How to create Context Sensitive Webhelp using urls

[Guest]

Hi,

I want to create context sensitive WebHelp using Robohelp 9. We do not have numeric Map IDs to map the help topic to the web application. So, we want to map the help topics using string (url) as a Mapping ID. I've found some information on below link but I could not understand much. Means, I could not understand how to use that string and what is the significance of start page, what exactly we need to do with it.

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

This was the information given:

Via the Start Page

Any topic in the help can be called in such a way that the user sees the required topic, the navigation pane (TOC etc) and the toolbar. It is done by using the format

X:/helpfolder/startpage.htm#path/target_topic_1.htm.

where X is the drive letter.

Provided the help is called in that way (startpage#target), the developers can use either an absolute path or a relative path.

That method is fine for calling one topic and is an approved method.

If you call a second topic in this way before the browser is closed, the new topic will not display and this was a problem. There are two solutions that I am aware of.

Solution 1

If your developers amend each call so that the first call has one query mark added and the next call has two query marks, then it will work correctly.

startpage?#path/topic1.htm

startpage??#path/topic2.htm

After that calls need to alternate so it would continue as below

startpage?#path/topic3.htm

startpage??#path/topic4.htm

My thanks to Werner Hutter for telling us about adding query marks to the call and Tony Harris for simplifying the method.

Solution 2

Add target="_new" to give something like

startpage?#path/topic1.htm target="new"

For testing, I'm doing it just for one single project and not for merged project. If anyone knows how to proceed with this kind of assignment, please let me know as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Have you discussed this with your developers? They probably already know how to call a url from their application. You could also point them to Willam’s site: wvanweelden.eu on CSH help calls too.

[Willam_van_Weelden]

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

There are two ways for working with URLs that I know of:

http://example.com/index.htm#relativepath/to/topic.htm

http://example.com/index.htm<#relativepath/to/topic.htm

Greet,

Willam

[Guest]

Thanks all!