Build Tags

Forum|Forum|17 years ago
December 8, 2008
16 replies
1788 views

I thought the build tags were a great idea, used them in both the TOC and topic level, and even some inside the content. After I first did this, along with experimenting with the Define (what to include vs what exclude), it was great. Now, I am recompiling those same files, and missing topics that are tagged to be included.

Those were mostly topics with dual tags, so I removed one (defeating the purpose of tags). That worked for some, but not all. I moved on to another layout, and now again topics that are tagged to go in are not showing up! And these do not have dual tags. I don't know what else to do, and folks are waiting on this project.

Is there a way to review you TOC before compiling (like with the print version)? Which works better - tagging the Topic or the TOC or both? Any other ideas? :)

Felicia

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Captiv8r

Legend

Hi Felicia

Care to expound on that?

I believe what you are describing is actually possible to accomplish. BUT, you have to think of things differently.

Note that anything NOT tagged will always appear in the output. Build Tags may be used in two different ways. You may use them to *INCLUDE* information or *EXCLUDE* information. Most of the time we recommend using them to *EXCLUDE* information. The build expression is normally NOT TagName.

So let's say you have a topic that says: The red rabbit ran round the rumwater. You might have different tags applied to rum. (Perhaps Alcohol and Booze) You might also have a different tag applied to water. (Perhaps innocent)

So your build expression might be simply Alcohol or it might be simply Booze. In this case the sentence would read The red rabbit ran round the rum. If you changed the build expression to simply "Innocent", the sentence would change.

I believe it's simpler to think in terms of what you want excluded as opposed to the other way around. But it can work two different ways.

Cheers... Rick

A

Anonymous

What would make these Build Tags more efficient is the ability to build an expression in the content vs just checking them off. Then I could assign a paragraph to "trader OR supervisor."

A

Anonymous

I found that excluding content gave me better results. HOWEVER, I have several topics where there are dual tags. These don't seem to work. If a topic is marked for trader and supervisor, and I do a trader doc excluding supervisors, that topic is not included. I have content marked also within some topics, so this could be a problem.

I really need to understand the difference between marking the topics in the topic list versus marking the topics in the TOC.

Can anyone explain?

Captiv8r

Legend

Hi flucco

Think of the TOC as you would a regular Web Page. It is simply a launching point with many links that point to other pages. By applying a tag to a TOC item, you are asking RoboHelp to remove the link. The page it links to is still there. You are simply removing the link to the page.

The Topics list is a list of HTML pages. If you apply a tag to a topic in the Topics List, you are asking RoboHelp to remove that topic from the mix when you generate or compile using a build expression.

So here's the kicker. If you apply the tag to the topic, there should be no need to apply the same tag to the TOC element linking to that topic. If it's missing in the output as a result of a condition, the TOC will self adjust to remove the reference to that topic.

I know it's tempting to apply tagging to the TOC. Personally, I avoid it.

Cheers... Rick

RoboColum_n_

Legend

Having seen this thread I thought it might be worth asking whether you realise that the point of build tags is to EXCLUDE content. I just ask because it sounds like you may be attempting to exclude AND include content.

A

Anonymous

Scratch that last message! It messed up the content tags. I found the problem to be in the compiling. Instead of a simple "Trader and CM" I had to compile by excluding NCMs (and everything else). Now I got what I need.

A

Anonymous

me again. I figured it out - well some of it. I'd still appreciate some feedback on my questions in the last paragraph.

And just in case anyone is experiencing the same problem, what I found is this... I had topics marked as "Trader" and defined the single source as "Trader and CM." I had to go back and add all that applied to the Trader tags. NOW the topics I want appeared. HOWEVER, some content is marked CM or NCM, and in the end NEITHER appeared. I'm going to experiment with the TOC level and hope that helps. I have a deadline guys; any help is appreciated. :)

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