Publishing Topics with Track Changes

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PatOC
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2018 8:00 am

Publishing Topics with Track Changes

Post by PatOC »

Hi, While I am aware you can use conditional publishing on selected texts,is there is a way you can set up a condition that applies to a whole topic? When I'm publishing I only want to publish topics that have no track changes in them? So, every other topic would be updated except the ones with track changes?
thanks!
BedfordWriter
Sr. Propeller Head
Posts: 231
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2010 10:13 am
Location: Nova Scotia

Re: Publishing Topics with Track Changes

Post by BedfordWriter »

Not sure that I understand the use case (You want to omit topics that have changes, thereby leaving gaps in the document?).

But that's beside the point of the question, which is purely technical in nature.
Yes you can flag an entire topic with a conditional. It's just a modifier in the first line:

Code: Select all

<html xmlns:MadCap="http://www.madcapsoftware.com/Schemas/MadCap.xsd" class="concept" MadCap:conditions="Default.ExcludeFromExcerpts">
Presumably, you would also need to apply the conditional to the matching entry in the TOC.

And both need to be done if there is a line anywhere in the topic source code that includes

Code: Select all

<MadCap:change MadCap:changes="
Additionally, those conditions must be removed if MadCap:change is missing. Easiest way to do this part would be to use the File List to group then and remove the condition from all before adding the condition to the topics with changes.

I'm not aware of anything in the product that can do that automatically. So, you could run a report for Files with Changes (under the Content Files section), then use that list to go through the project flagging all the topics with conditions. Or, you could write a pre-processor. Personally, I'd just look for a way to wiggle out of needing to do this at all. Maybe insist that reviewers accept or reject changes before publishing?
NorthEast
Master Propellus Maximus
Posts: 6426
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:33 am

Re: Publishing Topics with Track Changes

Post by NorthEast »

Just to note, you can set the condition in topic properties - you don't need to manually edit the HTML in text view.

You don't need to apply the condition to the item in the TOC too, as the topic will automatically be removed from the contents/menu when you build the target.
PatOC
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2018 8:00 am

Re: Publishing Topics with Track Changes

Post by PatOC »

Dave Lee wrote:Just to note, you can set the condition in topic properties - you don't need to manually edit the HTML in text view.

You don't need to apply the condition to the item in the TOC too, as the topic will automatically be removed from the contents/menu when you build the target.
thanks for the replies. For this project, I am publishing directly to Zendesk so each topic is stanalone.

Can you clarify how I set the condition in Topic Properties?
NorthEast
Master Propellus Maximus
Posts: 6426
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 8:33 am

Re: Publishing Topics with Track Changes

Post by NorthEast »

PatOC wrote:Can you clarify how I set the condition in Topic Properties?
Right-click a file to see its properties.

It's in the help: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... xplorer%22
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