External Topics in RoboHelp HTML

Let's say I have BOOK1 and BOOK2.
BOOK1 has an external link out to BOOK2.
When I'm viewing BOOK1 and click on the link to view BOOK2,
then click on the "Index" button, why are the topics that show up
from BOOK1? If I'm in BOOK2, shouldn't the index be listing the
topics of that book that I'm viewing?
Thanks very much for any help anyone can provide!
Jenn

When linking to an external topic, the topic is just that -
external. The help viewer window is still owned by the original
.chm.
But all is not lost - instead of linking to an external topic
you can include your "external" .chms as part of your master .chm.
I'm not the best person to help you do this (because I don't
myself) but you need to merge your .chms. Look up how to "Merge CHM
files" in your RoboHelp help, rather than linking to an external
topic.
Hope this helps,
John

Similar Messages

Linking to .hlp topics from RoboHelp HTML 6

We have a comprehensive help file for our CADD systems built
in RoboHelp 6 for Word that has been compiled to WinHelp 2000
(.hlp) format. We now want to link to specific topic from a project
being built in RoboHelp HTML 6. This is easy to do in RoboHelp 6
for Word but I cannot find out how to do this in the HTML version.
Any help is greatly appreciated, and please dumb down the
responses, I will be appreciative not offended.
Thanks,
Kelly

Hi Kelly and welcome to our community
Whether you may do this will depend on whether you are
creating WebHelp or a Compiled .CHM output. I don't believe it will
work with WebHelp. If you are creating a compiled .CHM, first off
make sure your primary layout is configured for Microsoft HTML
Help. If it isn't, you won't see the option I'm about to point you
to.
Once you cross that hurdle, click inside a topic and choose
Insert > HTML Help Controls > WinHelp Topic...
Hopefully that helps some... Rick

Importing pdf into RoboHelp HTML 8.

I get an "unsupported or corrupted file" error when trying to import a pdf as a topic into RoboHelp HTML 8. The file opens fine in Acrobat.

I've done that also. However, one of my help projects consists solely of pdfs from other sources. I've found that the print method works best for me.
Thanks for the tip, however. It's good to know that someone looks at the responses.
Holly
Holli Angell
Business Analyst II
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina
Madison Park Operations
336-201-4520
>>> NorBec <[email protected]> 11/6/2009 4:27 PM >>>
What about importing the pdf in your baggage files? The trick here is getting the project manager to display the Baggage Fle folder. Toggle the icons at the top of the Project Manager window until they display. See this thread below for the import instructions.
http://forums.adobe.com/message/2068543#2068543

RoboHelp HTML 10 is taking one of my topic files and copying it multiple times.

I am using RoboHelp HTML 10 to update a reference project with about 1,500 topics in it. Today, I created a new topic with several internal bookmark links. I have edited this topic file several times and saved it without any problems but late today, when I wanted to save the file and close the project, RH gave me an error message about the file name being too long and the TOC reference was too long. This error message repeated over and over so I used Task Manager to kill RH and I rebooted my PC. When I got RH running again, I discovered 40 copies of the topic file listed in the Project Manager window. Each file name is a unique creation made up of the original topic file name and one or more of the internal links. Here is a sample of the names:
Ultimate_Data_Display.htm (topic file with several bookmarks)
Ultimate_Data_Display.htm#View_Data (no .htm suffix - when I open one of these files using NotePad, the file contains an exact copy of the original html code)
Ultimate_Data_Display.htm#View_Data#Detailed_View
Ultimate_Data_Display.htm#View_Data#Detailed_View#Summary_View
The file names get longer and longer until the 260-? character limit is reached.
RH appears to be parsing the topic file, pulling out the bookmark code, concatenating various bits together and then saving copies of the original file under these new names. Perhaps this is occuring because of some interaction between RH and the version control system we are using. However, I don't know what version control system we have. I have a "source folder" on my local desktop and RH is doing some type of checking in and checking out of all the files that I work on.
Any suggestions on how to stop this problem would be great, as I have several new topic files to create over the next few work-days.

