Open Book

[LLT1961]

When RoboHelp is generated, is there a way that the book can automatically present itself as "opened" with the sub books on display?

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

You may do it in the following way.

Configure your default topic to be one that is inside the book you want opened. Then configure the help file so that the TOC is synchronized with the topic.

Cheers... Rick

[LLT1961]

I have topics inside the books, but I want the book to automatically display in an "opened" state. How do I go about doing this if it is possible??

[Guest]

Try linking your default topic to the book you want open, if appropriate. By appropriate I mean if the book and the topic title correspond to each other. You wouldn't want a book called "Cooking with Tomato Sauce" linked to a topic titled "Repairing a Car Engine."

--Ben

[LLT1961]

I have linked the books to the appropriate books, but how can I get the book to display opened once it is generated?

[Guest]

Rick alluded to the option to automatically sync the TOC. This option is available in WebHelp and FlashHelp on the second page of the output generation dialog. If your output is one of those, make sure that option is selected. That's the only thing I can think of that may be missing.

If this isn't the problem, please describe exactly what is happening right now. For example, is your help opening with all TOC books closed, even though a topic is displayed in the right pane? Is your help context-sensitive, or does it always open to the same topic?

[LLT1961]

ok, here's what's happening:

I have 1 book in the TOC. Inside the book are 5 sub books. Instead of having the 1 book display when RoboHelp is generated, I would like 1 book to display opened, showing the 5 sub books. Is this possible?

[Guest]

Actually, I think I see what you mean. I popped open one of my projects where the default topic is one that's linked to a book that has books and topics underneath it, but when the help opens, that book stays closed. I hadn't really noticed that it happens this way before. Now I'm curious.

[Guest]

Just a suggestion. If there is only one book at the top level of the TOC, couldn't you just eliminate that one? That would give you all 5 books showing up instead. You'd have to put your default topic at the top above the 5 books, but that would guarantee that the 5 books show up when the help opens. I'm sure you have specific reasons for putting everything in the TOC inside a single, top-level book, but I'm curious to know why you've done it that way.

[LLT1961]

yes, I knew the "easy" answer, but this book was part of a large help project with several books and now I need to break it up using conditional build tags which exclude a lot of the books and now the left pane looks a little sparce. I thought, if there was a possibility of getting the 1 book to show all 5 sub books when the help was generated, it would save me from having to duplicate the help system and break up the books. It looks as if I will have to take the longer route.

[Captiv8r]

Hi all

One way that *might* work would be to configure the default topic to be one that is linked to one of the five books that should be seen but aren't. While I'm pretty sure that the sub book won't open up this way, it would certainly seem that the first level book would then open to reveal the five "sub" books.

Just a thought... Rick

[LLT1961]

yes, I could do that, but it would be compromising my already established "main" help system, so in this case, it looks like I will have to duplicate the help system to get what I want. In other words, do it the right way. Thanks for your help...