Topic reference number in error Wizard

[bawd]

When generating in WinHelp, the Error Wizard displays messages such as -
quote
Warning - HC3025: Topic #123 of helpfile.rtf: Jump to undefined Topic ID: "Help Topic"
unquote
The nature of the problem and its location are usually fairly obvious, so no problem there. But - where is that does that Topic reference number (e.g. Topic #123) come from and where is it shown/used apart from here? It's not user-allocated, it's not shown in the Topic Properties dialog, it's not 'hidden' text and it does not always reflect the Topic's actual sequential position in the .DOC. So is it user-accessible? Am I missing something obvious?

This an oddity that I have noted for years, through all my various combinations of OS/Word/RH (currently fully-updated XP/2003/X5.02). It's an irritation rather than a problem, of course. Has someone an answer, please?!

Brian (UK)

[bawd]

If I'm not breaking any Forum rules, may I re-post this query (in the absence of any response at all). Rather than the 'irritation' I confessed to then (May 2006), it has now become more an annoyance:

quote:

---

Originally posted by: bawd
When generating in WinHelp, the Error Wizard displays messages such as -
quote
Warning - HC3025: Topic #123 of helpfile.rtf: Jump to undefined Topic ID: "Help Topic"
unquote
The nature of the problem and its location are usually fairly obvious, so no problem there. But - where is that does that Topic reference number (e.g. Topic #123) come from and where is it shown/used apart from here? It's not user-allocated, it's not shown in the Topic Properties dialog, it's not 'hidden' text and it does not always reflect the Topic's actual sequential position in the .DOC. So is it user-accessible? Am I missing something obvious?

This an oddity that I have noted for years, through all my various combinations of OS/Word/RH (currently fully-updated XP/2003/X5.02). It's an irritation rather than a problem, of course. Has someone an answer, please?!

Brian (UK)

---

[Guest]

Brian,

Sorry no one got back to you on this. Click here to read the tech tip that may provide the answer.

Hope it helps, if not, please post back.

Brian

[Simon_H_Holt]

Hi Brian

In the absence of an expert, I'll take a stab at this. My understanding has always been that the message is generated by the help compiler rather than RoboHelp, and therefore does not relate to any 'property' of the topic.

I've always assumed that the number is simply the topic's sequential position in the RTF file. But if you've found that it is not necessarily so then I'm curious...one possible explanation is that you are looking at the page number in Word and assuming that it represents the topic number (after all, topics are separated by page breaks). I made that mistake once upon a time 'til I realised that long topics would aquire extra soft page breaks...doh! Is it possible that the topic order in the RTF is different from that in the .DOC? I'd be surprised if it was but then again...

...Let's see if an expert can confirm or refute my assumptions...

Cheers
Simon

[bawd]

Hi Simon

Thanks for that, though I'm afraid you're right that page numbers in neither DOC nor RTF give consistent results. However, you have made me think again in this area because my Topics may be re-ordered many times before the first compile - they might retain an origination number or whatever.

Are there any confessing Experts in WinHelp nowadays? Seems to me that not many of us admit to using (yes, and by choice!) WinHelp and Word; a bit like using a quill, perhaps - does the job, but definitely antique technology...

Best
Brian

[Simon_H_Holt]

One trick you can play with Robohelp is to copy the temporary directory that it created during compilation, before it has chance to delete it. In that directory you will find the _actual_ RTF files that the WinHelp complier goes to work on - and I'd be pretty amazed if the 'topic number' reported in the error was not a true reflection of its sequence in the file.

As for teh rest - I have worked with Word since version 2 and find I can make it do pretty much what I want. . .it is my 'editor of choice' but the writing is on the wall as Vista compatibility becomes mandatory. I wouldn't want to stay with Word for html, given what I've read.

Cheers

[Simon_H_Holt]

One trick you can play with Robohelp is to copy the temporary directory that it created during compilation, before it has chance to delete it. In that directory you will find the _actual_ RTF files that the WinHelp complier goes to work on - and I'd be pretty amazed if the 'topic number' reported in the error was not a true reflection of its sequence in the file.

As for teh rest - I have worked with Word since version 2 and find I can make it do pretty much what I want. . .it is my 'editor of choice' but the writing is on the wall as Vista compatibility becomes mandatory. I wouldn't want to stay with Word for html, given what I've read.

Cheers

[bawd]

Hmm - worth a look, although if the # number is not displayed anywhere it would still be necessary to count through the Topics (hundreds?!)

re Vista: No panic there - the Client's customers are not the sort to update precipitately. Like you, after long use I don't have real problems with RH for Word.

Ciao

[bawd]

Thanks for the try, Brian, but I think I may have misdirected you with the particular example I gave. An alternative might be -
quote
Warning - HC3021: Topic #23 of Helpfile.rtf: Cannot find the bitmap 'picture.bmp'
unquote
My problem is not with the nature of the error, only where that # number comes from and where, if anywhere, it can be tracked down.

Best
Brian