Phlogtastic

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Remove All BookMarks

Sometimes MS Word documents can get loaded with useless bookmarks. Here is a macro to remove them:

Sub RemoveAllBookmarks()
    Dim objBookmark As Bookmark

    For Each objBookmark In ActiveDocument.Bookmarks
        objBookmark.Delete
    Next
End Sub

PowerPoint: Change that Template

To change the template in a PowerPoint document:

Design -> Themes -> (click drop down arrow at end of themes) -> Browse for themes…

Select the template, then Apply.

[Source Powerfinish]

Tuesday, May 7, 2019

Add a Copy Button to Code Blocks

MadCap has a blog post about adding a copy button to code blocks, found here.

Here's what I had to do to get it working:

Step 1: Download the clipboad javascript and put it in your Resources/Scripts folder:
https://github.com/zenorocha/clipboard.js/archive/master.zip

Step 2: Add this to the <head> section:
<script src="../../../Resources/Scripts/clipboard.min.js"></script>

Step 3: Before the final closing body tag (</body>), add this:
<script>new ClipboardJS('.cbtn');</script>

Note: I named the button is named cbtn.

Step 4: Enclose each code block like the following:
<div class="Code">
<p class="Codeblock" id="t01">Here's my code block text.</p>
<button class="cbtn" data-clipboard-action="copy" data-clipboard-target="#t01" MadCap:conditions="Default.ScreenOnly"> </button>
</div>

Note: The button class must match what you defined in step 3.
Note: The ID must be unique for each code block.
Note: I added the Default.ScreenOnly condition so that it doesn't appear in PDF/Word.

Step 5: Add the following to your CSS file:
div.Code
{
position: relative;
overflow-x: auto;
}
p.Codeblock + button
{
position: absolute;
bottom: 0;
right: 0;
width: 26px;
height: 26px;
margin-bottom: 6pt;
background: url(/url/to/image/content-copy.png)
}

Note: I use an image for the button, defined in the CSS. If you don't want an image, you can just put the plain text "Copy" in the HTML in step 4.
Note: The positioning places the button at the bottom right corner of the div.

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

Are You a Man or a Bloke?

I recently tested the Mad Quality Plugin for Flare, which is a rule-checking application that uses various rule sets to check your text (kind of like the grammar checker in Word). The tool is a useful plug-in for Flare. Maybe I'll review it in another post.

One of the sample rule sets checks for British English (see the list below). Now, I really like finding all the differences between British and American English. I know what trainers are and sometimes I wear a jumper. But, I have no idea what some of the ones in this list mean.

Do you wrap your leftovers in aerofoil?

What do you do with a breakdown van? Is it really old and doesn't run well?

Courgette? Wasn't she that girl from Les Miserables?

Is a draughts game where you see whose lawn looks the best after not watering it for a month?

Are you insulted if someone asks you if you have a dummy for a baby?

Do you get green fingers after picking your nose?

I think there are some new diseases in England, like mangetout, aubergine, and diamante.

Is a windcheater a type of sailor?

Boob tube? Titbit? Um, maybe I don't want to know what those are.

Here's the complete list. How many do you know?

