To troubleshoot a complex build process I needed time stamps on each line of the Flare build log. It’s not possible today, but MadCap has created a feature request for it… …and in the meanwhile, I’ve created a tool you can use to generate a log file with time stamps. You can use this tool for any […]
Automation
Free Tool: Automatically Synchronize External Resources in MadCap Flare
In my master Flare project, I like to include PDF-versions of the webhelp targets, so that users can either download the PDF, or read the online help. It’s all built from the same TOC. To keep this up-to-date, the PDFs are built and published to a network folder, and then re-imported to the Flare project using […]
Automated QA: Checking for broken links in your Flare output – now also for HTTP links
The CheckLinks tool now also finds broken http and https links in addition to finding broken local relative links. Download CheckLinks version 2 The syntax for running the tool is, for example: C:\> Checklinks2 “C:\OutputFolder” “C:\LogFolder” For info about the existing tool, see http://techwritingengineer.com/automated-qa-checking-for-broken-links-in-your-flare-output/
Automated QA: Checking for broken links in your Flare output
Do you use relative hyperlinks (<a href=”../../folder/folder/file.htm”>File</a>) in your Flare projects? Would you like to verify that they work in the output without checking manually? Keep reading! I’ve made a tool that scans all .htm files in the output and tests the relative links. The result is a .txt report that gives you a list of all […]
Generate 10,000 Flare topic files in 7 minutes
Tired of setting up Flare topic files manually? Got enough work to last until Christmas next year? Keep reading and learn how you can use Excel to create 10,000 topic files in less than 7 minutes. Click here to download an example spreadsheet. Set up or import your data to Excel (e.g. a list of topics). Set […]
Convert CSV-data to XML-files
Here’s a tool I developed that transforms CSV-data into XML-data based on a template. You can use it to, for example: Create MadCap Flare snippet files Create topic files Create MadCap Flare target files Create MadCap Flare condition sets Create MadCap Flare variable sets You can use it to convert any type of CSV-data into text […]
Setting up a Kanban Board in MadCap Flare
If you’re a fan of using Kanban boards – the simplest way of implementing one in MadCap Flare is to use a TOC. Setting up a Kanban TOC in Flare Create a new TOC and add items corresponding to your workflow (e.g. Backlog, In Writing, etc) Add topics to your backlog Work on one topic at a […]