This topic summarizes how Baggage files are handled by Help+Manual. This information will help you to understand how Baggage works.
Graphics in the Baggage section can be used for all output formats. If you use graphics formats not directly supported by the output format they will be converted automatically when you publish, just like the other graphics in your project. For example, BMP files will be converted to a format compatible with HTML in HTML-based output formats. References to the BMP files in your topics will be adjusted automatically but references to BMP files in your own HTML code will fail – they would have failed anyway because BMP is not supported in HTML. Non-graphics files in the Baggage section are only relevant for HTML-based formats. They are ignored in all other formats. |
You can use conditional output include options on Baggage files just as you can on topics. This makes it possible to explicitly include or exclude individual Baggage files in or from specific output formats or builds. 1.Select the Baggage file in the Project Explorer. 2.Right-click on the Baggage file and select Include in Builds in the context menu. 3.Select the build options you want to apply to the file. |
Baggage graphics files have priority over graphics files stored in the folders in your project search path. If a graphics file in the Baggage section has the same name as a file on the project search path the Baggage version will always be used in the output. This means you must take care to avoid duplicate file names in your graphics folders and the Baggage section, otherwise the versions in your graphics folders will be "invisible" to the program when you generate your output. (In any case it is better to use the Image Shortcuts function for graphics than Baggage.) |
Since Baggage files are physically stored as part of your project they should only be used for a small collection small files. Use the Image Shortcuts function for frequently-used graphics files. This is particularly important when you are saving in the single-file .hmxz format, which is the only format supported by the Basic version of Help+Manual. Adding a large number of large files to your Baggage will significantly inflate the size of the .hmxz project file, which may cause problems on slower computers with less memory. |
The Baggage files from project modules are also merged in your output when you are using publish-time merging. If individual modules contain Baggage files with the same names Help+Manual always uses the first Baggage file encountered and ignores all other Baggage files. This means that Baggage files in the master module always have priority, followed by the child modules in the order in which they are processed. For example, if both the master module and the child modules contain Baggage files called redarrow.gif and functions.js the versions of the files in the master will project be used in the entire project, both in the master module's topics and in the child module's topics. The versions in the child modules will be ignored. If two child modules contain different versions of a file with the same name the first version encountered will be used in the topics of both modules and the other version will be ignored. To make sure that Baggage files in child modules are used in the child module you must make sure that their names are unique and not used in any other modules, including the master module. |
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