This is a new one on me.
Have you tried deleting the CPD file and then working on the project?
Where is the project located?
Does your working environment have a backup tool running all the time, such as Memeo?
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Topic headings not showing in Firefox, with RoboHelp HTML version 8 WebHelp

1. I have just upgraded a customer's Help project to RH8, with a WebHelp layout.
The finished WebHelp Guide works fine in Internet Explorer 8.
But Firefox 3.0.1.5 (latest update) does not show topic headings (style Heading 1) where they are automatically linked to the Topic Properties > Topic Title.; i.e. the topic heading is a Field {Title}, using rh-variable_start name="title" etc. Firefox only shows the topic heading if the heading exists as text in the WYSIWYG field.
I checked a backup copy of the compiled WebHelp that I had generated using RoboHelp HTML version 7, and this works OK - all topic headings that are fields display OK in Firefox.
2. Also, some images (.gif format) do not display in Firefox that is generated by RH8.
Any ideas, anyone?
Philip

Hi,
Note: All I post here are my findings. I didn't test all DHTML effects and I'm not a javascript guru, so I may be wrong.
As far as I can find, this behaviour is defenitly a bug, although it's not related to headings, CBT's or images. This is what I found:
Whenever you have multiple DHTML-effects that kick in on load, Firefox only displays the one that is defined first in the topic. In the bottom of the topic, you'll find a script like this:
<script type="text/javascript" language="JavaScript1.2">//<![CDATA[
    if( typeof( InitEffects ) != 'function' ) InitEffects = new Function();
    InitEffects('img1','x-on-pageload: fadein();');
    InitEffects('h11','x-on-pageload: fadein();');
    InitEffects('h111','');
//]]></script>
In this case, the image with id img1 is loaded first and displayed correct. All subsequent effects (heading with id h11) is not displayed. Putting the heading in front of the image will show the image, while the image is not displayed.
I suspect that the effects are not correctly parsed into
if ((gbBsNS6)&&(srcObj.addEventListener))
        srcObj.addEventListener( noOn.toLowerCase(), new Function("event", newHandler ),false);
on line 2994 and 2995. Changing or deleting line 2995 effectively removes kills on load effects (ie not showing anything with an on load effect) as expected.
If you also use DHTML effects and find the same behaviour as Philip, please post a bug report.
Greet,
Willam

Robohelp HTML 5.02 - Topics in index do not synchronize

I have Robohelp HTML 5.02 - when I select a help button from
the program the top navigation window synchronizes but the Topics
within the Index window do not. I tried the solution suggested in
online help but I must have a previous version of Robohelp HTML
because I don't see the synchonize button or the window tab in the
Projects tab - Single source layout - Microsoft HTML help -
properties - Advanced - TOC Styles tab. The navigation window at
the top works fine.
Any help would be greatly appreciated..
Thanks - Kern

Can anyone suggest how to troubleshoot this problem? This Help project has a few hundred topics and compiled perfectly in RH X5.1. It seems strange that the entries in the Index pane within RoboHelp HTML 8 look fine yet they are not in the right order in the .chm.
Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Cherie Lorenzo

How do I create a Search window in a RoboHelp HTML 8 topic pane?

I am working in RoboHelp HTML version 8 that is published as WebHelp. The system I am developing for has a search window as part of a skin that is available above the topic windows and is not always easily accessible. Can you create a search window to appear in individual help panes like they do in Microsoft Office Word 2007's Help? (to do this, can you use skins within each Help topic pane?) Or can a link or a button be created within a help topic pane to bring up a search window as a popup? If so, can you give me high level steps to doing these tasks? thanks.

Hi,
Although you can open RoboHelps search pane in a popup, the search function will not function. I guess the easiest is to use another tool for your search, one that you customize into what you need. On Peter's site, he uses a progam called zoomsearch, which you can also use for RoboHelp projects. See http://www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/zoomsearch/zoomsearch.htm
Greet,
Willam

RoboHelp HTML does not generate .chm file

We have a large help system for F1 help with about 2,000 help
topics in about 50 different Word .doc files. We had used RoboHelp
for Word previously, but with the goal of generating a single .chm
help file, we tried using RoboHelp HTML to change the Word .doc
files to .htm files. RoboHelp HTML does this conversion and creates
2,000 .htm files.
When we try to generate the .chm file for the help system,
RoboHelp for HTML does not respond and does not create the .chm
file. Is RoboHelp HTML not capable of handling such a big help
system? Are there any workarounds to generate the .chm file
successfully?

