Build tags enable you to design and create several different projects from a single set of source files. They give you control over which topics to use with a project — regardless of the output format. Build tags are very versatile. You can use them to both exclude and include topics in your Help projects.
BETA versions of applications: You can omit incomplete topics from Help systems. For example, your developers need to ship a BETA version of the application but not all of your topics are complete. You can omit the ones that are still under construction from the build so users do not have access to them. After these topics are complete, you can unassign the build tags and include them when you generate the output.
Revisions to applications: You can omit topics that the application does not require. For example, your developers remove features in the application until the next release. Instead of removing the topics from the project, use build tags to exclude them from the current build.
Tailor content to audience: You can omit topics from Help systems because the information is not appropriate for the intended audience. For example, different versions of the application are being shipped for various purposes such as demos and shareware. You only want the appropriate content included with each build, so you can remove topics that are not necessary.
Application testing: You're in the middle of the development cycle and you need your QA engineers to test certain features. You can use build tags to exclude topics that do not pertain to the features they are testing. Maybe your Help system is even undergoing testing. You can provide your testers with the topics they need to review by compiling a partial build.
You create the build tags, then mark the topics you want to use with them. You work with build tags in the following places:
Project Manager: The Project Manager provides a special Build Tags folder. Use it to create, view, and remove build tags from the project.
Topic properties: You can create new build tags and assign existing build tags to topics at the Topic Properties - Advanced tab. This is also where you remove build tags from topics when you no longer need to use them.
Define Build Tag Expression: The program uses build expressions to determine which topics to include and exclude from the output. If you do not use a build expression, all topics in the project are included in the output.
Note: Define Build Tag Expression is a dialog. For Microsoft HTML Help, you open it by clicking Define from the Compile tab at the Project Settings dialog. For WebHelp and JavaHelp, you open it by clicking Define at the Options dialogs that opens when you select to generate the output.