MadCap Software Forums

Posted: **Mon Apr 09, 2018 7:18 am**

I run a small team of writers and we frequently work within the same projects, and occasionally on the same topics.
We do not use Flare's inbuilt source control but instead manage it manually with TortoiseSVN.

Genuine conflicts are rare because we are rarely editing the same parts of the same topics, however Flare metadata in topics frequently gives us unavoidable conflicts.

An ongoing issue that we've lived with because it happens rarely is the html tag metadata:
<html xmlns:MadCap="http://www.madcapsoftware.com/Schemas/MadCap.xsd" MadCap:lastBlockDepth="4" MadCap:lastHeight="247" MadCap:lastWidth="876">
Every users ends up with different lastHeight and lastWidth causing unavoidable conflicts if we happen to work on the same topics at the same time.

A new issue which is completely infuriating is with Import files.

We're in the process of modularizing our extensive doc set to enable reuse of modules across different product packages, so I'm using the Project Import functions.

However, the Import files themselves contain metadata which will cause unavoidable conflicts every single time:
LastImport="2018-04-09T16:00:49.6173818+02:00"

Does anyone else have these issues or have any tips on how to avoid them?

Posted: **Thu Apr 12, 2018 9:03 am**

Ah yes, very familiar with that one! We also use TortoiseSVN outside of Flare. Because of that, we don't save the entire project in Tortoise, just the bits that we need for each project. If a project imports stuff from a different project, we only save the "source" project, not any content that is created by the import.

For import files, we save "clean" import files in SVN, and when checking in, we add any import file to the "ignore-on-commit" list. Obviously if we NEED to change something in the import file, like using a different condition or something like that, we make that change, make sure the import file is "clean" and check it in, then we have to remember not to check in the "used" import files.

Difference between "clean" and "used" Word import files:
Clean: no values in LastCollectTime and LastImport.
In the <Files> section, no value in AbsoluteSource.
No values in <GeneratedFiles> (and because I use other fancy whizz-bangs there are no values in any of the other sections to follow).

Difference between "clean" and "used" Flare import files:
In Clean files, no value in LastImport
In <Files> section, no value in AbsoluteSource.
No values in any other sections.

Treating them this way does mean that you lose a bit of functionality in Flare, but rather that than the annoyance of having new Import files every commit.

In order to avoid conflicts with content files, I try to remember to update before I check anything in.

Hope that helps.

MadCap Software Forums

Flare Metadata Causing SVN Conflicts

Flare Metadata Causing SVN Conflicts

Re: Flare Metadata Causing SVN Conflicts