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Adding Targets

There are five different types of online output (DotNet Help, HTML Help, WebHelp, WebHelp Plus, WebHelp AIR) and five types of direct print output (Adobe PDF, XHTML, Microsoft XPS, Microsoft Word, Adobe FrameMaker) that you can produce in Flare. Each output type has its own set of advantages.

It is easy to confuse output types with targets, but they are two different concepts. A target is one "instance" of an output type. When you build your final output, you are essentially building one or more of the targets in your project.

Initial Targets Provided

By default, when you create a new project using one of MadCap Flare's factory templates, one new target is added to your project—depending on the format that you selected for your primary target.

However, just because you are provided with one target initially, this does not mean that you are limited to just that target in your project. In Flare, you can add targets using any of the available formats, and you can make as many copies of an existing target that you want. For example, your project might end up containing three targets that are all based on the WebHelp output type (in addition to other targets).

A target file has an .fltar extension and is stored in the Project Organizer under the Targets folder.

Why make copies of a target?

Let's say that you have compared the different output types available and decided that HTML Help is the output type that best meets your needs. However, you want to produce two online Help systems from your project. The solution is to add a new HTML Help target or make a copy of another HTML Help target so that you now have two targets based on the HTML Help output type. You can then rename the targets to help identify them.

How to add targets

1. Select Project>Add Target.

   The Add Target dialog opens.

2. In the Template Folders area, select one of the folders.

   The Templates section to the right displays the target templates contained in the folder you selected. Click here to find out what templates are all about.

3. In the Templates area, select a target template.

   If you select the factory "MyTarget" template, the output format for the target is WebHelp by default. However, you can change the output type to another format after you are finished.

4. In the File Name field, type a new name for the target.
5. Click Add.

6. Click OK.

   The target is added to the Targets folder in the Project Organizer. The Target Editor opens to the right.

7. If you want to change the format for the target, select it in the Output Type field (on the Basic tab) and save your changes.

How to make copies of targets

1. Make sure the Project Organizer is open. By default, the Project Organizer is located on the left side of the interface in an accordion structure with the Content Explorer, unless you have previously moved it and saved the new layout. You may have to click the Project Organizer bar to bring it into view.

2. Double-click the Targets folder.

   The available targets are shown.

3. Click on the target that you want to copy.
4. In the Standard toolbar, click .

5. In the Standard toolbar, click .

   A copy of the target is added to the Targets folder. The new target is given the same name as the target you copied, with the words "Copy of" before it.

WHAT'S NEXT?

If you added a new target and are satisfied with the name you gave it, do one of the following:

• If you are going to produce just one output, move on to one of the other basic steps for developing a project.
  
  OR

• If you are going to produce more than one output, move on to creating condition tags.

If you made copies of an existing target, you probably want to move on to renaming the targets.

See Also

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