Overview
This document describes:
- The Gedcom Publisher File
- The Input Folder that is associated with the Gedcom Publisher file.
- The Gedcom Publisher Folder which extends the program folder and can be used to customize Gedcom Publisher. The Gedcom Publisher folder is located in the user's "Documents" folder. It's a convenient place to store Gedcom Publisher files.
- The optional Cached Images Folder that Gedcom Publisher uses to reduce the overhead of creating optimized image files.
Gedcom Publisher File
In order to create a book, you have to create a Gedcom Publisher file via the File > New... command. Gedcom Publisher writes all the options and settings associated with the book into the Gedcom Publisher file.
A special folder is associated with the Gedcom Publisher file, the "Input folder". It is located in the same folder as the Gedcom Publisher file. Gedcom Publisher names the folder by appending a "-i" suffix to the name of the Gedcom Publisher file. For example, if you name the Gedcom Publisher file MyBook.gpfile, the Input folder will be named MyBook-i.
Gedcom Publisher creates an output folder when making your book. That folder is temporary and is located in a special folder managed by MS Windows.
The optional Cached Images folder, explained below, is named in a similar fashion but using a "-c" suffix.
- mybook.gpfile
- mybook-c
- mybook-i
Input Folder
During the execution of the Make Book command, Gedcom Publisher copies all the files and subfolders in the Input (-i) folder to the output folder used to construct the book. The Input (-i) folder exists so that your book can include custom graphic files or other files for your book.
If the Input folder includes a subfolder named "include", Gedcom Publisher does not copy that subfolder into the book.
When copying files that are directly in the Input folder, Gedcom Publisher will choose a subfolder of the output folder as the destination based on the file extension. HTML files (.htm, .html, .shtml) will be copied to the "up" (user pages) folder. CSS files (.css) will be copied to the "st" (styles) folder.
When copying files, Gedcom Publisher checks the file attributes. Hidden and System files are skipped. Read-only files are copied, but the read-only attribute is removed.
| Subfolder | Description |
|---|---|
| js | Place Javascript (*.js) files in the js folder. |
| st | Place files in the st folder that are used by styles. |
| ui | Place image files in the ui folder. This is where Gedcom Publisher stores images that you choose with the Image User Item. |
Input Folder Subfolders
If the Input folder contains other folders, those subfolders and their contents are also copied to the output folder. If necessary, you may use the same folder names as some of the special folders used by Gedcom Publisher. If you want to add images to the ex (exhibits) subfolder that Gedcom Publisher creates, put those files in MyBook-i\ex, for example.
Gedcom Publisher Folder
As described above, Gedcom Publisher uses the Documents\Gedcom Publisher folder to allow customizations. Some folders in the Gedcom Publisher folder are extensions of the same folders stored beneath the Gedcom Publisher program folder. Because they are not in the Gedcom Publisher program folder:
- they are easier to change,
- they are not subject to being overwritten when the Gedcom Publisher program is updated, and
- they are not subject to operating system constraints related to updating files in the Program Files path.
Cached Images Folder
The Cached Images folder is related to the Optimize Image Files option. When the Optimize Image Files option is checked, Gedcom Publisher attempts to optimize image file sizes by reducing image dimensions and increasing JPEG compression in order to produce image file sizes that are less than a user-specified length.
When Gedcom Publisher creates an optimized image file, it stores a copy in the Cached Images folder. Gedcom Publisher names the Cached Images folder by appending "-c" to the name of the Gedcom Publisher file. If you name the Gedcom Publisher file MyBook.gpfile, the Cached Images folder will be MyBook-c.