Establishing Context sensitivity in merged WebHelp

[IAmShrivi]

Hi all,

Before I start my query, let me list the product version and other basic details. We are using RoboHelp 8 with RoboSource 3.1 as the source control tool. We have two projects, each of which has 2000+ topics. The output of these projects is WebHelp.

I have a couple of issues:

1. Often a bunch of topics vanish from the project, although they are available in the local folder and the Robosource database. We reimport them and make necessary changes. This is retained for the current session of the project(i.e., as long as the project is open) and the changes we make are checked in to Robosource. Next time we open the project, the topics vanish again. This becomes a repetitive process. I would like to mention here that if the same project is worked upon without connecting to Robosource, we do not face this problem. Reading through the other discussions in the forum, I understand that others too face this problem, but I have not seen any solution to this being discussed. Is there any? Can anyone help us?
2. Assuming the size of the project to be a reason for the above problem, I tried splitting it up into sub-projects and merge them to create the final output. For this, I followed the steps provided by Peter Grainge in the link below:

               http://www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/merging_webhelp/merging_method_rh8.htm#mergedw...

     Thank you Peter for providing such elaborate and useful instructions.

     I was successful in creating the sub-projects and merging them together to create the master output. I have not tried using RoboSource for these projects, as this exercise is in experimental stage. But now, I have a different issue. I am not able to figure out how to implement context sensitivity. I tried assigning the codes provided by developers (as we usually do) to three topics in one of the sub-projects and generated the output. Then I tried testing it using the CSH tool provided in the RoboHelp toolbox. The correct topic opens during this test. But it does not work in the application. While using the CSH tool, we specify the .h file to be used. How should we specify that in the output? Which file in the output stores the context sensitivity information?

We will be grateful if someone can help us with these issues.

Apologies for writing such a long mail.

[RoboColum_n_]

Maybe one of Peter's other useful articles on calling WebHelp would help you. You can find it here.

---

The RoboColum(n)

@robocolumn

Colum McAndrew

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

You might also be getting the RH8 bug that plagued upgraded projects - make sure that you are fully patched up to 8.0.2.208 - see Peter's topic on Opening Projects that discusses this bug & the fix.

[IAmShrivi]

Hi Jeff and Andrew,

Thank you for your immediate reply. I read through Peter's article on calling webhelp. Will execute that and let you know the results. Similarly, I will also lookup on Peter's topics on Opening Projects. Thank you so much.

[johndaigle]

Hi and welcome to the forums

In addition to the great suggestions already posted, there are a couple of things you might want to check. Be sure your application developer has the necessary "CSH API" support files necessary to communicate between your map IDs and the application itself. This may be why your CSH worked in the test tool, but not with the application. Also, the correct API depends on the programming language used by the developer (C#, .NET, Java, etc.)

They are found on your hard drive along a path similar to this one, depending on your Win OS, etc.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2\Adobe RoboHelp 8\CSH API

A good resource for sharing with your developer can be found here in the online help topics. Here is Adobe's online help website:

This is the online help topic for context sensitive help on Adobe's website.

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/RoboHelp/8.0/RoboHTML/WS5b3ccc516d4fbf351e63e3d11aff59c571-8000.html

John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor
Evergreen, Colorado
www.showmethedemo.com

[IAmShrivi]

Hi John,

Thank you for your reply.

The context sensitivity was working when I had the complete online help as one project. It is not working after I split them and merged them using Peter's method. However, I had not executed the steps given by Peter in 'Calling WebHelp' where he has provided steps for context sensitivity to work in merged Webhelp.

Meanwhile I installed the patches 8.0.1 and 8.0.2 and am checking whether the bug related to vanishing topics is solved. Here, I notice that the.fpj file is not getting updated to include the topics we import and hence the structure is not maintained the next time we open the project. I am trying various combinations to understand the problem better. Will get back in a couple of days.

Thanks & Regards,

Shrivi

[MergeThis]

RSC 3.1 is at fault, not the size of the project. It randomly strips files from the root.fpj file, adds NULLs to the top of a file (which makes RH think it's a binary file), and assorted other forms of corruption. We're in the process of switching to Subversion.

If you decide to call the WebHelp using URLs (one of the methods discussed by Peter), you might follow our process. The developers look first to index.htm for the multi-frame start page, then to our home-grown alias file that we call form_path.txt. If the topic file name agrees with the form name, it is not specified. For example (using Peter's mergedProjects directory structure):

AAMMainForm, mergedProjects\pma\context_help.htm
AcctBankBalancesFrm, mergedProjects\refwindows

The first file name is different from the form name (file name is specified), but the second one is not (file name is not specified).

Good luck,

Leon