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Help topics not in alpha order when user clicks keyword in Index

Guest
Nov 15, 2011 Nov 15, 2011

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When I test my index in a generated Webhelp project, the topics associated with the keyword I click are not arranged in alphabetical order but randomly.

When I click the same keyword in the project in RoboHelp (in the Index, before generating), the topics are arranged correctly.

Is there some setting in RoboHelp or  Internet Explorer that would straighten this out, or is it simply a RoboHelp bug?

Using RoboHelp 8 and IE 8.

Thanks,

John

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correct answers 1 Correct answer

Advisor , Nov 17, 2011 Nov 17, 2011

Hi, John D. This is John D.

You can "manually reorder the HHK file" as you describe to achieve the order you want. A couple of clarifying notes are added below:

  1. I doubt if your HHK file is corrupted (although all things are possible.) The HHK file is an xml text file and easily editable with notepad.
  2. Obviously you will want to back up your original first before you edit.
  3. You cannot delete the Index in the Designer and recreate it on the fly as simply as using the Auto TOC which uses the folder st
...

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LEGEND ,
Nov 15, 2011 Nov 15, 2011

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Hi John

In RoboHelp, are you able to open the Index designer, right-click a main index term and choose Sort > Current Level and below?

tmp1.PNG

Cheers... Rick

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Guest
Nov 15, 2011 Nov 15, 2011

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No, the submenu with Current Level and Below is disabled.

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LEGEND ,
Nov 15, 2011 Nov 15, 2011

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Hello again

Perhaps try this. In your Single Source Layouts pod right-click Microsoft HTML Help and set it as the default layout. Then try sorting the Index. The option should be available then. Then reset the layout to what it was before and generate. See if that makes any difference in the way things display.

Assuming it does, you should be golden. If not, does it display incorrectly when you view from your PC before publishing? Or only after you publish to a server?

Cheers... Rick

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Guest
Nov 15, 2011 Nov 15, 2011

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OK, that has enabled the commands, but a couple of questions:

Your screenshot shows a multi-level index (keys and subkeys). My index has only one level. Is this procedure still appropriate?

And two, if it is still necessary & useful, do I need to do this on every keyword in the Index or only on one of them?

Thanks

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LEGEND ,
Nov 15, 2011 Nov 15, 2011

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Hello again

John D 67995437 wrote:

OK, that has enabled the commands, but a couple of questions:

Your screenshot shows a multi-level index (keys and subkeys). My index has only one level. Is this procedure still appropriate?

Yes, it's appropriate for a single level index.

And two, if it is still necessary & useful, do I need to do this on every keyword in the Index or only on one of them?

You only need to do one as the sort occurs on the Level, not each term.

This is no guarantee it will fix your issue. More of an educated shot in the dark.

Cheers... Rick

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Guest
Nov 17, 2011 Nov 17, 2011

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Hi Rick,

Would you be willing to speculate further?

Browsing through the .hhk file, I noticed that the section name elements are out of sequence in identical order that they are shown when user uses index.

Does this mean that if I manually reorder the hhk file, it would fix the problem? Or is that too dangerous to fool with? (are the section names normally out of order in hhk, or should they be ordered correctly as shown in Index Designer??)

Is there any easier way to rebuild an hhk file? Can I delete it and have it automatically rebuilt?

Noticed in the Index Designer that when I click the Create/View Index File button & then click View, nothing happens. Is this a symptom of a corrupt hhk?

Thanks for any insight,

John

From: Captiv8r

Sent: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 4:33 PM

To: John Dawson

Subject: Help topics not in alpha order when user clicks keyword in Index

Re: Help topics not in alpha order when user clicks keyword in Index

created by Captiv8r<http://forums.adobe.com/people/Captiv8r> in RoboHelp - View the full discussion<http://forums.adobe.com/message/4028182#4028182

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Advisor ,
Nov 17, 2011 Nov 17, 2011

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Hi, John D. This is John D.

You can "manually reorder the HHK file" as you describe to achieve the order you want. A couple of clarifying notes are added below:

  1. I doubt if your HHK file is corrupted (although all things are possible.) The HHK file is an xml text file and easily editable with notepad.
  2. Obviously you will want to back up your original first before you edit.
  3. You cannot delete the Index in the Designer and recreate it on the fly as simply as using the Auto TOC which uses the folder structure. The only way to create an "automatic Index", is to use the Smart Index Wizard. But most folks don't find that useful because it takes more time to use it correctly. It is better to create it from scratch. Besides this would not solve your alphabetical issue.
  4. I have pasted a test below where I added an alpha character in each topic title directly in the xml as shown. (In other words, I did not add the alpha character to the actual Title tag in the topic.) It works as advertised in WebHelp output.
  5. Interestingly, it does not work in the MS HTML Help .chm version. This is because Microsoft uses the topic title to form the text of the displayed entry.
  6. It's not a bug, because a lot of the process is governed by Microsoft's original HHK format. But, it would be a nice feature request (See Rick's signature above)

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>

<index version="1.0">

    <properties>

    </properties>

    <item name="How it works">

        <section name="E First Topic" link="First_Topic.htm">

        </section>

        <section name="D How it works" link="How_it_works.htm">

        </section>

        <section name="C The Information Screen" link="The_Information_Screen.htm">

        </section>

        <section name="B Starting the application" link="Starting_the_application.htm">

        </section>

<section name="A Welcome" link="Welcome.htm">

        </section>

    </item>

<item name="Starting the application">

        <section name="A How it works" link="How_it_works.htm">

        </section>

        <section name="B First Topic" link="First_Topic.htm">

        </section>

        <section name="C Error Messages" link="Error_Messages.htm">

        </section>

        <section name="D About" link="About.htm">

        </section>

    </item>

</index>

Here's what the WebHelp output shows for the two Index entries:

WebHelp-Starting.jpg

WebHelpHowit.jpg

And, the MS HTML Help CHM:

CHM-How.jpg

Happy alphabetizing!

John Daigle

Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor

Evergreen, Colorado

www.showmethedemo.com

John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor
Newport, Oregon

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Guest
Nov 17, 2011 Nov 17, 2011

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Thanks John. I might try manually rearranging the hhk file on a slow day, after I feed the unicorn.

On the issue of whether this is a bug, I just looked at a server with help that I created some years ago with a previous version of RoboHelp & the topics are nicely alphabetized in it. Or, to quote the old cartoon, "I say it's spinach, and I say the h**l with it."

Anyway, it's somehow reassuring to know that there isn't some slick and easy trick I didn't know about.

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Guest
Nov 16, 2011 Nov 16, 2011

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That didn't work. For what it's worth, the help topics WERE arranged in correct alpha order in the Topics Found dialog when I generated HTML help, but they are still not correct when I generate Webhelp.

Just to make sure we are talking about the same thing, the keywords themselves are in alpha order. It's the topics displayed when user clicks a keyword that are random order. And they are in proper alpha order in the Topics for: pane in the Index Designer. Just random in the generated help.

Index topics.png

So far I have only tested by generating on my computer. Won't be able to see a "published" result till tomorrow. But the fact that they are in correct order in the Index Designer itself makes me think this is surely a bug.

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Guest
Nov 16, 2011 Nov 16, 2011

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Don't call me Shirley.

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