Inherited Settings vs "Don't Inherit" Settings

By now, most (if not all) of you are aware that each object has settings or "properties" which tell Author-it how that object behaves. Usually, you'll base your objects on a template, and that object then inherits a number of settings from that template. This means you can update the settings of all related objects at once, and your standards remain consistent. It's also quicker than having to set each property every time you create a new object.

Of course, there are times when you don't want every single property to be set from the template - and need to be able to define these properties individually at object level. Let's look at some examples:

Let's say you have graphics of various sizes and need to scale these all differently in your printed output - some at 25%, some at 50%, some at 75%, some at 80% and so on. Of course you could create a different template for each sizing option, but this could quickly lead to a huge number of templates and almost defeat the purpose of using a template in the first place. This is when you would specify a value of "Don't Inherit".

Still on the subject of graphics, let's look at a common scenario faced by those using linked graphics. If you have a large number of graphics it makes sense to use a variety of folders to store these to make identification, categorization and organization easier. Again, you can create a different template for each location option, but if you are using lots of different folders this is not really manageable. In this case, you can use a "Don't Inherit" value.

A "Don't Inherit" value tells Author-it to not inherit a value for that setting in any objects based on the object template, meaning you can then define that setting in the object itself. This is not the same as specifying a value of zero, which would be inherited as zero.

To Set the "Don't Inherit" Value for a Property

The way to set this value is different for each kind of property:

Text Property - Leave it blank. Do not put any spaces in the property.
Check boxes - Click the check box until it is set to a gray setting.
Option buttons - Double-click on the selected option to de-select it, leaving all options de-selected.
Drop-down lists - Choose the "(don't inherit)" setting. This should be the first setting in the list.
One-to-One Relationship - Select as normal, and choose the "(don't inherit)" setting.
Color Property - Set the color to white.
File or Folder Property - Leave it blank.
Number Property - If allowed leave it blank, otherwise set it to "0" (zero).

The most commonly used "Don't Inherit" values are the Heading properties (under the Document, Windows Help, and HTML tabs) of your topics. The exception is the No Heading template which uses a blank space in the Document Heading - so when topics are based on that template those topics inherit a blank space in the Document Heading field. All other default templates (like Normal or Chapter) don't inherit the headings - allowing you to define these at topic level. When you name your topic, the description you give it is automatically copied across to the various Heading properties.

The Effects of Changing an Inherited Value to Don't Inherit

From time to time you will create or rename templates. If you inadvertently copy the Description to the various Heading properties (by choosing to synchronize all headings and descriptions), the template name is inherited by all topics based on that template - and you may quickly end up with numerous topics named something like "FAQ Template". Not what you planned!

Having realized your mistake, you open your FAQ Template and remove the Headings under the Document, Windows Help, and HTML tabs so they are no longer inherited. On republishing however, the topic headings all still show as FAQ Template. This is because the headings were previously inherited, and setting the values back to don't inherit does not mean they are removed - only that they can now be changed (as they are no longer inherited). If this occurs, you would need to open each topic individually and synchronize the headings with the description. And if you've done this once, you won't do it again!