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?

1. accommodation
2. action replay
3. aerofoil
4. aeroplane
5. agony aunt
6. Allen key
7. aluminium
8. aniseed
9. anticlockwise
10. articulated lorry
11. asymmetric bars
12. aubergine
13. baking tray
14. bank holiday
15. beetroot
16. biscuit
17. black economy
18. blanket bath
19. block of flats
20. boiler suit
21. bonnet
22. boob tube
23. boot
24. bottom drawer
25. bowls
26. braces
27. brawn the food
28. breakdown van
29. breeze block
30. bridging loan
31. bumbag
32. candyfloss
33. car park
34. casualty
35. catapult
36. central reservation
37. chemist
38. chips
39. cinema
40. cling film
41. common seal
42. consumer durables
43. cornflour
44. cos
45. cot
46. cot death
47. cotton bud
48. cotton wool
49. council estate
50. courgette
51. court card
52. crash barrier
53. crisps
54. crocodile clip
55. cross-ply
56. crotchet
57. current account
58. danger money
59. demister
60. dialling tone
61. diamante
62. double cream
63. draughts game
64. drawing pin
65. dressing gown
66. drink-driving
67. drinks cupboard
68. drinks party
69. driving licence
70. dual carriageway
71. dummy for a baby
72. dust sheet
73. dustbin
74. engaged
75. estate agent
76. estate car
77. ex-directory
78. faith school
79. financial year
80. fire brigade
81. first floor
82. fish finger
83. fitted carpet
84. flannel
85. flat
86. flexitime
87. flick knife
88. flyover
89. football
90. footway
91. fringe
92. full stop
93. garden
94. gearing
95. gear lever
96. goods train
97. greaseproof paper
98. green fingers
99. grill
100. ground floor
101. groundsman
102. hairslide
103. hatstand
104. hen night
105. hire purchase
106. hoarding
107. hob
108. holdall
109. holiday
110. holidaymaker
111. homely
112. hosepipe
113. in hospital
114. hot flush
115. housing estate
116. hundreds and thousands
117. ice lolly
118. icing sugar
119. indicator
120. inside leg
121. jelly babies
122. Joe Bloggs
123. Joe Public
124. jumble sale
125. jump lead
126. jumper
127. junior school
128. kennel
129. ladybird
130. a lettuce
131. level crossing
132. lift
133. lolly
134. lollipop lady
135. loose cover
136. lorry
137. loudhailer
138. low loader
139. lucky dip
140. luggage van
141. maize
142. mangetout
143. market garden
144. marshalling yard
145. maths
146. metalled road
147. milometer
148. minim
149. mobile phone
150. monkey tricks
151. motorway
152. mum
153. mummy
154. nappy
155. needlecord
156. newsreader
157. noughts and crosses
158. number plate
159. off-licence
160. opencast mining
161. ordinary share
162. oven glove
163. paddling pool
164. paracetamol
165. parting in hair
166. patience
167. pavement
168. pay packet
169. pedestrian crossing
170. peg
171. pelmet
172. petrol
173. physiotherapy
174. pinafore dress
175. plain chocolate
176. plain flour
177. polo neck
178. positive discrimination
179. postal vote
180. postbox
181. postcode
182. potato crisp
183. power point
184. pram
185. press stud
186. press-up
187. private soldier
188. public school
189. public transport
190. punchbag
191. pushchair
192. pylon
193. quantity surveyor
194. quaver
195. queue
196. racing car
197. railway
198. real tennis
199. recorded delivery
200. registration plate
201. remould
202. reverse the charges
203. reversing lights
204. right-angled triangle
205. ring road
206. roundabout
207. rowing boat
208. sailing boat
209. saloon
210. sandpit
211. sandwich cake
212. sanitary towel
213. self-raising flour
214. semibreve
215. semitone
216. share option
217. shopping trolley
218. show house
219. home
220. silencer
221. silverside
222. skeleton in the cupboard
223. skimmed milk
224. skipping rope
225. skirting board
226. sledge
227. sleeper
228. sleeping partner
229. slowcoach
230. snakes and ladders
231. solicitor
232. soya
233. soya bean
234. splashback
235. spring onion
236. stag night
237. Stanley knife
238. starter
239. state school
240. storm in a teacup
241. surtitle
242. swede
243. sweet
244. takeaway
245. taxi rank
246. tea towel
247. terrace house
248. tick
249. ticket tout
250. timber
251. titbit
252. toffee apple
253. touch wood
254. trade union
255. trading estate
256. trainers
257. transport cafe
258. trolley
259. twelve-bore
260. underground
261. vacuum flask
262. verge
263. vest
264. veterinary surgeon
265. wagon
266. waistcoat
267. walking frame
268. wardrobe
269. water ice
270. weatherboard
271. white coffee
272. white spirit
273. wholemeal bread
274. windcheater
275. windscreen
276. worktop
277. zebra crossing
278. zed
279. zip

