Important WebHelp and WebHelp Plus are deprecated in Flare, which means that they are slated to be removed in a future version.
This is an easy way to merge the output from multiple WebHelp Plus Flare targets into one Help system. These targets can be originated from the same Flare project or from different Flare projects. You simply place the output files in the correct location on the server (i.e., within your parent project's AutoMerge folder). Flare then automatically merges the output from all of the targets when users access the Help. From the end user's perspective, the results are seamless, appearing as one large Help system. All of the TOCs, browse sequences, indexes, glossaries, and search capabilities for the projects are merged.
For a complete scenario that illustrates these and other WebHelp Plus steps in a real-life situation, see WebHelp Plus Scenario.
Process
- Enable WebHelp Plus Output If you want to take advantage of the advanced server-side features of WebHelp Plus (i.e., automatic runtime project merging,
- Determine Parent Output Decide which of your project outputs will serve as the parent. This is the main output that users will open. All other outputs will be accessed from that output, although it will appear as one large Help system to end users.
- (Optional) Specify TOC and/or Browse Sequence Locations for Automerge By default, the TOCs and browse sequences from the child outputs will be appended at the end of the parent output's TOC and browse sequence. However, if you want them to be appended somewhere within the parent output's TOC or browse sequence, you can specify the exact location.
- (Optional) Specify Order of Merged Outputs When you automerge WebHelp Plus outputs, the secondary outputs are merged to the parent project's table of contents (TOC) and/or browse sequence in alphabetical order. However, you can override this default configuration and merge the secondary outputs in any order that you like.
- Generate Outputs Build the output for each of the targets to be included in the automerge. You must use WebHelp Plus for all of the targets.
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Publish Output to Server Publish the output for the parent project to the web server running Microsoft IIS. The output files for the child targets need to be published to the "AutoMerge" subfolder located in the parent target's main output folder. For example:
Copyhttp://www.xyzincorporated.com/help systems/MyTargetName/AutoMergeWhen readers open the online output, they will see all of the WebHelp Plus outputs merged into one Help system. They can easily navigate and use the index and search across all of the output files.
Note If you are testing WebHelp Plus output on your local machine, you need view the output at least one time. When you view WebHelp Plus output on your local computer, Flare creates a special folder called "MCPreview" within your "C:\Inetpub\wwwroot" folder, and it places a copy of your WebHelp Plus output files in it. This enables you to test the advanced features of WebHelp Plus on your local machine. When testing the automerge feature on your computer, you need to place the secondary ("child") outputs in the AutoMerge subfolder at this location (as opposed to the output folder that was generated where your Flare project is located).
Note If you are testing WebHelp Plus output on your local machine, you may need to wait a few minutes after viewing the output for the Indexing Service to fully scan your files. Otherwise, you may not immediately see the effects of the scan (e.g., searches of non-XHTML files, incorporation of merged output files) in the output. If you avoid performing other tasks during this period, the scanning of the files will be completed more quickly.
Note If you want to test WebHelp Plus on your local computer, the advanced search features of WebHelp Plus are not operable.