About Relationship Tables

Following are the basic components of a relationship table:

• Columns By default, a relationship table has three columns, each named after three basic topic types—Concept, Task, and Reference.
  • Concept Topics that contain basic information and descriptions about a subject.
  • Task Topics that provide step-by-step procedures for accomplishing something.
  • Reference Topics that provide detailed reference material.

  If necessary, you can add more columns to a relationship table, naming the other columns anything you want.

  

• Rows You can have many rows in a relationship table, with each cell containing one or more topic names, placed in the appropriate column. The relationships between the different topics are defined across each row.

  

• Relationship links When you insert topic references into a row in a relationship table, those topics will link to the other topics in the row in some way.

  Here are the types of links that you can create:

  • Normal (default) This is a two-way link. In other words, a link will be displayed in each topic involved, and that link will open the other topic.

  • Source Only This is a link where the topic in question will have a link to other topics, but other topics will not have a link back to it.

  • Target Only This is a link where the topic in question will not have a link to other topics, but other topics will have a link back to it.

  • Use CONREF Target This uses the conref attribute to pull content. The conref attribute references an ID on content that can be reused. For Flare outputs other than DITA, this option is not supported. For more detailed information about DITA and the conref attribute, please refer to xml.coverpages.org/dita.html.

  Unless you leave the default link setting, relationship links are identified by a blue background when you set them. To identify the exact kind of relationship link applied to an item, you can select the item and then click the appropriate Properties button in the local toolbar.

  You can specify links on individual topic items, on cells (which can contain multiple items), or on entire columns.

  • Links on items Each topic item in a relationship table can use a different kind of link.

  • Links on cells If you apply a link type to a cell, all of the topic items in that cell will use that same setting (unless you later override the setting on individual items).

  • Links on columns If you apply a link type to a column, all of the topic items in all cells will use that same setting (unless you later override the setting on individual items or cells).

  

  

• Groups You can group topics in the same cell so that they function as a unit or are related to one another. When you group items together, you can choose a collection type to specify how the items within the group behave.

  Here are the collection types that you can use:

  • Unordered (default) This displays the grouped links in the output, but the order in which they are displayed is not important.

  • Family This lets you display links not only to adjacent topics in the row, but to other topics grouped within the same cell as well.

    example

    Let's say you have a row that is populated like this:

    Topic A is in the "concept" cell.

    Topics, B, C, and D are contained in a group in the "task" cell.

    Topic E is in the "reference" cell.

    Suppose you DO NOT use the Family collection type. In that case, when a user opens Topic A, he will see links to Topics B, C, D, and E. However, when the user opens Topic C, he will see links to Topic A and Topic E, but not to Topics B and D.

    Now suppose you DO use the Family collection type. In that case, when a user opens Topic C, he will see links not only to Topics A and E, but to Topics B and D as well.

  • Sequence This displays links with significance given to how the links are ordered in the output. For Flare outputs other than DITA, this option is not supported. For more detailed information about DITA and the sequence option, please refer to xml.coverpages.org/dita.html.

  • Choice This lets you specify which link should be "selected" or "highlighted" from the group of links. For Flare outputs other than DITA, this option is not supported. For more detailed information about DITA and the choice option, please refer to xml.coverpages.org/dita.html.

  • Use CONREF Target This uses the conref attribute to pull content. The conref attribute references an ID on content that can be reused. For Flare outputs other than DITA, this option is not supported. For more detailed information about DITA and the conref attribute, please refer to xml.coverpages.org/dita.html.

  Unless you leave the default link setting, collection types are identified by a green background when you set them. To identify the exact kind of group applied, you can select the item and then click the appropriate Properties button in the local toolbar.

  You can specify collection types on individual items in a group or on entire columns.

  • Collection types on items in groups Each group item in a relationship table can use a different kind of collection type.

  • Collection types on columns If you apply a collection type to a column, all of the groups in that column will use that same setting (unless you later override the setting on individual groups).

  

  

  

  

• Condition tags Like most everything else in Flare, you can apply condition tags to the elements within a relationship table. That is why you see squares next to the elements. If you apply a condition tag to something (e.g., topic reference, group), the square will display the color(s) associated with that condition tag. You can show or hide the condition tags if you want.

  

Following are some basic rules when it comes to creating relationship tables:

• Relationships are expressed within individual rows only. Relationships do not exist between rows in a table.
• Not every cell in a row needs to have a topic link.
• Multiple topic links can be added to a single cell.
• You can add the same topic link in many different rows.

After you create at least one relationship table, you can insert a relationships proxy into the topics where you want the links to appear in the output. When you build the output, the proxy is replaced by the generated links.

Follow are some of the primary benefits of using relationship links, as opposed to related topic links or concept links:

• You can create all of your link information in one place, in a single relationship table.
• You can have multiple types of links at the bottom of topics (e.g., one for "Related Information," one for "Related Tasks," and one for "Reference Materials").
• In online output, the links are automatically represented as hyperlinks. In print-based output, the links are automatically represented as a list of related topics with page number references.

Following are the basic steps for using relationship tables:

1. Add The first step in using a relationship table is to add a new file to the Advanced folder in the Project Organizer. You can add as many relationship table files as you need. Depending on your project, you may need just one relationship table or many. For example, you might want to use Relationship Tables 1 and 2 when generating Target A, but you might want to use Relationship Table 3 when generating Target B. See Adding Relationship Tables.
2. Create After adding a relationship table file, you can create the actual content for it, adding relationships between the topic links in a row. See Creating Relationship Tables.
3. Insert links You can insert a relationships proxy in the topics where you want links to appear in the output, using the information contained in your relationship table(s). See Inserting Relationship Links Into Topics.
4. Edit link styles You can edit the look of relationship links by adjusting the appropriate styles in your style sheet. This might involve changing the look of any of the following: the container holding the links, the heading(s) above the links, the link items themselves. See Editing Relationship Link Styles.
5. Associate with target If you have created relationship tables in your project, you need to tell Flare which tables to use for which targets. See Associating Relationship Tables with Targets.