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About XHTML Output

XHTML is a browser-based output type that consolidates project content in an XML file. It can be viewed online or printed. The output appears as one long book, even if the project consists of hundreds of topics. You can view the XHTML output in MadCap's Book Viewer and print the output from there.

XHTML consists of a collection of XHTML files that you can print or distribute to users. This includes:

A file with an .htm extension. This is the XHTML file that contains the consolidated topic content from your project.
A file with an .mcbook extension. This file is used to display the chapters in the MadCap Book Viewer.
A file with an .fltoc extension. This is the file that is generated if you have incorporated a table of contents into the book.
A Resources folder with various ancillary files, such as style sheets and images.

If you want to make XHTML output accessible for others, you need to include all of the files in the output mentioned in this list. Otherwise, when they view the output, certain elements (e.g., images) might be missing from the pages.

Output Type Comparison Table—Print-based Output Types

Following are the various print-based output types available, with the distinguishing features of each.

	PDF	XHTML	XPS	MS Word	FrameMaker
Primary benefits	Familiar to many users	View output online	Smaller file size than PDF Better print quality Easy file sharing Enhanced security	Work with output in Word	Work with output in FrameMaker
Main entry file extension	.pdf	.htm	.xps	.xml (default)	.fm or .book
Output files necessary to distribute	.pdf file only	All files generated	.xps file only	All files generated	All files generated
Program used to view output	MadCap Book Viewer, browser window, or Adobe PDF Reader	MadCap Book Viewer or browser window	MadCap Book Viewer or browser window	Microsoft Word	Adobe FrameMaker

Note: The MadCap Book Viewer is simply used for viewing the output after generating it from Flare. The Book Viewer is not redistributable. However, end users can still view PDF output using a browser window or the Adobe PDF Reader, and they can view XHTML or XPS outputs from browser windows.