'#' Converted to %23 Breaks WebHelp in FireFox

[ToddBlume]

I'm integrating RoboHelp WepHelp with a C#/.Net application. I'm using Process.Start to call the default browser, and have a URL to the start page and topic in the recommended format: "X:PathToStartPage/StartPage.htm#TopicId". The URL is passed as the command-line argument to the browser.

What I see in FireFox is that the '#' has been %-encoded to "%23", and FireFox says that it can't find the file "X:PathToStartPage/StartPage.htm%23TopicId".

I'd rather not "deep-link" directly to the topic pages. How can I launch the WebHelp start page with a TopicId such that it will work with FireFox?

[Peter Grainge]

Welcome to the forum.

I have a feeling this has been asked before and the suggestion was to use a query mark "?" instead of a #

I think if you use a link in the Firefox address bar that has a # in it, the link will work so I am not sure why you are getting this error.

Anyone else able to help?

[ToddBlume]

Thanks Peter,

But '?' doesn't work. It has to be '#' as the JavaScript code is doing things like location.hash that require the hash mark to parse correctly.

Aloha,
Todd

[HWHomberg]

Todd, sounds like you're running into a similar situation to mine.

In a project where I want users to be able to email other users a direct link to a topic (with the TOC open), it isn't working quite right.

The link in the email appears correctly, as yours would, X:PathToStartPage/StartPage.htm#TopicID, yet when they click on that link within the email, the browser opens and it just opens the homepage, cutting off the #TopicID portion.

Yet when you copy and paste the entire link above into the broswer, it will open correctly. I'm still working on a definite solution. My workaround was to create a bogus HTML file for each topic I wanted to jump directly to with the above link in it (<a href="X:PathToStartPage/StartPage.htm#TopicID"Check this out."</a>).

The email points the user to that HTML file, then they click "Check this out", then the project will open, with the TOC open and the correct topic displaying.

This is occurring for me with IE 6.0. Not sure how FireFox works, though it is sounding like a strangely similar issue.

[HWHomberg]

Does this work for you with Internet Explorer?

[ToddBlume]

Thanks ClubHans,

It is similar, but different. I think that what you are seeing is what happens when the broswer does the right thing to find the start page, but can't make sense of the part after the '#'. So you just see the start page. Have you tried "X:PathToStartPage/StartPage.htm#<str=TopicId"? (Or "X:PathToStartPage/StartPage.htm#<id=TopicNum")?

Yes it does work in IE6, but then I get the extra blank window leftover that RH uses when it is creating a browser window without the chrome. I'm now using the "#<str=MyTopicID" syntax. The extra blank window is also leftover with FireFox when I type the URL directly into the browser.

So now there are two show-stopper problems. Help anyone?

Aloha,
Todd

[HWHomberg]

quote:

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Originally posted by: ToddBlume
It is similar, but different. I think that what you are seeing is what happens when the broswer does the right thing to find the start page, but can't make sense of the part after the '#'. So you just see the start page. Have you tried "X:PathToStartPage/StartPage.htm#<str=TopicId"? (Or "X:PathToStartPage/StartPage.htm#<id=TopicNum")?

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Yep. Thanks for the suggestions. The issue arises when the correct link is clickable in the email, and then the link is clicked. The broswer opens, with no trace of the "#TopicID" information in the address bar.