About Clean XHTML Output

Clean XHTML produces basic HTML files that are free of MadCap-specific tags and not dependent upon other MadCap-generated files. The output does not include any skins, search, navigation, or other extra features; it is simply your single-sourced content. This lets you re-purpose your output in many flexible ways (e.g., you can embed the output files into other applications, such as project management tools, wikis, or eLearning systems). You might also perform other types of post-processing tasks with the output.

Following are some important points to keep in mind with the Clean XHTML format:

  • Single-Sourcing Flare’s unique features are applied during compilation so that you still end up with single-sourced output.

  • MC Tags All mc tags and data-mc tags are removed, including keywords, concepts, conditions, etc.

    Note: The MC tags that are removed for Clean XHTML output are related to MadCap-specific features, such as drop-downs and cross-references. Although these tags are removed from the output, the generated style classes that start with “MC” are preserved, because they are needed to support these MadCap-specific features. Therefore, these style classes are converted during the build, and they are defined in the generated MadCap.css file.

  • Namespace The MadCap namespace is removed.
  • MadCap JavaScript For Clean XHTML output, MadCap-injected JavaScript is removed. In other words, features such as drop-downs, Help controls, text popups, and footnotes rely on JavaScript to work. Therefore, with Clean XHTML output, these elements are converted to text. However, custom scripts that you might have added to topics (see About Scripts) will not automatically be removed when you generate Clean XHTML; if you want to exclude these custom scripts, you must do so manually (i.e., by deleting them or using conditions).
  • Images/Multimedia Images and other multimedia remain as separate files in the output and are included in the topics by reference.
  • MadCap Styles All MadCap-specific styles are removed from the user stylesheet.

  • Convert to Inline Styles In the Target Editor (General tab), there is an option to convert stylesheet styles to inline styles.

    If you choose this option, the output folder will not include stylesheet files. That’s because the styles have been integrated into the topic files.

    If Option Is Not Selected

    If Option Is Selected

    Output Content/Resources Folder:

    Output Content/Resources Folder:

    Topic Markup:

    Topic Markup: