RH8: File Extension HTM or HTML

[rphox2003]

Hi,

Is there any way to set the file extensions to HTML instead of HTM?

Thanks.

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Not if you are using RoboHelp HTML. I abandoned using it last century, but last time I looked RoboHelp for Word offered that option.

Curious why you desire html extension as htm works fine too. The only times we have seen it matter are if folks have some purist developer type that is insisting upon the change because they simply dislike seeing these clueless .htm file extensions.

(apologies if you are such a person)

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[rphox2003]

I'm a technical writer, so it doesn't really make much difference to me. But another dept in my company has passed along a customer-specific request for HTML files.

[Captiv8r]

Hello again

Then here is how I would answer the question to the customer.

Indeed it's possible to provide you with files that have a .HTML file extension. However, please know that it comes with a rather steep price. The tool I'm using *ALLOWS* me to use HTML as the extension but the default is .HTM. Making this change will be very time consuming and will certainly impede my deliverable at the moment as well as adding significant time to future deliverables. If you are willing to wait longer and/or pay for the extra time and effort involved, I'll happily provide HTML files instead of HTM.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[rphox2003]

Thanks. But how does RH8 "allow" me to use the HTML extension? You wrote in your previous post that it doesn't.

And "I'll happily provide HTML files instead of HTM." How? By manually changing the extensions of a few hundred files?

[Captiv8r]

Hello again

I say RoboHelp "Allows" them, because in the RoboHelp HTML Project Manager panel you are indeed able to rename files from having the .htm file extension to the .html file extenstion and RoboHelp will respect the change.

This will also require that in the WebHelp generated file set that you use a good Find and Replace utility to massage all the additional files that RoboHelp creates when it creates the WebHelp. Not only will you need to change the file names, but you will also need to adjust any internal links as well as edit all of the JavaScript files so they correctly reference .html instead of .htm.

Note that I never said it was a one off nor did I say it would be easy.

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[rphox2003]

Sorry, Rick, could you please be more specific. My supervisor is waiting for an answer about this.

Where in the Project Manager? Do you mean to go into the Properties page of every topic and change the name? That is not really a solution when we're talking about hundreds of topics - if that's what you mean.

IMHO, a feasible solution would be to set the default extension when generating the output, or when setting up a new project.

[Captiv8r]

Sorry, don't shoot the messenger.

The thing is, there has never been such a function that RoboHelp HTML has offered to say "Create .html" output. Everything has always been .htm.

And indeed that's precisely what I meant by changing each and every file name. You rename them in RoboHelp. That way, any references are also amended. But that only gets you so far. You still have the WebHelp generated output to contend with. There area a swarm of additional files involved with that.

Or, you could simply leave things as is, then use a find and replace utility to change all references and some other utility to mass rename the file extensions.

I know it's not good practice to ignore customer requests, but in this case I'd be questioning why they absolutely need HTML file extensions. As you have seen, the RoboHelp HTML tool doesn't lend itself to creating them easily and unless there is some bizarre technical requirement, htm files work the same as html files.

While I'm certain they exist, I'm presently unaware of other tools that may offer this ability. I'm just a RoboHelp user. So as much as it pains me to say it, RoboHelp may not be the tool you need if this customer is unwilling to accept anything other than files with .html file extension.

Although they are very rare, yours is not the first request of this type I've seen. I'd encourage you to submit a Wish Form to ask the RoboHelp development team to consider providing the option for allowing the hlep author to choose the desired file extension. (link to the form is in my sig)

Cheers... Rick

Helpful and Handy Links RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day! Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training SorcerStone Blog RoboHelp eBooks

[rphox2003]

So get out of the way and give me a clean shot at the RH developers.

Looks like I'll just tell my supervisor that it's not an option. The customer will have to make do with HTM files.

Thanks again for your help. Have a good one.