Link to URL not working in RH X5

[Guest]

Good morning,

A client asked me to include a hyperlink to an internal site of theirs.  After I gave them the WebHelp, they said the link doesn't work (I can't test it here as I work offsite without access to their intranet).  They said there is a space missing which would account for it not working.  The problem is I copied and pasted the URL into the project from the client's email.  Here is the URL copied from the client's email to me - you can see the 2 spaces between ACH and Forms.  :

http://sharepoint.myfirstnet.com/TreasuryManagement/ACH%20%20Forms/Product%20Information/Training/AC...

When I right-click on the link in my topic and check the link properties and when I look at the code on the True Code tab, I can see the 2 spaces (not the code for the spaces, of course, but you can tell there is an extra space) so assumed all was well. Yet on the client's end there is only a single space.  And if I copy the link from the True Code tab in RH and past it here, for example, or into an email, it comes out like this:

http://sharepoint.myfirstnet.com/TreasuryManagement/ACH Forms/Product Information/Training/ACH_SEC Explained.doc

The double space has been replaced with a single space.  I can't explain how or why that would be changed after I put in the hyperlink.  Is there something about HTML or RH in particular that doesn't allow double spaces so removes one?

Thanks for any help.

Diane

[Peter Grainge]

Have you tried %20%20 in the code rather than spaces?

Just a guess.

See if that works in RoboHelp's viewer.

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@petergrainge

[Guest]

20%20 is in fact what I used when I added the hyperlink. I'll add the

%20%20 to the HTML and see if that works for the client. If so, it's an

annoying thing to discover - that if I'm given a URL with %20%20 and enter

it just that way that RH doesn't handle it properly. It means you can't

count on copying and pasting a lengthy URL into RH - would have to check it

and make this manual change.

I'll let you know if this works for the client.

Thank you.

[Peter Grainge]

I take it you added that code in the Link dialog and that you are saying RoboHelp then wrote the HTML with spaces.

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@petergrainge

[Guest]

Yes,, I added the code with %20%20 in the link dialog. And looking at the

topic in True Code view while I don't see %20%20, I do see there are 2

spaces. But when the client looks at the code in the WebHelp, there is only

%20 rather than %20%20.

[Peter Grainge]

If this link is just in one place, at worst you could edit the webhelp to correct it there.

You could check it there before sending the update to the customer.

Not ideal and it would have to be remembered each time you generate. However, if it makes the difference between getting paid and not getting paid...

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@petergrainge

[Guest]

Actually there are 6 links with the same problem, but all in just one topic.

But changing the HTML worked so now all I have to do is remember that every

time I get a new URL to check for %20%20 and remember that just putting it

in the hyperlink dialog box won't work - has to be put directly into the

HTML. So while it isn't a maintenance issue - once I put it in the HTML it

stays - it's just something else to be aware of with every URL they send.

I wish I understand where the problem comes in, though. Clearly %20%20 is

acceptable HTML code, so where does it get lost after entering it in the RH

hyperlink dialog?

Thanks for your help.

[Peter Grainge]

You'll notice if you browse to a topic in that dialog the path gets shown as an absolute path. However, it gets written into the HTML as a relative path. If you double click the link in RoboHelp you will see the path in the dialog is relative.

It's just one of the ways in which RoboHelp "helpfully" writes the code for you.

I've just checked RoboHelp 9 and it gets generated with two spaces.

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@petergrainge