Flare Features Not Supported in MadCap Central

There are certain features in Flare that are not fully supported when you generate targets from MadCap Central. However, a few of these features are supported when publishing directly to Central from a local Flare project. See Publishing Directly to Central.

Automatically Get Latest Files

If you are working in a dual-bound scenario (see Dual-Bound Projects) and you select the option in the target to automatically get the latest version of files before generating, this option will not work when you build from MadCap Central. Instead, you must first synchronize your files with source control in Flare and then push those changes to Central.

Batch Targets

Batch targets cannot be generated from MadCap Central.

However, you can generate a batch target when publishing directly to Central from a local Flare project.

Custom Build Log Folder

In the Options dialog, Flare has a feature that lets you choose a custom folder to hold the log file after generating output. This feature is not supported when building from MadCap Central. Instead, the log file is stored at the root level of the output folder.

Custom Fonts

If you are using custom fonts in your Flare project, they are not supported when you build output from MadCap Central.

Custom Output Folder

Flare targets let you choose a custom location for your output folder. However, this is not supported when building from MadCap Central. You must use the default location.

Date/Time Variables

Target generation occurs on a server with Central, so date/time variables are not supported.

Elasticsearch

Elasticsearch is one of the search engine options that you have in Flare (along with MadCap Search and Google Search). Currently, using Elasticsearch in your HTML5 output is not supported in targets generated from Central.

However, Elasticsearch is supported when publishing directly to Central from a local Flare project.

Global Ignored Warnings

You can tell Flare to ignore certain warnings so that they do not display as such in the Builds window pane when generating output. This can be done globally for all targets in all projects. You can also override those global settings for a specific target in a project. However, if you generate output from Central, global settings to ignore warnings are not supported; instead, you must ignore warnings in the target.

Linked Mimic Movies and Projects

When building from MadCap Central, external links to Mimic movies and projects will not work. However, embedded movies in a Flare project are supported.

MadCap Pulse

MadCap Pulse is not supported in output that is generated from Central. In order to use Pulse with your output, it must be hosted outside of Central.

Pre- and Post-Build Events

If you create pre- or post-build events in your Flare target, they will not function when building from MadCap Central.

However, pre- and post-build events are supported when publishing directly to Central from a local Flare project.

Publishing to Outside Servers

Flare lets you create destination files for the purpose of publishing to external servers. This feature is not supported when building from MadCap Central. Instead, live builds are always published in Central.

Viewing Some Output Formats

The following types of output can be generated from MadCap Central, but they cannot be viewed (output files are downloaded to your computer):

  • DITA
  • Eclipse Help
  • EPUB

  • Microsoft HTML Help

    Note Due to issues with Microsoft HTML Help, the CHM file that is downloaded will initially be blocked. To unblock the CHM file, remove it from the ZIP file. Then right-click the CHM file and select Properties. On the General tab in the dialog, select Unblock.

  • Microsoft Word
  • Server-Based Outputs:
    • HTML5 Plus
    • WebHelp Plus

    Note If you want to produce server-based output from MadCap Central, you will need to download the output from Central after it finishes building. You can then publish the output to your server.