HTML5 output seems VERY slow to build

[ccardimon]

Is it me, or is the HTML5 output VERY slow to build. Much slower than my normal PDF output.

I mean slow enough that you think something has gone horribly wrong.

Suggestions?

[Nita Beck]

It's slower for me as well, but that's because there is so much more that needs to be built for HTML5 output. For example, Flare has to build all the search chunk files, which support searching. And if you've enabled partial searches, Flare has to build A LOT of search chunk files. So my suggestion is to be patient. (I mean no disrespect.)

[ccardimon]

Thanks, Nita! I didn't know that.

[dhauer]

Do you have unnecessary files conditioned not to be included? One interesting thing about the HTML5 build is that it will include absolutely EVERYTHING in your project unless it is specifically excluded. Extra files can slow down the build, too.

Disabling partial word search will speed things up, as Nita said.

Also, you might try fiddling with the size of the search chunks. According to the recent webinar about optimizing searches, the size of chunks can affect the speed of your build. Smaller chunks mean a faster search but a slower build, larger chunks mean a faster build but a slower search. I didn't get much difference in time when I experimented, but my project is relatively small.

Good luck, and be glad that Flare no longer locks everything while it builds.

[dorcutt]

I highly recommend the "exclude content not linked directly or indirectly from the target" option of the HTML target's Advanced tab. It prevents a lot of gunk getting thrown in there, which can help with build times. More importantly, it stops Flare from including completely different versions of articles that I never intended to include in that particular web help target. Such articles can often give users flat-out wrong information if they find it by searching.