accommodation
action replay
aerofoil
aeroplane
agony aunt
Allen key
aluminium
aniseed
anticlockwise
articulated lorry
asymmetric bars
aubergine
baking tray
bank holiday
beetroot
biscuit
black economy
blanket bath
block of flats
boiler suit
bonnet
boob tube
boot
bottom drawer
bowls
braces
brawn the food
breakdown van
breeze block
bridging loan
bumbag
candyfloss
car park
casualty
catapult
central reservation
chemist
chips
cinema
cling film
common seal
consumer durables
cornflour
cos
cot
cot death
cotton bud
cotton wool
council estate
courgette
court card
crash barrier
crisps
crocodile clip
cross-ply
crotchet
current account
danger money
demister
dialling tone
diamante
double cream
draughts game
drawing pin
dressing gown
drink-driving
drinks cupboard
drinks party
driving licence
dual carriageway
dummy for a baby
dust sheet
dustbin
engaged
estate agent
estate car
ex-directory
faith school
financial year
fire brigade
first floor
fish finger
fitted carpet
flannel
flat
flexitime
flick knife
flyover
football
footway
fringe
full stop
garden
gearing
gear lever
goods train
greaseproof paper
green fingers
grill
ground floor
groundsman
hairslide
hatstand
hen night
hire purchase
hoarding
hob
holdall
holiday
holidaymaker
homely
hosepipe
in hospital
hot flush
housing estate
hundreds and thousands
ice lolly
icing sugar
indicator
inside leg
jelly babies
Joe Bloggs
Joe Public
jumble sale
jump lead
jumper
junior school
kennel
ladybird
a lettuce
level crossing
lift
lolly
lollipop lady
loose cover
lorry
loudhailer
low loader
lucky dip
luggage van
maize
mangetout
market garden
marshalling yard
maths
metalled road
milometer
minim
mobile phone
monkey tricks
motorway
mum
mummy
nappy
needlecord
newsreader
noughts and crosses
number plate
off-licence
opencast mining
ordinary share
oven glove
paddling pool
paracetamol
parting in hair
patience
pavement
pay packet
pedestrian crossing
peg
pelmet
petrol
physiotherapy
pinafore dress
plain chocolate
plain flour
polo neck
positive discrimination
postal vote
postbox
postcode
potato crisp
power point
pram
press stud
press-up
private soldier
public school
public transport
punchbag
pushchair
pylon
quantity surveyor
quaver
queue
racing car
railway
real tennis
recorded delivery
registration plate
remould
reverse the charges
reversing lights
right-angled triangle
ring road
roundabout
rowing boat
sailing boat
saloon
sandpit
sandwich cake
sanitary towel
self-raising flour
semibreve
semitone
share option
shopping trolley
show house
home
silencer
silverside
skeleton in the cupboard
skimmed milk
skipping rope
skirting board
sledge
sleeper
sleeping partner
slowcoach
snakes and ladders
solicitor
soya
soya bean
splashback
spring onion
stag night
Stanley knife
starter
state school
storm in a teacup
surtitle
swede
sweet
takeaway
taxi rank
tea towel
terrace house
tick
ticket tout
timber
titbit
toffee apple
touch wood
trade union
trading estate
trainers
transport cafe
trolley
twelve-bore
underground
vacuum flask
verge
vest
veterinary surgeon
wagon
waistcoat
walking frame
wardrobe
water ice
weatherboard
white coffee
white spirit
wholemeal bread
windcheater
windscreen
worktop
zebra crossing
zed
zip

Sunday, October 7, 2018

Make APIs Look Nice with Shins

Anyone who is documenting or using APIs has probably come across a new, slick web interface for viewing APIs, like the one in this image:

So, what is this interface? And how do I get my APIs to look like it?

This interface is called Slate. It provides a 3-pane view, with a TOC, the API reference, and code samples. Unfortunately, I am running a Windows machine, and I couldn't get Slate to install.

Fortunately, there is a port of Slate, called Shins (Shins Is Not Slate). This port runs on Windows and uses NodeJS instead of Linux, Ruby, Bundler, etc.

Shins generates the Slate-like output with minimal effort from a Markdown file that contains your APIs. Since my R&D team creates a YAML file, I used widdershins to convert the YAML to Markdown.

Here's what you need to do:

Create a folder on your computer called shins
Clone the Shins repository to your local directory.
Create a folder called widdershins in the shins directory.
Clone the widdershins repo to your local directory.
Copy your latest YAML file into the defs dir:
.\shins\widdershins\defs
Change directory to this one:
.\shins\widdershins
Run the following command:
node widdershins --search true .\defs\my-api.yaml -o my-api.md
Note: You can add a flag that lets you choose which languages to include in the output, such as:
--language_tabs 'javascript:JavaScript' 'shell:Shell'
Change directory to this one:
.\shins
Run the following command:
node .\shins.js --logo company-logo.png .\widdershins\my-api.md
The index.html file in that directory is created with the Slate/Shins output.

Now you have the Slate output. You can now upload the index.html file as well as the pub and source directories to your website.