A snippet is an important file used for single-sourcing that acts sort of like a miniature topic. In a snippet, you can insert and format text, tables, pictures, and whatever else can be included in a normal topic. We’re not usually talking about single words or phrases; that’s what variables are for. A snippet can be inserted into one or more topics throughout your project. You can even insert them into other snippets, creating nested snippets.
example
example
Let's say you are writing a manual about dogs. In one topic, you have created a colorful table with images that lists the top five breeds. Let's say you want to place that same table in seven other topics. You have a choice. (1) You can re-create that table manually in each of those topics. (2) You can copy the first table and paste it into the other topics. This is a better solution, but if you need to make changes to the table in the future, you'll need to do so in all eight topics. (3) You can create a snippet from the table and insert it into each of the other topics. This is the best solution because, if you need to make changes in the future, you only need to do so within the snippet and the changes are automatically reflected in all eight topics.
For more information about snippets, see the Flare online Help.
tasks associated with snippets
Following are Analyzer tasks associated with snippets.
- View and Convert Snippet Suggestions You can view content that matches existing snippets in your project, and you can quickly convert these occurrences to snippets. You can also double-click a row to open the topic in question, with the potential snippet content highlighted. See Viewing Snippet Suggestions.
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Convert Frequent Segments to Snippets You can view a list of segments that occur frequently in your project. You can see the segment text, the number of occurrences of each segment, and the number of words and characters in each segment.
If you notice that certain segments are repeated numerous times in your project, you can easily convert them to
- View Topics With Snippet Conditions You can view a list of all files where snippet conditions have been applied. You can also double-click a row to open the topic in question. See Viewing Files with Snippet Conditions.
- Replace Existing Snippets with New Snippets After you create or add a new snippet to your project, you can insert it into any of your topics. Later, if you decide that a different snippet is a better fit for the topic, you can select a new snippet to replace it.