflow when changing many images and also needing to know which ones need to be updated.

[whunter]

I assume you have that image folder set up as an External Resource and then you are copying the file to your project?
Clicking that "Keep files synchronized..." option creates a mapping between the file in your project and the file in the External Resource folder. You can see these mappings by clicking the Manage Mappings button on the Project tab.
Flare won't automatically update the file if it changes in the External Resource, but if you click "Synchronize Files" (on the Project tab) then it will show you a list of all the files that have changed in the External Resource folder versus the copy in your project (and vice versa, but in this case your changes are probably only going one way). You can then click a button to copy any changed files into your project.
I use this approach, and I just make clicking "Synchronize Files" one of the things I do before finalizing a project and producing the final output.

Disclaimer: I'm still on v9, so I don't know if they added the ability to automate this in v10.

The other option is global project linking, which does automatically update files when you generate output, but then your image files have to live in another Flare project. Maybe your other programs would be able to read those files from the Flare project folder.

[sdcinvan]

I assume you have that image folder set up as an External Resource and then you are copying the file to your project?
Clicking that "Keep files synchronized..." option creates a mapping between the file in your project and the file in the External Resource folder. You can see these mappings by clicking the Manage Mappings button on the Project tab.
Flare won't automatically update the file if it changes in the External Resource, but if you click "Synchronize Files" (on the Project tab) then it will show you a list of all the files that have changed in the External Resource folder versus the copy in your project (and vice versa, but in this case your changes are probably only going one way). You can then click a button to copy any changed files into your project.
I use this approach, and I just make clicking "Synchronize Files" one of the things I do before finalizing a project and producing the final output.

Disclaimer: I'm still on v9, so I don't know if they added the ability to automate this in v10.

The other option is global project linking, which does automatically update files when you generate output, but then your image files have to live in another Flare project. Maybe your other programs would be able to read those files from the Flare project folder.

Thank you so much.

It isn't automated in Flare but this is quite good enough. So pleased to find out that I was wrong!

[sdcinvan]

Now that I have used this feature, here are some observations. Love to hear your thoughts.

The requirement to manually synchronize the images is a tedious and error prone activity. Why? If you are like me, you are building dozens of documents and many of your master images are shared. Unlike other documentation tools, Flare doesn't actively compare inserted images with their source images and as a result, Flare doesn't indicate that you have outdated images in a document.

Flare needs to duplicate images from the master folder, which means that my many projects will all keep separate duplicates of every image. Furthermore, when images are removed and/or replaced with different images (with different names), the Flare project folders are left with 'orphaned' images.

Both manually synching the images and cleanup (via Madcap Analyzer) are extraneous additional steps that slow down workflow. MadCap Analyzer is especially tedious to use!

It simply makes no sense that Flare needs to make a duplicate of each image for each project and is not the behavior of any other documentation tool that I have used.

[DocuWil]

The requirement to manually synchronize the images is a tedious and error prone activity.

Beginning of last year I noticed this already.
I do the same also with dictionaries and auto suggestion files.
The point is that I sometimes forget to do the action and then I run into resolving issues. In other words: irritating!
My opinion is that there should come an option to automate the synchronization at closing and opening a project. I am not a programmer, but how difficult can that be?

[NorthEast]

Why not use a project import instead of External Resources?
You can set a project import to be run automatically every time you build an output, and set it to only import image files.
You don't ever need to open the other project, just drop the image files inside it.

That's the only way you can automate it via Flare; otherwise there are numerous free folder/file synchronisation tools.

[sdcinvan]

Why not use a project import instead of External Resources?
You can set a project import to be run automatically every time you build an output, and set it to only import image files.
You don't ever need to open the other project, just drop the image files inside it.

That's the only way you can automate it via Flare; otherwise there are numerous free folder/file synchronisation tools.

First, I'll admit that I don't fully understand how this feature works....

...but on the surface, it seems like a messy process.

This is all I want to do (slightly expanded upon my early posts)...

I want to have two 'global' folders.

1) Images
This is the master image repository. Contains all the shared images used by Flare and other documentation tools.
Edits to the images, in this folder, are automatically seen in each of my documentation tools (except Flare - which requires manual intervention).
Flare issues
a) Flare makes copies of these images (when inserted as a mapped image). Meaning, a dozen projects equals a dozen duplicates!
b) No indication of mapped images in the Flare source HTML nor XML editor. Only the separate "Manage Mappings" shows the link references.
c) If the source image is edited, Flare doesn't know! I must remember and manually synchronize.
d) If the source image is changed, Flare keeps the old copy... which must be manually cleaned up by MadCap Analyzer.
e) If I want to reuse Flare content (i.e. a page or page layout) but this content contains references to shared images, each image link will appear broken in other projects.
f) Flare's synchronize option is extremely rudimentary! For instance, there is no way to trace image mappings back to where they are used in the project. It is just a simple list!

The only time that the master images should be duplicated is when a Flare project is published (i.e. for HTML output)

2) Reusable Flare specific content (i.e. Flare HTM pages, page layouts, etc.)
Many projects will reuse appendix pages, terms and conditions, etc.
I don't want to designate a 'master project' but rather, just single pages. It appears that the project import feature insists on designating a master project.

That is essentially how 'single sourcing' works in my workflow and how I was hoping it would work in Flare.

[NorthEast]

1-a) Any files that will be included in the target build will need to be in the project content folder; so you'll need a copy of the file in the project one way or another.

1-b) A project import will indicate imported files, and actively prevent you from editing them.

1-c) A project import can be run automatically at build time.

1-e) A project import can auto-include linked files.

2) Rather than a 'master project', just think of it as a repository.
I use one project import for files that form my 'master template' for help projects - e.g. stylesheets, page layouts, master pages, images, condition sets.
I may have other project imports, e.g. I might have one project that also imports a batch of topics from another project.

Project imports are quite flexible, so you can specify exactly what files are imported; e.g. by file types, individual files, or files marked with certain condition tags (which I find is a good method to tag/mark groups of files).

[sdcinvan]

Thanks for your reply Dave.

1-a) Any files that will be included in the target build will need to be in the project content folder; so you'll need a copy of the file in the project one way or another.

But a build is entirely different. That is the only time that the master images should be copied (just like other tools).

1-b) A project import will indicate imported files, and actively prevent you from editing them.

Huh? Besides being listed in under Manage Mappings where else does Flare indicate that an image was imported?
If I select an imported image and select, Edit With MadCap Capture, there is no restriction... I am able to edit the image.

If I edit that imported image, the next time I sync, Flare will ask to overwrite the source image.

Are we talking about the same concept? Perhaps, I am doing something very different than what you are describing?

1-c) A project import can be run automatically at build time.

Can you please tell me where this option is located?
Unless you are referring to, "Auto-reimport before "Generate Output""? In that case, it isn't very useful to me because I am not using the Import Flare Projects feature.

2) Rather than a 'master project', just think of it as a repository.
I use one project import for files that form my 'master template' for help projects - e.g. stylesheets, page layouts, master pages, images, condition sets.
I may have other project imports, e.g. I might have one project that also imports a batch of topics from another project.

Project imports are quite flexible, so you can specify exactly what files are imported; e.g. by file types, individual files, or files marked with certain condition tags (which I find is a good method to tag/mark groups of files).

Thank you for the advise Dave. I'll reconsider this when I am not so busy.

[NorthEast]

All tools might work differently - I'm just saying this is how Flare works.

Everything I'm referring to is about Flare's project import feature, which might handle aspects of what you want a little better than using external resources.