Attaching/Including 3rd Party Files in a .CHM File

[RoboFan]

Is there a way to attach/include .PDF, .DOC, .XLS, .PPT, and .VSD files - in their native format - in a .CHM file? I'd like to provide our field installers with a single .CHM file that contains all the RoboHelp topics and 3rd-party files that they might need. The RoboHelp topics would contain hyperlinks to these files, which would then open the 3rd-party files in a new window (in Word, in Adobe Reader, in Excel, etc.).

I successfully achieved the functionality described above for a PDF file by adding it to the baggage files and inserting a link to it in a topic - when I preview the topic in RoboHelp and click the hyperlink. However, if I generate HTML Help (.CHM file), the hyperlink attempts to open a new window, but quickly displays a dialog box stating, "Download could not complete." The only option is to click an OK button, which closes the dialog box.

A .CHM file is the most desirable format, but I'll consider any other type of single-file output to achieve this functionality. Converting these files to HTML and importing them as new topics is not an option.

I'm running X5.0.2 with RoboSource Control.

[johnmccallum · Accepted solution]

Hi RoboFan,

Yes, you can. Add the files to your baggage folder. But, as in everything there is a catch. How you link to the files from the CHM can be problematic and as I understand it, it will depend on the end user's system. You can get Word documents that open in a new instance of Word, prompt to Save or Open, or open in the CHM browser window. There are a lot of ways to link to try to force one or the other but I don't see consistency between file types.

I'd start by adding the file to baggage and then putting in a direct link to the file. Test that to see if it is a behaviour you want and if not search these forums for the specific file type you are having trouble with. PDFs have always been unpredictable for me.

Good luck,

John

[RoboFan]

You're right. I only tried this with one file (a PDF file) before I made my initial post and, while I did add it to the Baggage Files and link to it from there, it wasn't working. Based on your assurance, I went back and did this for an XLS, DOC, and a different PDF file and the links worked for all of them.

Thanks!

[Peter Grainge]

This topic describes how to create links that are defined in a javascript file. The file will open in the relevant application, provided of course that application is installed on the users PC!

http://www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/customising/editable_links.htm

[RoboFan]

There's some weirdness going on with this again. I was able to get this to work, but for no apparent reason all links have suddenly stopped working.

Detailed Info:

- This occurs for all hyperlinks to baggage files in all topics within my project (compiled CHM).
- I verified that the baggage files were placed in the correct folders
- I create the links by importing the baggage file and then dragging and dropping it into a topic.
- The issue appears to stem from something unique to my PC. The hyperlinks in the CHM files work just fine for other users here.
- I'm wondering if this is an ActiveX issue.
- I re-registered my hhctrl.ocx file, but that didn't have any effect.



Suggestions?