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:

1. Create a folder on your computer called shins
2. Clone the Shins repository to your local directory.
3. Create a folder called widdershins in the shins directory.
4. Clone the widdershins repo to your local directory.
5. Copy your latest YAML file into the defs dir:
   .\shins\widdershins\defs 
6. Change directory to this one:
   .\shins\widdershins
7. 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'
8. Change directory to this one:
   .\shins
9. Run the following command:
   node .\shins.js --logo company-logo.png .\widdershins\my-api.md 
10. 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.

Word Macro: Set all Columns to the Same Width in Every Table

Use the Word macro code below to set every column in every table to the width of the corresponding column in the reference table.


Sub fixColumnWidth()
'
' fixColumnWidth Macro
'
'
Dim refTable As Word.Table
Dim curTable As Word.Table
Dim i As Long
Dim col As Long

Set refTable = ActiveDocument.Tables(7) 'set this to whatever table is the reference table
For i = 2 To ActiveDocument.Tables.Count ' set the start value. Sometimes you want to skip the 1st table (such as Revision History)
  Set curTable = ActiveDocument.Tables(i)
  
  For col = 1 To refTable.Columns.Count
    curTable.Columns(col).Width = refTable.Columns(col).Width
  Next col
Next
End Sub

[Source: Microsoft Community]

Flare: Thinking Outside the Box

If you have large figures, you can create a style that is larger than your normal margins by using a negative left margin. For example:

p.wideImage
{
margin-left: -35pt;
}

[Source: MadCap Forum]

Flare: Creating a Numbered Appendix

Refer to this page for help with the auto-numbering in Flare:

http://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare2017r3/Content/Flare/Autonumbers/AutoNumber-Format-Examples.htm

Or just use this in your CSS:

h1

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GH:{n+}. ';

}

h1.Appendix

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GM:Appendix {A+}. ';

}

h2

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GH:{n}.{n+}. ';

}

h2.Appendix

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GM:Appendix {A}.{n+} ';

}

h3

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GH:{n}.{n}.{n+}. ';

}

h3.Appendix

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GM:Appendix {A}.{n}.{n+} ';

}

h4

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GH:{n}.{n}.{n}.{n+}. ';

}

h5

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GH:{n}.{n}.{n}.{n}.{n+}. ';

}

h6

{

mc-auto-number-format: 'GH:{n}.{n}.{n}.{n}.{n}.{n+}. ';

}

Welcome to Flare

I've jumped onto the MadCap Flare bandwagon. There's sure to be numerous posts about tips for it.

Helpful links:

• MadCap Flare help: http://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare2017r3/Content/Flare/Introduction/Home-Flare.htm
• The MadCap forums: https://forums.madcapsoftware.com
• A helpful Slack group: madcapflareusergroups.slack.com

Modify PDF Metadata, Initial View, and more - for Free!

Do you need to do any of the following tasks in your PDF files:

1. Edit the Title, Author, Subject and Keywords property fields
2. Edit the initial view

How can you accomplish these tasks if you don't have Adobe Acrobat?

Just install Debenu PDF Tools. They have a free version that installs a Windows menu command with these functions and more.

Note that for each change that you make it creates a new PDF with the changes.

[Source: gHacks]

Shades of Gray - Remove Shading

I recently encountered text that had shading on it that was difficult to remove. It looked like this example:

FYI: The text above was generated with the lorem shortcut.

It tried to remove it using the Text Highlight Color tool, but it didn't remove it.

Then I tried to remove it with the Borders tool. I clicked Borders > Borders and Shading > Shading, then changed the Fill to No Color. Clicked OK, and nothing happened.

The trick to fixing it is to apply the shading to the text, not the paragraph. Change Apply to in the dialog to Text.

Click OK, and the shading goes away:

Ugly Lines in PDFs

You might have ugly lines in your PDFs, such as these:

The outline on 3 sides of the Note style are 1/2 point, so they should be nice and thin. (Note that the left side is thick by design.) Unfortunately, Adobe makes the lines look strange, and even different at each level of zoom.

But, have no fear - Adobe Acrobat Reader has a preference to enhance these lines that actually makes it pretty ugly. And you can turn it off!

To disable the setting:

1. Select Edit > Preferences
2. Select Page Display
   
3. Unselect the Enhance thin lines setting
4. Click OK

Your output should now look more like this image:

[Source: Microsoft]