This is a blog about how to script, program, and automate with the XML-based project structure of MadCap Flare. To get started, see the first posts about Flare Topics and Flare TOCs. Then move on to: XPath XQuery XSD XSLT These first posts focus on basics. As time goes on, the posts will target specific technologies… Continue reading Welcome to Flare for Programmers
Use Linq to XML with Flare Files (part 1)
Linq to XML is a library for XML manipulation for use with Microsoft’s Visual Basic and Visual C#. Linq to XML offers extensive functionality at the cost of limiting development to a .NET context. Microsoft posts information about Linq to XML here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb387098 The Visual Basic manifestation of the System.XML.Linq interface is particularly interesting because… Continue reading Use Linq to XML with Flare Files (part 1)
Flare and Schemas (part 1)
XSD is a schema language for XML. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published XML Schema Part 1: Structures Second Edition and XML Schema Part 2: Datatypes Second Edition as recommendations in 2004. W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) 1.1 Part 1: Structures and W3C XML Schema Definition Language (XSD) 1.1 Part 2: Datatypes were… Continue reading Flare and Schemas (part 1)
Use XQuery with Flare Files
XQuery is another XML query language. XQuery uses XPath expressions, so XPath 2.0 is included with XQuery 1.0. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published XQuery 1.0: An XML Query Language as recommendation in 2007 and edited to XQuery 1.0: An XML Query Language (Second Edition) in 2010. The W3C recommendation is posted at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xquery/… Continue reading Use XQuery with Flare Files
Use XPath with Flare Files
XPath is a node query language for XML. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) published XML Path Language (XPath) Version 1.0 as recommendation in 1999. XML Path Language (XPath) 2.0 was recommended in 2007 and edited to XML Path Language (XPath) 2.0 (Second Edition) in 2010. The W3C recommendations are posted at: http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath/ http://www.w3.org/TR/xpath20/ To… Continue reading Use XPath with Flare Files
Flare TOCs (part 1)
Like topics in a Flare project, Flare TOCs are also XML files. But Flare TOCs are not designed to reflect the structure of HTML. Instead, Flare TOCs establish a hierarchy for topics. This hierarchy may also include other TOCs or the generated output from another system. A Flare TOC which only contains references to topic… Continue reading Flare TOCs (part 1)
Flare Topics (part 1)
Topics in a Flare project are XML files. Here is the markup for a basic topic file in a Flare project: <?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″?> <html xmlns:MadCap=”http://www.madcapsoftware.com/Schemas/MadCap.xsd”> <head> <link href=”Resources/Stylesheets/FlareAutomationBookStyles.css” rel=”stylesheet” type=”text/css” /> </head> <body> <h1>Topic Title</h1> <p>Delete this text and replace it with your own content.</p> </body> </html> The first line is called the XML… Continue reading Flare Topics (part 1)