Adding conditional build tags in linked word file

[Yaroslaf4ik]

Dear community, happy New Year!

I have a question to experts about application of conditional build tags.

I want to introduce changes into content in word files (doc format), not RH10.

These files are linked into a RH project.

I also want to apply conditional build tags to content, but seems, these tags will be destroyed when I update .doc files.

Are there any alternatives that make this possible?

P.S.

I tried to use tags in .doc files like this one:

<?rh-cbt_start condition="Customer_SC, Reseller_SC" ?>

...

<?rh-cbt_end ?>

But this structure will break during update in RH.

[RoboColum_n_]

If you have linked Word files, any conditional build tags you add after you update them are lost when you next update. That is just the way it is.

If you have the Technical Communication Suite, you can assign conditional text in the FrameMaker files and then link these to your RoboHelp project in much the same way as you do currently. This would allow you to tag content in FrameMaker and this would still make it through when you update.

[Captiv8r]

@Colum

Frame?

NOOOOOO Frame!

Where see Frame?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

@Rick:

Doc writing equation: FrameMaker > Word

Long docs? Frame good, Word bad

Fancy PDFs? Frame best, RoboHelp bad

HTML files? RH good, FM bad

;>)

[Captiv8r]

@Jeff

I know Frame factors into your world. But for many of us it is similar to saying: Go get in your army tank and drive to the store. As in, it's really not even an option! That's why I was teasing Colum.

Cheers... Rick

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

@Rick – Tank good – go big or go home ;>)

[Captiv8r]

BOOM!

[Yaroslaf4ik]

Hi all!

This equation is truthful, I guess?

I want to generate above 100 short html help files.

From some of them I will generate up to 7 versions (different condition tags for different types of users).

For long documents (up to 200 pages) I still use word 2003 + Acrobat X to generate PDF.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

All depends on how you want to manage this – Word just isn’t designed to be a robust long document authoring tool, especially if you need to add lots of cross-references within them and/or have lots of conditional text. Text in FM can also be reused through the use of something called “text insets” (RH has something similar to this called “snippets”). FM creates really good PDF output.

RH is a fine authoring tool, but it was designed to create help output really well – its handling for printing to PDF is, well, less well designed. It relies on going through Word to get to PDF.

Your situation depends on how & where you want to author your content – to achieve your conditioning, you could do it all in RH for the short topics and continue your Word authoring for the long docs. It’s up to you. Me, I use all three – Word for short letters and docs; FM for one project that still requires PDFs and help output (I use the TCS to run it through RH); and RH for another project that doesn’t have any print component to it at all.