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About Targets

Targets

There are several types of online output and print-based output that you can produce in Flare. HTML5 is the recommended online output type, and for print-based output, PDF and Word are preferred. Each output type has its own set of advantages.

It is easy to confuse output types with targets, but they are two different (although related) concepts. A target is one instance of an output type. It is the engine that takes all of your files and settings, and brings them together to produce the end result. When you build your final output, you are essentially building one or more of the targets in your project.

In Flare you can add targets using any of the available formats, and you can make as many copies of an existing target that you want. For example, your project might end up containing three targets that are all based on the output type (in addition to other targets).

A target file has an .fltar extension and is stored in the Project Organizer under the Targets folder.

ClosedSee the Movie

Closedinitial targets provided

When you create a new project using one of Flare's factory templates, one or more new targets are added to your project.

However, just because you are provided with one or more targets initially, this does not mean that you are limited to just that target in your project. In Flare you can add targets using any of the available formats, and you can make as many copies of an existing target that you want. For example, your project might end up containing three targets that are all based on the HTML5 output type (in addition to other targets).

Closedbatch targets

In addition to regular targets, you can use batch targets to generate and/or publish one or multiple targets in a batch from the user interface, perhaps scheduled to run at a specific time. See Building Output Using a Batch Target.

ClosedMultilingual targets

If you want to create multilingual output, you can create a multilingual target. To do this, you can link translated Flare projects to your current project. When you build your output, Flare will generate output using the target files found in each linked project. When you open the output, you will be able to access files for each language. See Multilingual Output and How to Select Languages for a Specific Target.

Closedexporting projects using targets

You can export project files and content based on targets that you create. One reason you might want to use this feature is to quickly and easily archive projects, especially if you have an extremely large Flare project and need to archive only parts of it. Another use for this feature is translation. If you only need a portion of a master project to be translated, you don't want to send the translator all of the files, but rather a smaller version of the project containing only the files requiring translation. See Exporting Projects.

Closedsteps for using targets

Following are the basic steps involved with targets:

  1. Determine Output Type The first task in developing output for your project is to determine which type of output is most appropriate for your needs. You might even need to produce multiple outputs and require more than one output type. See Determining the Output Type.
  2. Add Target You can add as many new targets as you want to a project. You can also copy existing targets. See Adding Targets.
  3. Rename Target Let's say that you have compared the different output types available and decided that HTML5 is the output type that best meets your needs. However, you want to produce two online Help systems from your project. The solution is to add a new HTML5 target or make a copy of another HTML5 target so that you now have two targets based on the HTML5 output type. You can then rename the targets to help identify them. See Renaming Targets.
  4. Open Target You can open a target at any time to edit it. See Opening Targets.
  5. Set Primary Target You can have as many targets in a project as you want, and any of your targets can be built (generated) whenever you like. However, chances are that you will have one target that you work with more than the others. Therefore, you can set it as your primary target. See Setting a Primary Target.
  6. Edit Target Settings Using the Target Editor, you can edit properties for any of your targets. See Editing Target Settings.