Peter, thanks for your input. Here's where we are. We opened
RoboHelp HTML and converted the Word docs into .html files. Then we
were able to generate the .chm file (it worked this time) using
RoboHelp HTML. We have about 50 .gif images, and no external links.
The actual number of HTML files with help topics is close to
4,000 for this F1 field help in our application. Ideally, we would
love to have a master project with sub-projects, but it doesn't
appear as a practical alternative. The .hh file (for F1 field help)
is generated from the application by the developer and given to us.
In order to have a master project and slave projects, we
would have to manually split that automatically-generated.hh file
into individual .hh files, true? That means we would have to
correlate which .html help topic file corresponds with which map id
number, then chalk out how we want to divide the .html help topics
into individual projects that correspond to their .hh files?
This help system I inherited is 10 years old, and the
resource time we would spend (if we chose to modularize this help
system) would be gigantic in scope. If there is a simpler and
efficient way to modularize our F1 help system, I would love to
hear about it!

How can I multi-find and replace relative paths to external topics?

I am using RH7 and publishing to a company server share. External topics are saved on the same server share and linked on my local drive to create a relative link. How can I do a multi-find and replace on the relative links to change the path to the external docs? The paths do not show up in the Topics List because they are relative, not absolute. Although changing all of the many paths manually would be job security, I would like an easier fix. Thanks for any help.

Hello again
Likely your best bet at this point is to use a good Multi-File Find and Replace utility.
While RoboHelp has one included, it often fails. So we typically recommend something like FAR (Find And Replace) or BKReplace.
Click here to visit the FAR site
Click here to visit the page for BKReplace
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcerStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

Trouble incorporating Captivate movies into RoboHelp HTML projects

This is for RH 7 HTML.
I have been trying for quite a while now to add some Captivate tutorial-type videos to my help projects. I have recently been able to do this, however, the video additons greatly increased the size of my help file (it went from probably 7 or 8 MB up to 29 MB).
Here's how I added the movies.
Created a new topic just for the multimedia movie
Inserted the video (which was saved as an .SWF - Flash - file, since this is what the help file instructs you to do) and added it to the new topic
Created a link to this new topic in the topic from which I wanted to launch the video and chose to have the video open in a new window
Saved everything and tested it out to make sure the video would run when called
The video runs OK, though it is a little on the large side and is still a bit blurry/fuzzy. I've also had to provide special instructions to any users who wish to view the videos (maximize the RH display window, make sure the resolution on the monitor is set to at least 1024 x 768, choose to allow blocked content if prompted, etc) So, the main questions I have are,
What's the best way to add these videos to a help file without having the file size go through the roof and so they'll still display properly (clear and legible)?
Is there a smaller, more compressed format that can be used that will still allow for a clear display?
Should I embed the videos in the actual help file or place them somewhere else and link to them externally?
I would greatly appreciate any insight, advice, and expertise in this area, since my manager is a huge proponent of having these videos incorporated into the help files.
Thanks very much in advance for any guidance you can provide.
Sincerely,
Dave

Hi Dave
Hopefully Willam won't mind my chiming in here.
When you publish a project from Captivate as SWF, you also have an option to allow Captivate to create an HTML page for you. In fact, the option is typically enabled by default and you have to specifically disable it. At that point Captivate warns you that the movie may not display correctly if you do this.
So if you want the HTML page all set up, you just leave that option selected in Captivate. Then in RoboHelp, you import both the Captivate created HTML page as well as any files such as SWF or FLV you need.
Hopefully this helps... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcerStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

External topics using Hide/Show button

I need to be able to add a Hide/Show button for external topics - i.e. topics that are not part of the RH project, but rather linked to from the TOC using http://
Thanks in advance

Hi there
I'm unclear on what you are wanting. Do you mean that you have perhaps a link to Google, and somehow you need to cause a Hide / Show button to appear on the Google page?
I'm not sure that's even possible.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcerStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

Using External Topics via Resource Mgr?

I am trying to link external topics from another project to my current project through Resource Manager (RH9), but it doesn't seem to be working. When I add a shared location containing topic (HTML) files, the folder and its contents appears, everything except the topic files. Both projects are FlashHelp. I was lead to believe (Usinging RoboHelp 9: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/robohelp/robohtml/WS1b49059a33f77726-14df8d3712b0ab9d010-8000. html) that I could "Drag images, style sheets, and topics from Project Manager to Resource Manager" (quote from help page), but this does not provide any visible results, either. Am I doing something wrong, or is this just not really something RH9 can do?

