The preferences dialog allows the user to set five parameters for the converter.
• The Type of indexing
• The Source Folder
• The Post-Process Folder
• The Destination Folder
• The Graphics Folder
• The Absolute Filename Option
◊ The type of indexing can be set to Index Issues Only or Index Issues and Topics. If the Index Issues Only option is selected, the index file will contain a list of issues which are linked to individual issues. They can be viewed by opening the Info-Mac.Issues.HTML document which will present the user with two windows, the first will display a list of the issues and the second will be reserved for displaying the contents of the current digest selected. If the Index Issues and Topics option is selected, a separate topics index file will be created for the digest. These can be viewed by opening the Info-Mac.IssuesAndTopics.HTML document which will present the user with three windows, the first will be for the index, the second for the topics and the third for the contents.
◊ The Source Folder is the folder where Info-Mac To HTML will look for files to process when the "Process Source Folder" option is selected in the file menu.
◊ The Post-Process Folder is the folder where the Info-Mac digests will be moved to after the HTML have been successfully created. This could be an archive folder or the trash folder.
◊ The Destination Folder is the folder where the converted HTML files are to stored, if one hasn’t been specified, the file will be saved into the same folder as the original Info-Mac digest.
◊ The Graphics Folder is the folder where the graphics files used for icons are kept. When an HTML file is created, graphics that will be displayed have to be referred to with a path name. If none is specified, the HTML viewer or web browser will assume that the graphics file is in the same folder as the HTML file. Setting a graphics folder will mean that a full pathname will be inserted with every reference to a graphic. If the grahics file is deeply nested and the folder names used are large, the resulting HTML file that is created will be significantly larger than without. The advantage of setting a graphics folder is that the converted files can be moved around your system (among your local disks only) and still be viewed as normal otherwise moving files would result in the loss of the graphics. If a graphics folder had not been set you may move the entire folder without problems.
◊ The Force Absolute Filenames option will force Info-Mac To HTML to generate full path specifications for references to graphics files. This will make sure that the produced HTML file will be able to be moved around on the volume and still be viewed as expected. The disadvantage is that the generated files may be larger (see below).
Setting the graphics folder will only affect the produced HTML file, it will not move the graphics files to the folder you have specified. This is a job that you must do! ( When the program was unstuffed, the original graphics files were stored in the Graphics folder inside the HTML folder inside the Info-Mac To HTML folder.
How To Set A Folder
There are two methods to setting a folder. The first is by clicking inside the name box which will result in a Standard File Selection dialog to be displayed. The second method is to use the Drag&Drop facilities provided by System 7.5 ( or Drag Enabled systems ). This method requires the Preferences dialog to be displayed before switching to the finder by clicking on the desktop or any visible folder and then dragging the folder over to the appropriate box. If the folder is successfully set, the path name will be displayed in the box.
How To Clear A Folder
Clearing a set folder is a simple as clicking on the Clear (Source Folder, Post-process Folder) or Use Source (Desination Folder, Graphics Folder) button. This should cause the message "No Folder Selected" to be displayed.
How To Assign The Trash Folder As The Post-Process Folder
Clicking on the Trash button will cause the Post-Process Folder to be set to the Trash Folder.
The Force Absolute Filenames Checkbox
In order for a web browser to display a graphic a URL is required. If it is a file, a file name must be specified to allow the web browser to retreive it. If the file is to be found in a folder that is the same or is the daughter folder of the folder that the HTML file is to be found then a relative file specification may be used. All other situations require an absolute file specification.
The advantage of relative file names is that they are generally much shorter with a result of shorter HTML files. The disadvantage is that if an HTML file is moved from its original folder, the graphics will not be displayed. In either case moving the graphics folder will also prevent the graphics from being displayed.
If the Force Absolute Filenames option is checked, absolute file names will always be generated otherwise relative filenames will be generated where appropriate.
