Indexes and glossaries

[dscitechwriter]

This is two questions in one.

1. Is it possible when generating from Robo HTML to a print (Word) format, to have the index field markings appear in the middle of the text (where the REAL reference occurs) instead of in the heading? (This is "quirk" is showing me that some indexes are showing up as rather inaccurate. (If I place a keyword into a long topic, if the output goes to print via Word, the index page reference can be off one or two pages. I'd prefer to have the page reference to the EXACT page that a term/concept appears on, NOT its topic heading.)

2. Is there a way to limit specific glossary entries for print output? I share content for a product between 6 documents and 4 products. Short of creating six separate glossaries, is it possible to have one major glossary to cover all and then upon generation to print, I can say "yes" or "no" to including glossary entries? (A few of these docs are really short and don't need the longer glossary.)

[Peter Grainge]

INDEXES

In RH a keyword is linked to a topic, not specific text. The keyword might not be part of the content so would the user understand why clicking that index entry has taken them to where it has? However, that's your issue. :-)

One way you could do that is create a bookmark and link the keyword to the bookmark. However, if printed output is a requirement, I have a feeling that such entries will not work there. Test if applicable.

GLOSSARIES

In RH7 you can have multiple glossaries and choose which one to use when you generate. Not quite what you want but it might help.

[dscitechwriter]

I may not have explained my situation well...

Re the index:

- The index most likely is NOT inaccurate in online format. But plan to output in a number of formats, and Word/Adobe is often used. That IS my problem 🙂 No, the bookmark stuff isn't going to work. I can test it further, but I can see that it may be problematic because index keywords in RH are linked to the page properties, not directly to the text. See, if you have a longish topic with keyword like page, print, output and they are page properties...you will go to that topic when output. But, you may NOT go to the specific reference if it is Word/Adobe hardcopy (meaning, page, output, print may really show up as index key terms a few paragraphs AFTER the heading in hardcopy, and the heading may be a page or so before those realy keywords). The XE index fields are placed behind the heading text when exported to Word...so hence the Word index will generate the page number for THAT page. I now hand move the XE fields after generation. It's an "anal retentive" thing of mine; however, it does make a document more accurate in print.

2. Re glossaries: nah. I was looking for the inverse 😉 I don't want to maintain six separate glossaries if I can help it. I was being techy enough to wonder if I could pick and choose the glossary entries I wanted from a "master" glossary. I got "bit" this week by maintaining 6 separate glossaries. Because there IS cross-over between glossaries, I had to manually edit a specific entry in 4 of my 6 glossaries. That sort of bites when pressed at deadline LOL. I was hoping I could link glossaries such that I could only update the master and then generate specific entries into specific outputs without maintaining separate glossaries.

An interesting twist to applying RoboHelp in different production environments here, perhaps. One of the reasons we do use it is because the topic text is generated in clear text via HTLM. Much more compatible with Subversion, which we're requried to use for versioning and file-sharing. That I can't debate or change!!

[Peter Grainge]

Sorry you did make it clear the Print was the issue. However, my answer did indicate that the functionality could be achieved for online help but not printed output. In other words, online you can make the index term link to a point in the topic but the Word output will not do the same.

It's bugging me that I think someone did work out a complex method of doing this. It worked on something called concordance or some similar term. I'll see if I can locate it but I'm not hopeful

I realised the glossary answer was not what you wanted but thought you could make it work by comparing glossaries side by side. Reasonably straightforward and better than nothing.

[dscitechwriter]

Thanks for the input 🙂 It was more than appreciated. I just think maybe I'm asking too much from Robo, especially regarding the indexing. Robo after all was primarily designed from the beginning for online help. Heck, I'm doing online and print constantly and the print part is a bit complex because we don't do just the plain jane white doc Robo generates. I have to publish with a lot of corporate artwork embedded into Word docs for cover, headers/footers, etc. I worked my way through that. In other words, have abused both Word and Robo LOL.

If there is a resolution to the indexing situation, I'd be more than happy to know about it. For now, I'll continue to manually move the XE fields. I'm unfamiliar with the notion of concordance files.

The glossaries: Yes, it's reasonably straightforward. But it is time-consuming as well as has some room for error if pressed on deadline, which unfortunately was this week's situation. I HAVE found though a sneaky little trick: using WinMerge through my Windows Explorer. I was just hard-pressed to figure out a way to update all those glossaries on the fly, quickly. It just seemed easier to me to find a way to use one master glossary and to propagate from there automatically. Sad, long, silly story really. But I needed a way to have one parent glossary to feed four or five babies. Win merge worked fairly well because the glossary is basically a clear text file. I'm not sure if this situation will crop up for me again or not. This is an unusually large, umbrella-type project in which there is a series of 6 separate pubs. Most of my projects have only one or two documents, one glossary, one index, etc.