Creating Topic Alias Markers in FrameMaker for CSH

A topic alias marker is a special marker that you can insert into your FrameMaker source content wherever you want a new context-sensitive Help (CSH) identifier to be created in Flare (after you import the FrameMaker document). After the developer "hooks" the CSH identifier with the appropriate user interface element in the application, that imported FrameMaker content will display when a user opens the CSH in the application's user interface.

You can use these markers as an alternative to creating the identifiers in Flare. For more information see Creating and Assigning Identifiers and Context-Sensitive Help.

Following are steps for creating these markers in Adobe FrameMaker. For more information, please refer to the documentation provided with FrameMaker.

How to Create a Topic Alias Marker for Context-Sensitive Help

The following steps may vary in different versions of FrameMaker.

  1. Open the FrameMaker document.
  2. In FrameMaker, create the topic alias marker type that is required for this feature. This is a one-time step in the document. Afterward, you can simply select the newly created marker type when applying it to content. To create the topic alias marker type, do the following:
    1. In FrameMaker, select Special > Marker. The Marker dialog opens.
    2. From the Marker Type field, click the down arrow and select Edit. The Edit Custom Marker Type dialog opens.
    3. In the field, replace the existing text and type TopicAlias.
    4. Click Add.
    5. Click Done.

  3. In the FrameMaker document, place your cursor at the location where you want to insert a topic alias marker.

    Usually you will place the cursor at the beginning of a heading that you want to be the start of a new online topic in Flare.

  4. If it is not already displayed, open the Marker dialog (Special > Marker).
  5. If the topic alias marker type is not already displayed in the dialog, click the Marker Type down arrow and select TopicAlias.

  6. In the Marker Text field, enter the text to be used as the topic ID.

    You might simply type the same text that occurs in the paragraph heading. That way, it will be easily identified by both you and the developer. When typing the topic ID, make sure you use underscores between words, because spaces are not allowed (e.g., Properties_Dialog).

  7. Click New Marker.
  8. Close the Marker dialog.
  9. Save the FrameMaker document.

Note Flare supports FrameMaker 7.0 and newer versions.

What’s Next?

After you import the FrameMaker document(s), you can open the alias or header file to see the new identifiers created from the topic alias markers. See Importing FrameMaker Files, Opening Alias Files, and Opening Header Files.