Hi, Rick;
Thanks for the response. Even though there is no resolution, it's still good to know others are suffering alongside me. I've submitted a feature request to Adobe, pointing out that the lack of this feature diminishes their claim that RH is a great single sourcing solution.
- Chris
Captiv8r <[email protected]> wrote:
Hi there
Long ago I identified an issue with using Topics this way. But so far it has fallen on deaf ears at Adobe.
Indeed Adobe doesn't seem to allow Topics to be used that way. You can certainly configure HTML files to appear there but using them will always be a one way street. There isn't a notification that anything changed or a synchronization of the topic in the project with a changed topic in the Resource Manager.
Please consider submitting a Wish Form to add your voice to others that are requesting topics be available via Resource Manager! (Link is in my sig)
Cheers... Rick
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>

Need help with New Topic in RoboHelp 7

I'm trying to pick up where someone else left off and am a little lost. I have a WebHelp project on a Sharepoint site. I have added a new topic which I can see in my file structure, but when I generate the project the new topic file does not show up. It must be something small I'm missing. Help!!

Welcome to our community
Did you add the topic to the Table of Contents structure or the Index? How are your users going to arrive at the topic?
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcerStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

Robohelp HTML 8 - Generating files with apostrophe in file name

Before I start, I have read this thread
http://forums.adobe.com/message/1062904#1062904 and several others, yet I still have questions.
Previously I used Robohelp 5x, which worked perfectly. Our user manuals are in MS Word and each have several topics that have apostrophes in the topic name (that are necessary in the topic). Robohelp 5x would import the Word Document without issue and create HTML files that automatically replaced the apostrophe with an underscore. All references (Index, TOC, etc) to those files also automatically changed to underscore.
Fast Forward to Robohelp 8.0.2 (yes, I have the update). Even if I go into the options and make sure "Use Underscores in file names" is selected - it no longer replaces the apostrophe with an underscore (though it does replace the spaces with underscores).
Locally, when I generate the online help (WebHelp) and put it on our local webserver - it works just fine. Even with the apostrophes in the file names and references.
However, when the WebHelp files are hosted at our server hosting facility, any links within the Webhelp to files with an apostrophe result in a 404 error. I have searched and searched to see if there is some kind of server setting to allow these special characters to be recognized in the file name but have not had any luck.
Per the link at the beginning of this post, the issue in that thread was resolved by changing the file name of the HTML files. I attempted to change the file name of the HTML files that RoboHelp created. However as far as I can tell there is no way to do this within RoboHelp 8. If I attempt to do it outside of RoboHelp 8, I need to import all of the "new" HTML files and all references (Table of Contents, Index, etc) now show broken links and need to be re-linked to this new topic. This is not an option. I have 12 user manuals that are updated on a regular basis and the renaming\relinking process would take forever.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
-Noob

I was able to log into the server hosting facility and look at the html files themeslves.
It appears that at some point (between when I created them locally and now) all of the apostrophes in the file names were changed to "Æ". This blew my mind. And sure enough if I plug in the URL and replace the apostrophe with "Æ" the page shows up just fine.
From what I've been reading it looks like that may be related to the conversion from MS Word and "Smart Quotes". I'm looking into that now, but any help would still be great.
Thanks,
-noob

RoboHELP HTML Freezes Different Ways

Using Windows XP and RoboHELP HTML 6.0:
If I start RoboHELP HTML from the START > Programs menu,
it freezes almost instantly and requires END TASK.
If I double-click a previously created .xpj file in Windows
Explorer view, then RH HTML starts up and I can work in the project
file... but if I try to IMPORT a file into the project file
list/topics, then the application freezes again. I'm only trying to
import an HTML file that was originally created with RoboHELP for
another project.
Why does RH freeze up??

Did this by chance happen to start after you had used a dual
monitor configuration? Folks around here are probably thinking I
believe that's the cause of every problem, but in some cases, we
have found that disappearing dialogs and "freezes" are actually
caused by going from dual monitors to one monitor, and dialogs are
appearing off-screen (which then makes RH look like it's inactive
and not working).
One experiment you can try with either "freeze" that you've
listed is to hit the Esc key and see if RH livens up again. If
there is a dialog open, Esc closes it and returns you to RH.
Just a thought,
Ben

External Topics in RoboHelp HTML

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