Documentation of RH 8 configuration files

[pierratta]

Hi,

I want to generate by programming all files needed by a RH project.

The idea is to reuse the output generator features of RH using tech doc XML files.

For doing that, I need to understant the format of hhc, hhk, hhp, xpj, ajp, ali and all other configuration files.

So my question is : does adobe provide any documentation of the format used by all RH XML configuration file ?

If yes, where can I find this useful information ? If no, does someone has yet summarize all this informùation.

Thanks for any information, Pierre

[Peter Grainge]

I believe the purpose of those files is in the online help but the file structure is not covered. I have not seen that documented anywhere.

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@petergrainge

[pierratta]

Thanks for your answer,

As soon as these are XML files, I'm quite sure they are somewhere documented.

My reference documentation is the frame documentation which is really quite good.

The only question is where is this information available.

Pierre

[Captiv8r]

Welcome to our community, Pierre

Likely Adobe internal folks will be the only source for the documentation of these files.

This is because the files aren't typically used by third parties or average RoboHelp authors to create content.

What you are asking is the equivalent of wanting to know how to manipulate the "behind the scenes" file structure of a Microsoft Word document. 99.9% of all Word users could care less. Same goes with RoboHelp users. Most could care less about the structure of these files. They are all updated behind the scenes as they work with RoboHelp.

Cheers... Rick

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[pierratta]

As of today, it is no more private (even if it remains proptietary) to publish configuration files :

- microsoft has published its file format for all office products ... even more, microsoft is providing it at ISO standardization

- adobe has published is PDF file format (except some DRM features)

- FrameMaker configuration format is published

- OpenOffice and LibreOffice fiel format are both published and standardized now by oasis open

In my idea, there is a specific market for RH where all the information is there and where RH is only a publishing engine.

In this mind and for example, it is really useful, as soon as you manage your index in your editing tool (as XML data ?), to automatically generate your hhc file by program.

Regards, Pierre

[Peter Grainge]

If I recall correctly, Microsoft only published after a lot of pressure. Open Office and Libre Office are open source so you are not comparing like with like.

Your question was whether anyone here knew if the configuration is published and the answer seems to that no one is aware of any such information. As to whether it should be published, it's not us you have to persuade, it is Adobe. These are user to user forums.

I understand your point and will bring it to Adobe's attention. However it is up to them whether or not they release what you want and I doubt it will happen in a hurry.

---

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[Willam_van_Weelden]

Hi,

The formats you describe are for rather complex file types while the RoboHelp configuration files are all really simple. I have scripts to read, modify and create those files and you can easily open the files in any text editor to see how they are build. By just viewing the files in a text editor you should be able to create the scripts that generate those files.

I see the use for generating configuration files, but I don't see a need for a description of those simple files.

Greet,

Willam