RoboHelp CHM - Disabling menu option in Navigation Pane

[P_Krishna]

Dear Forum,

I am using RoboHelp X5.

I am in the process of disabling print options/text selection in a CHM file. On the topics side I got some useful javascripts through this forum (thanks Pete Lees) to disable text selection and disable print screen button option.

However, when you use mouse right click in the Navigation Pane - Content Tab (where the TOC is available) it shows following menu options: Open All, Close All and Print. Is it possible to disable this menu option or at least the Print option? If so how to achieve it. Please give your ideas.

With thanks and regards,
Krishna

[Pete_Lees]

Hi again,

I'm pretty certain that this context menu is built into the HTML Help ActiveX control, which is used to implement the Contents pane in the help viewer, and it can't be disabled.

Pete

[P_Krishna]

Hi Pete,

I was biting my nails and pinning hopes on what the forum is going give me as a solution to this curious issue and seeing your mail I have to accept the fact that there can be no alternative to this!!!! Cant' we touch that Activex Control part at all? There must be some sort file to activate this right? Can't we get into it and modify the contents? Please enlighten!

How about not using the left pane (contents/search) at all and give TOC on our own. Will it be a nice idea to pursue?

With thanks and regards,
Krishna

[Pete_Lees]

Hi,

> Cant' we touch that Activex Control part at all? There must be some sort
> file to activate this right? Can't we get into it and modify the contents?

No, I don't believe so. The requirement to turn off the context menu in the TOC was not anticipated in Microsoft's design of HTML Help, so there is no published way to do so. This is not to say that it is impossible, as a programmer may be able to figure out how to disable the functionality, but I have not seen this documented anywhere.

> How about not using the left pane (contents/search) at all and give TOC
> on our own

Rick Stone describes a way to do this in his Tips and Tricks file, which you can download from this page:

http://www.robowizard.com/RoboWizard/NewProject.htm#Downloads/Tips_and_Tricks.htm

See the topic called "Compiled HTML Help using a skin?".

Pete

[P_Krishna]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the details given but I can't understand what Rick is trying to tell and further the example link in that page is not working too.

Meanwhile I am thinking: The output CHM file is made of three parts - Navigation pane, Tool bar pane and Topics pane. Everytime a CHM file is created, the topics are embedded to the Navigation Pane and Tool bar pane, so these two panes are predefined somewhere within RoboHelp and there should be a file that defines its properties. Where where where?!!

I am still searching them Pete. So the hide and seek continues with these panes. Only experts like you will be able to unravel it I think.

With thanks and regards,
Krishna

[Pete_Lees]

Hi, Krishna,

> I can't understand what Rick is trying to tell

The procedure is first to generate a WebHelp version of your project and then to load the resulting files into a second project, which you output as an HTML Help file. You remove the navigation pane and toolbar from the HTML Help window, because the means to browse around the help file are provided by the WebHelp system, and use the scripts that you've already tried to disable text selection and the right-click context menu.

> the example link in that page is not working too

You'll need to download the Tips and Tricks Package (tnt.zip), as this contains the sample help project: skinned.chm.

> The output CHM file is made of three parts - Navigation pane, Tool bar
> pane and Topics pane. Everytime a CHM file is created, the topics are
> embedded to the Navigation Pane and Tool bar pane, so these two panes are
> predefined somewhere within RoboHelp and there should be a file that
> defines its properties.

Your window definition determines which buttons appear in the toolbar and which navigation facilities are available in the navigation pane. When you compile an HTML Help project, one of the source files that is stored in the HTML Help file is a .hhc file, which contains the table of contents (TOC) entries and your preferred style settings for the TOC. There is an equivalent file for the index, with a .hhk file extension. You can edit the .hhc and .hhk files outside RoboHelp, using tools like HTML Help Workshop, but both files have a very defined format in which only certain elements are permitted. For example, if you were to add the script to disable the right-click menu to either file, it would have no effect in the navigation pane of the help viewer.

Perhaps you need to ask yourself if your help content is so sensitive or valuable that it is necessary to look for quite sophisticated solutions to protect it. If that is the case, it would probable be best to use some other format than HTML Help, which was never designed with security in mind.

Pete

[P_Krishna]

Hi Pete,

Thanks for the reply. Sorry for this late communication.

Looking at options other than HTMLHelp I think to go for WebHelp outputs. Is it possible to disable the right click menus in the navigation page of the WebHelp outputs? Your views please.


Also, I want to know if I create a helpfile in WebHelp, should I give the full folder?

Example: C:\Program Files\RoboHelp Office\RoboHTML\SHFL\Legal\!SSL!\WebHelp

I have a project named "Legal" as seen in the above URL. I have to give the Legal folder to the programmer right? or Just taking the "Webhelp" folder and renaming it and delivering it will do fine? Pls suggest.

With thanks and regards,
Krishna

[Pet3689]

This all sounds to me like using duct tape to protect the front entrance to your home, while the front door (with locks) is missing.

Neither CHM nor WebHelp are secure by any means.

If any of your users has only the slightest desire to print your documentation, they will very quickly find a way to do so, using nothing more than Google.

If anything, CHM is more "secure" than WebHelp, because at least its content is "scrambled" inside a single compiled file. In contrast, in WebHelp, its content is free to read by anyone (especially if your file names are obvious).

It just seems like you are spending a lot of time trying to figure out security features, which can be circumvented by novices (albeit those who invest a few minutes with Google, or browsing your files).

If anything, I would stick to CHM.

For CHM, perhaps do not worry so much about disabling the Print menu functionality. Instead, you could disable the print functionality itself. I recall a CSS "media" tag, which you can set to "empty" for "printing". Let me know if you need me to dig this up for you.