HTML Export - points to consider

If you regularly export a changing TBX to HTML (or other formats) there are some pointers to bear in mind:

• If you change export template code but a note using it is unchanged, the note will not be re-exported.
• If a note's exported filename changes (e.g. as a result of a change of note tile) the newly exported file doesn't result in the previous, differently-named file, being deleted. You will need to tidy up the old files in Finder. If hierarchical links are used consider the link from the parent as well as immediate siblings when working out the files affected. Roadmap view helpfully indicates incoming links allowing you to asses files elsewhere in the export that might be affected.
• Also consider the effects of HTMLDontExport and HTMLExportChildren.

It is thus often a good idea to trash an existing exported set of pages before doing a full export. The export process is pretty speedy so - especially if on a local or LAN location the loss of pages is very short-lived. If the final location is online, it can be useful to do a local export and then use FTP synching to update the online version to reflect the new output.

When exporting a single page via HTML view, also consider:

• If exporting a page that has includes, only the 'host' note's data is updated to the latest change. Click the 'Update' button to re-compile included content.
• If exporting a single note whose exported filename has exchanged or who's sibling outline order has changed, files with linking pointing to that file won't be updated unless re-exported themselves. If hierarchical links are used consider the link from the parent as well as immediate siblings when working out the files affected. Roadmap view helpfully indicates incoming links allowing you to asses files elsewhere in the export that might be affected.
• If exporting a single note with exportable aliases, the aliases are not exported - a full HTML export is required to achieve this.

Tinderbox will not create an empty file during HTML export when all the following are true:

• the file does not already exist
• the exported data are empty
• the note's HTMLExportCommand is empty

The first two factors combine to ensure that existing HTML files will be over-written if there is data to be exported.

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