Viewing WebHelp Plus Output

Important WebHelp and WebHelp Plus are deprecated in Flare, which means that they are slated to be removed in a future version.

You can view WebHelp Plus output on your local machine for testing purposes, and you can view the output on the server where the files are published (where users access them). Before viewing the output, however, you must first follow all of the steps for enabling WebHelp Plus. See Enabling WebHelp Plus Output.

Basics of Viewing WebHelp Plus Output

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 you test the output on your local computer, the output initially needs to be viewed by using the Flare interface (in order to generate the MCPreview folder). After that, you can view the output by using the Flare interface or by opening the file copies from the MCPreview folder. It is recommended that you use the MCPreview folder for subsequent viewings of WebHelp Plus output, rather than the Flare interface.

For a complete scenario that illustrates these and other WebHelp Plus steps in a real-life situation, see WebHelp Plus Scenario.

If you want to test WebHelp Plus on your local computer, the advanced search features of WebHelp Plus are not operable.

Testing Output Locally—Windows 7

Windows 7 includes a feature called User Access Control (UAC). By default, this feature is enabled in Windows 7, which means that all users, including administrators, run programs in an under-privileged state. It is not possible to view for testing on your local computer if Windows 7 is running in this under-privileged state. If this occurs, you have two options: (1) disable UAC on the local machine, or (2) run Flare with elevated permission without globally disabling UAC.

Option 1—Disable UAC on the Local Machine

  1. Open the Control Panel. On many computers, you can do this by clicking Start > Control Panel.
  2. Select User Accounts (select it twice if you are in Category View).

  3. Click Change User Account Control Settings and then move the slider to Never notify and click OK.

  4. Restart the computer.

    UAC is now disabled. However, in order to preview WebHelp Plus output, you must be part of the Administrator's group, because Standard users cannot preview the output. Check with your system administrator to determine if you are in this group.

Option 2—Run Flare With Elevated Permission Without Globally Disabling UAC

  1. Make sure you are part of the Administrator's group. Check with your system administrator to determine if you are in this group.
  2. In Windows, navigate to the Flare executable file (C:\Program Files\MadCap Software\MadCap Flare 20\Flare.app\Flare.exe).
  3. Set yourself as an administrator for Flare (either temporarily or permanently).

    to run only a single instance of flare as an administrator

    1. Right-click on the executable file.
    2. Select Run as administrator.

    to always run flare as an administrator

    1. Right-click on the executable file.
    2. Select Properties.
    3. Select the Compatibility tab.
    4. In the Privilege Level area, click in the check box labeled Run this program as an administrator.

Procedures for Viewing Output

Use the following procedures to view WebHelp Plus output on the production server (where you publish your final output files) and on your local computer (for testing purposes).

How to View Output on the Production Server

  1. Open a browser window on any computer.

  2. In the address field, type the URL to the main entry file of your output files (where you published them).

    Unless you change the name of the output file (on the General tab of the Target Editor), the name of the main output file is Default.htm.

    Example  

    Copy 
    http://www.mycompanysite/help/myWHPtarget/Default.htm
  3. Press ENTER.

How to View Output on the Local Machine for Testing (Initial Viewing)

After generating the output, do one of the following using the Flare interface.

  • In the message that displays immediately at the end of the compilation process, click Yes.

    OR

  • Open the Target Editor and in the local toolbar click View.

How to View Output on the Local Computer (Subsequent Viewings)

You can follow the same steps above for the initial viewing (using the Flare interface), or you can do the following to quickly access the files from the MCPreview folder.

  1. Open a browser window.

  2. In the address field, type the following:

    http://localhost/MCPreview/[Name of Main Entry File].htm

    For example: http://localhost/MCPreview/Default.htm

    Note The above address pertains to Windows Server 2003.

  3. Press ENTER.

What’s Noteworthy?

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 Flare's HTML5 Side and Top Navigation skins do not support runtime project merging.