"Back" jumps to different place in the TOC

Report · May 14, 2009

In some places of my help file, when you click on a link and then click "Back" to return where you clicked on the link from, you are instead brought to a different place in the TOC that links to the same topic. How do I resolve this?

Thanks,

Maria

Report · May 14, 2009

Would I be right in thinking it is jumping to the first instance of that topic in the TOC?

If I am, then I don't think there is much you can do about it, apart from filing a feature request / bug report depending on your point of view.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

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Report · May 14, 2009

Hi,

Actually, no. It is jumping not to the first instance but to another instance way down in the TOC.

Report · May 14, 2009

I am assuming the TOC synchronises correctly in all other respects so not sure what is happening here.

Could it be that you have several depths of books in your TOC and it is jumping to the first instance at the second level? Just an idea.

Try generating using the Local rather then Web option in the wizard. That sometimes affects issues like this.

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Report · May 14, 2009

Sorry for being such a newbie ... but how can I tell if the TOC synching is completely correct?

More information : From the main book, the topic that you click the link from is 2 books deep.

The place in the topic that "Back" incorrectly jumps back to is 4 books deep.

Also, I am generating a CHM locally.

Report · May 14, 2009

Hi there

I believe I have documented this behavior and provided information on how to work past it in my Tips and Tricks file. You may download your own copy at no charge by visiting the link below.

Click here to visit the site

Basically you will need to use Redirect Pages to overcome the issue.

Cheers... Rick

Report · May 14, 2009

Rick, thank you. And also Peter.

While that is a solution, it seems odd that users should have to insert redirect pages for every topic with multiple toc references. Seems that making the Back button go back to the previous topic is a pretty basic, um ... feature.

And your Tips and Trix file is from 2003, so this issue has been around that long with no resolution (except to make extra work for users)? Kind of shoddy.

Report · May 14, 2009

Hi there

I know you feel it's a shoddy solution and that one shouldn't be forced to deal with it. However, it does make logical sense if you think about it.

If you have a single topic and you link to the same topic from multiple places inside the TOC, how is the TOC going to know which page to synchronize to? That's what the redirect overcomes. By not actually linking the topic directly to the TOC you avoid the issues.

I'd also like to ensure you are clear that this isn't a "RoboHelp" issue. Quite the contrary. It's an issue with the way the Microsoft HTML Help viewer has been programmed to behave. So if you wish to voice a complaint, you would need to raise the issue with Microsoft and not Adobe as the Help viewer is owned by Microsoft.

Cheers... Rick

Report · May 19, 2009

Hi again,

Yes, I can see what you're saying. Being new to the software, issues like this are unclear, especially when the limitations are just not mentioned in the robohelp help file. But I understand that it has to do with the help viewer. And it makes sense that the interface would not know what the previous topic was when you hit Back, if there are multiple TOC entries.

The workaround was very helpful ...Thanks a lot for your help.

Maria

Report · May 22, 2009

In what cases would the redirect not work? It worked for some of my topics but inexplicably, completely ignores the redirect for others. Should I be looking at the filenames or something specific?

Thanks again,

Maria

Report · May 26, 2009

Hi there

Redirects will not work if you have mistakenly typed a page that doesn't exist. For example, perhaps you are redirecting to a page named My_Topic.htm and you forget to include the underscore and enter My Topic.htm. Or perhaps you are redirecting to a page in a different folder but you fail to include the proper folder structure and account for it.

Cheers... Rick

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"Back" jumps to different place in the TOC