Anchor Tags Getting Cut off in Links to Topics

Report · Jul 29, 2013

Hi,

We have created a WebHelp help file with the start page "index.htm." These files will be stored on the C drive of the user's computer, as many of our customers access the software in airplanes and can't connect to the Internet. I am trying to open specific topics using the guidelines provided on

http://wvanweelden.eu/articles/part/regular-start-page

http://grainge.org/pages/authoring/calling_webhelp/using_urls.htm

I have been able to open the default index.htm from our software (LabVIEW-based), as well as from a VB script I wrote. However, I can't open to specific topics. E.g., I have a page named

file:///C:/HelpSystem/index.htm#Config_Ed/Configuring_Instrument_Settings.htm

that both LabVIEW and VB strip to

file:///C:/PADSHelp/index.htm

When I copy and paste the original URL into a Chrome or IE, the topic loads nicely, with the navigation bar displayed.

I am under the impression that I don't need to include the RoboHelp CSH API to do something simple like this, but I'm not sure. If we do need the API, it's not available for LabVIEW development, so we may be stuck.

We are using RH 10. I am an author rather than a developer, but I'm the one working on this, so any help is appreciated!

Meg

Report · Jul 30, 2013

I cannot help you with the rewriting of the link. All I know is that in at least one of our products, the URL is simply a property of the app page in whatever the developers use.

Have you tried a "?" instead of "#"?

This is really a developer issue.

See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

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Report · Jul 30, 2013

Thanks for responding.

I did try "?" and got the same behavior (URL getting stripped).

I found a workaround. It's not ideal, but I'll post it in case it helps anyone else. I created a very simple webpage called "InstrumentSettings.html." That page has the following code:

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">

<html>

<body>

window.location.href = file:///C:/HelpSystem/index.htm#Config_Ed/Configuring_Instrument_Settings.htm

</script>

</body>

</html>

It is basically a blank page with a short javascript to call the real file I want. For some reason, javascript opens the URL with the anchor, whereas VB script and LabVIEW didn't. The "InstrumentSettings.html" page can then be used in the LabVIEW call, and the right page opens.

BTW, there is a typo in my first post. "PADSHelp" in the second link should say "HelpSystem."

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Anchor Tags Getting Cut off in Links to Topics