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Link to an external topic in another folder

New Here ,
Sep 25, 2017 Sep 25, 2017

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How do I create a link to a remote topic in a CHM in a different folder? I don't want to move the other chm to the same folder as the project I am working in. A similar question was asked a few years ago and the answer was

Hi there

They will either need to be in the same folder or they will need to be registered with Windows. Otherwise, one has no clue the other exists.

Cheers... Rick

Since the CHMs won't be in the same folder, how do I register them with Windows?

Thanks.

Julia

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LEGEND ,
Sep 25, 2017 Sep 25, 2017

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Hi Julia

RoboHelp normally ships with a tool named "HTML Help Registration".

1.png

How you find it and run it will depend on your installed version of RoboHelp. If it's version 2015 or 2017, try clicking the Project tab, then Pods and finally choose the Toolbox pod.

I believe earlier versions had the Pods on the View menu.

When you run it you should see a dialog similar to below:

2.png

Click the Register... button, browse to and select the CHM you wish to add. Once you click Open, you should be done and may then close the HTML Help Registration utility.

Cheers... Rick

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New Here ,
Sep 26, 2017 Sep 26, 2017

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Thank you, Rick.

Sadly, registering the target CHM hasn’t worked.

To explain what happens, we need to start with some directory aliases.

PRDDir C:\ProductDirectory\bin\ contains myproducthelp.chm (usually installed by the product, but for this exercise, copied from Work2Dir)

SUBprdDir C:\ProductDirectory\subproduct\bin\ contains otherHelp.chm

Work1Dir C:\writerworkingdir\MyProduct\....\HTMLHelp\ contains myproducthelp.xpj

Work2Dir C:\writerworkingdir\MyProduct\....\HTMLHelp\!SSL!\ Microsoft_HTML_Help\ contains the compiled myproducthelp.chm

The product help directory (called PRDDir for convenience) and subproduct help directory (SUBprdDir) are fixed and are there on every computer where the product is installed. I have some flexibility in the working directories, but I don’t think it will matter.

According to HTML Help Registration, otherHelp.chm is registered in SUBprdDir.

Working in Work1Dir, I set up the link in myproducthelp to the desired topic in otherHelp.chm. RoboHelp asks if I want to copy otherHelp.chm to Work1Dir. If I say no, RH does not create a link. If I say yes, RH copies the file and creates the link. Then when I compile myproducthelp.chm, RH copies otherHelp.chm to Work2Dir.

The link in myproducthelp.chm works as long as it is in the same directory as otherHelp.chm. It does not work when the CHM files are in different directories.

Other things I tried but that didn’t work include:

· I set up a directory structure in the parent to Work1Dir that mimicked the relationship between PRDDir and SUBprdDir.

· I copied myproducthelp.chm to PRDDir on a different computer that does not include any of the writerworking directories but that does include otherhelp.chm in the expected directory.

Installing otherhelp.chm to the PRDDir directory is not an option. Can you suggest a way to make the link work correctly?

Thank you for any help you can give.

Julia

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Community Expert ,
Sep 26, 2017 Sep 26, 2017

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All of the advice I've seen says that the chm files must be in the same directory. I've also seen advice that links between chm files should be in the format 'ms-its:chmfile.chm::/filename.htm' rather than 'chmfile.chm::/filename.htm'. So what you could try is manually entering the href (as it will need to be when it's installed ) rather than using the Remote Topic option:

ms-its:../subproduct/bin/chmfile.chm::/path/filename.htm

(note the ../ after the colon to navigate up one directory to ProductDirectory)

I don't know if this will work given all the websites to the contrary, but it should be quick to try. And Robohelp may bork the syntax on you as well, given how it likes to "fix" mistakes.

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New Here ,
Sep 27, 2017 Sep 27, 2017

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Thanks Amebr. It was quick to try, but it didn’t work. Sigh.

Here is the error message:

Make sure the web address //ieframe.dll/dnserrordiagoff.htm# is correct.

It does look like RH “fixed” the code

It may be there is no current solution. Once upon a time with a previous release of RoboHelp and a different set of writers, it did work. Or so goes the local lore.

Thanks again.

Julia

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LEGEND ,
Sep 27, 2017 Sep 27, 2017

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Hmmmm, in thinking about this issue, I'm wondering about a rather peculiar new aspect with CHM files. And that's the fact that there are now two different versions of the HTML Help viewer.

One version is 32 bit and the other is 64 bit.

I know that Adobe now has to ship two versions of the HHActiveX.dll file so that things like the Glossary Tab and the Browse Sequence panel will work properly when a CHM file is viewed with either version of the viewer.

So what gives me pause is to stop and ponder if perhaps there is also a need to have a separate registration for CHM files. Maybe if a CHM is being viewed using the 32 bit version of the CHM viewer, it looks at one spot in the Windows Registry, while if the same CHM is viewed using the 64 bit version of the CHM viewer it looks in a different place.

I'll poke around as well as send a message or two and ask some friends.

Cheers... Rick

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New Here ,
Sep 27, 2017 Sep 27, 2017

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Thank you! Looking forward to what you can find out.

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