For more, see the video tutorial "Single-Sourcing in Flare."
You can import content and project files contained in another Flare project, thus allowing you to maintain the information in one location but reuse it in any other project. When you use this feature to import files, you can include or exclude particular types of files (e.g., topics, snippets, style sheets, glossaries, targets), specific individual files, or files that have certain condition tags applied. Simply use the include/exclude methods that work best for you. For more details about the way Global Project Linking works when different settings are in effect, see Rules for Global Project Linking.
This is different than a simple import process, because in this case, the imported files remain linked to the source project. This allows you to make future updates to those files in just one place—in the source project file. When you perform ongoing imports using your previous settings, Flare recognizes changes to the source files. Therefore, the new files can be brought over, replacing the outdated files.
example
Let's say you are working on three different Flare projects. Within those projects, you might have 35 topics and 50 images that are identical in the three projects. In addition, you might use the same style sheet in each project. Rather than maintaining three different sets of identical files, you can store one set of those files and import them into the individual projects when needed. Here are a couple of options: (1) One option is that you could consider one of your three Flare projects as the "global parent" for those shared files. (2) Another option is that you could create a new Flare project (perhaps naming it "global"); this project could have no other purpose than to serve as a repository for the shared files across your projects. In other words, you would not necessarily generate any output from this parent project, but simply use it as a place to hold your shared information.
When you want to use any of the shared topic, image, or style sheet files from the global project, you would import them into the child project. This creates a link between the imported files and those in the global project. Therefore, when you edit those files in the future, you would do so from the global project and then re-import the changes (either manually or automatically) to the other child projects.
For more, see the video tutorial "Single-Sourcing in Flare."
How to import files from another project
Add a Flare import file (Project>Import File>Add Flare Project Import File).
For more details on completing this step, see Adding Project Import Files.
Note: After you create this file, it will be stored in the Imports folder in the Project Organizer. If you want to manually re-import files from the project in the future, you can open this file (with an .flimpfl extension). Your settings are saved in the file, and you can simply initiate a re-import.
(Optional) If you want outdated files (e.g., files that have been deleted, renamed, or moved in the parent project) to be deleted from the child project automatically, click the Delete stale files check box. For example, let's say you import a group of files from a parent project into a child project. Later, you delete some of the files from the parent project. Selecting this option will remove the stale files from the child project automatically when you re-import files. The stale files will be deleted when you re-import either manually (by clicking Reimport in the Project Import Editor) or automatically when you generate output (if you have selected Auto-reimport before "Generate Output" in the Project Import Editor).
Warning: If you do not use this option, you must remember to delete the stale files in the child project manually. Otherwise, the files in the parent and child projects will not match.
Use the Include Files and Exclude Files fields to select the type of files to be included in the import or excluded from it. Click the down arrow next to the appropriate field and select the type of files. Completing the Include Files field is mandatory. Completing the Exclude Files field is optional.
If you want to import all of the files from the global project, select All Files (*.*).
Note: You are not limited to importing all files of a single file type. The following steps explain how to add more than one file type to the field, as well as how to select specific files to be imported while excluding others.
Select the file type that you want to add. You can also use standard wildcards (text between asterisks) to enter patterns directly into the Pattern field (or into the Include Files or Exclude Files fields).
example
Let's say you want to import only topic files that contain the word "Interface" in the file name. Rather than selecting to import all topic files and then later systematically deselecting the ones you do not really want in the import (via the Accept Imported Documents dialog), you can enter the following:
*Interface*.htm;*Interface*.html
Or maybe you want to import only files that have an extension starting with "fl," such as
*.fl*
(Optional) In addition to specifying certain files or file types to include or exclude from the import, you can go a level deeper through the use of condition tags. If you have applied condition tags to files in your project, you can use
Best Practice: When you use Global Project Linking, it is recommended that you also use condition tags when doing so. See Best Practice—Use Global Project Linking with Condition Tags.
to save your work.(Optional) The Accept Imported Documents dialog provides you with one last look at the files to be imported, allowing you to make sure everything is correct and letting you change your mind on any of the files. If you recognize files in the dialog that should not be imported, you can click the check boxes next to the files you want to exclude (removing the check marks).
