How do I create context-sensitive webhelp for a web app

[sumaya77]

I'm using Rh 10,  and am authoring a webhelp project for a web app. I'd like to make it context sensitive at the page level but the solutions I've seen are quite complex. Any ideas?

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

"...but the solutions I've seen are quite complex..."

You might begin by stating where you are having issues. What solutions are you looking at?

Cheers... Rick

[sumaya77]

Here are the articles I've read:

http://www.wvanweelden.eu/articles/part/methods-calling-webhelp

http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/25507/Providing-Web-Applications-with-Context-Sensitive

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

I'm not a developer, and the developers I'm working with are in Pakistan, and have never dealt with CSH webhelp before. So I need to find a solution that I can understand, so I can deliver it and explain it to them.

[RoboColum_n_]

This is a problem that occasionally comes up. Whilst you are not a developer, your developers are not Technical Writers either. What the situation needs is you both to sit down over a conference call to sort out who does what. The process is two steps.

1. You define the topics to be called by the application using the method described in those articles.
2. Your developers add the call into the application's code using the information you have provided.

I suggest you read those articles, pass them onto your developers also and then start the conversation. By all means come back with more specific questions that crop up as a result and we'll try and help.

[sumaya77]

Thanks. That's what I plan to do. I plan to use the topc  iD and map number method. I think helping the developers understand what to do will be the big challenge, as CSH is new for them. I will come back with some specific questions, as they arise.

[sumaya77]

In the documentation for Rh10, they give a link to an article on CSH Webhelp. However, the article is written in 2004, for Rh X3,  which is surprising that they would reference something so old.

I'm using Rh10. So, I've been studying http://www.wvanweelden.eu/articles/part/methods-calling-webhelp  article. It seems like using topic IDs or Map IDs is the best way to go. However, the offshore developers have never worked with CSH webhelp, so this is where I'm stumped. I don't know how to explain the coding to them because I don't understand it myself. Under program files/adobe/Robohelp10/CSH API, Rh10  lists 11 different folders. Probably the javascript folder is the correct one and that one contains the  robohelp_CSH.js file. They will need more than this however.However, the showhelp code examples in the wvanweelden article don't make sense to me. Maybe if I sent the whole article, it would make sense to a developer????

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Yes, I would send them the entire \CSH folder so that they can pick & choose which method to use.

[sumaya77]

Do you mean  send them the entire CSH folder in the Robohelp directory, that contains all 11 APIs? 

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Yes, that’s what I did with my guys – they got to look at all the supported methods & picked one that they could integrate into their coding.

[sumaya77]

Were they an offshore team that had never integrated online help into their apps?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

No, they were in-house, but they had never done any CSH help either. They looked at what language the software was using and picked the closest RH CSH method that they could work with. I provide them with the map ids and they use their preferred method to launch the topics.

[Captiv8r]

For my money it would seem the simple URL method would be the easiest to understand and to implement. Instead of futzing with Map IDs and APIs, all the developer has to do is point to a simple URL. And all the help author has to do is possibly tell them what the URL actually is.

Cheers... Rick

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

They just hated embedding URLs ;>) Dealing with a text file of IDs was easier for them to manage & satisfied their geek developer hearts – they just go ga-ga over APIs

[sumaya77]

Yes, I've heard developers complaining about having to type all the URLs

.

it's been a while since I've used Rh and I'm unclear about how to assign map IDs to topics. I've read the Rh Help over and over, and it doens't work the way the documentation says. In Project Setup > > CSH> Map Files, I created a map file for my project, and then when I click the icon for new map ID I get a dialog box that lists two fields: Map ID and Map number. But, according to the Rh Help, the dialog box is supposed to have fields for Topic ID and Map number. I'm not sure what to do with this. Any suggestions? 

[Willam_van_Weelden]

Try the following tutorial by John Daigle: http://www.adobe.com/devnet-archive/robohelp/articles/context_help.html

It explains the concepts and shows you how to get CSH working in minutes. It may be old, but it's still topical.

Greet,

Willam

[sumaya77]

Hi William,  I  read your article on CSH Webhelp which was excellent, and very clear. I sent it to the offshore developers I'm working with. You included the Daigle article link so I looked at it and wondered if the Rh X5 project would open in my install of Rh10. If so, then I'll d/l the project files and try it. Thanks 

[sumaya77]

Hi William, I just read the whole John Daigle article, including downloading all the project files etc.. Most of my questions about CSH got answered. Thanks for your great suggestion. I only have two questions left::

1 My project will have only one help window, the standard two pane window with nav buttons, Is this a default in Robohelp 10, or do I need to define the window in Project Set Up?

2. I now know  how to assign map IDs and map numbers and I looked at the info in the map file, and the map ID report.  However, I still don't see how those files tell developers which web page a particular topic should map to. The only thing I can think of is that when I create each map ID, I use the name of the relevant web page as the map ID. Maybe I'm missing something???   

[Peter Grainge]

They have to tell you how to identify a particular screen in a way that works for them.

Copy the map id file into Excel or Word and then add the mapping.

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See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

@petergrainge

[sumaya77]

Thank you Peter. That clears up this whole issue for me.