You can use the Select All and Clear All buttons as necessary. For example, if you only want to include a very small number of the files listed, you can click the Clear All button and then manually click the check boxes next to the files you want to include (this is quicker than individually deselecting each file that you want to exclude).
Note: If the current project already contains a file with the same name, the Status cell may be highlighted in green or red. Green shading indicates that the source file is newer. Red shading indicates that the local (or current) file is newer. If the file is identical in both projects, the check box is deselected by default.
Tip: You might find it useful to click on the column headings in the Accept Imported Documents dialog. Doing this reorganizes the contents in alphabetical order of the column that you click. For example, by clicking the Status column, you can easily group together all of the files that have red or green backgrounds (i.e., files that are newer in the local project or newer in the source project). This can be especially useful when re-importing project files.
Note: When you manually import files from the parent project, you will see the Accept Imported Documents dialog (step 13 above). This dialog lets you manually check or uncheck the files to be imported or excluded from the import. It is sort of a last chance to take a look at the files and make changes (include or exclude) before the actual import takes place. It also remembers whether you have checked or unchecked certain files during previous imports. However, when you use the "auto-reimport before generate output" feature (step 5 above), the import takes place automatically, so you do not see the Accept Imported Documents dialog. This means that all files will be imported automatically based on the criteria you provide, regardless of whether you have previously deselected a file during a manual import. This is one reason it is recommended you use conditions during Global Project Linking (step 10); with conditions, you are more assured of importing the correct files during an automatic import.
For example, let's say you have four topics—TopicA, TopicB, TopicC, and TopicD—and you have not conditionalized any of them before importing. In your project import file, you specify that all topic files should be imported. You then click Import. The Accept Imported Documents dialog opens, listing all four of your topics with check marks next to each one. However, you decide that you really do not want to import TopicD, so you remove the check mark next to it. After completing the manual import, TopicA, TopicB, and TopicC are imported, but TopicD is not. Later, let's say you have made changes to your files and need to re-import. After you click Reimport, you again see the Accept Imported Documents dialog. Again, check marks are automatically shown next to TopicA, TopicB, and TopicC. However, Flare remembered that you removed the check mark next to TopicD previously, so the check mark remains absent from it. You finish the re-import and everything goes according to plan.
Now let's say that after a few manual re-imports, you decide to use the "auto-reimport" feature. Therefore, in your import file, you click the check box next to Auto-reimport before "Generate Output" and save. When you build the output, which topics are imported? The answer is TopicA, TopicB, TopicC, and TopicD.
In this example, one of the best ways to use the auto-reimport feature and be assured that the correct topics are included and excluded is to use condition tags at the file level. Therefore, in your source project, you create one condition tag (let's say you name it "YesImport") and you apply it to TopicA, TopicB, and TopicC. Then you create a second condition tag (let's say you name it "NoImport") and apply it to TopicD. Then in the child project, you open your import file. You click the Edit button next to Import Conditions, and within the dialog that opens you tell Flare to include the "YesImport" condition and exclude the "NoImport" condition. Now, the next time you build the output, which topics are imported? The answer is TopicA, TopicB, and TopicC.
Note: A link icon 
displays next to file names that are imported from and linked to another Flare project, Microsoft Word documents, Adobe FrameMaker documents, or DITA file content. However, if you are also using the built-in source control technology, the source control icons have a higher precedence and will therefore be displayed instead.
Note: The Imported Files tab displays the files that were included in the most recent import from the source project.
Note: In the Project Import Editor, the Removed Links tab displays any files that were previously imported, but the link to the source project has since been removed. For example, let's say that you have imported several files from a source project. After awhile, you open one of those files in the project where the files were imported. You make a few changes and attempt to save it. Because Flare sees that a connection exists between the file and the source project, it prompts you with some options. One of the options is to continue to save your changes and remove the link from the source project. This means that future changes to the file need to be made in the current project, rather than in the source project. When you remove a link to a file in this way, that file is added to the Removed Links tab.
See Also