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Anonymous
June 22, 2009
Answered

Any way to link topics in CHM to AIR Help file?

  • June 22, 2009
  • 2 replies
  • 1479 views

Hi all,

A client wants to convert their primary Help file to the AIR Help format. However, we would need to link several topics in an existing CHM (that needs to remain a CHM) to the AIR Help file. Is there any way to do this?

Thanks,

Katie

Katie Carver

Senior Technical Writer

Docs-to-You, LLC

Phoenix, AZ

    This topic is closed to new replies. Start a new post to keep the conversation going.
    Correct answer Maura_G

    This comment might be a few months late, but I've been able to add a control that opens an Air file from a .chm file.

    You can add a shortcut (Insert < HTML Help Controls < Shortcut) to a topic in the .chm file. In the second screen of the Shortcut Wizard, specify the name of the .exe file for the Air help as the program to run when the shortcut is activated.

    As far as I can tell, the Air help application must be installed in order to link to it. So the shortcut shouldn't link to the .air file but to the .exe file created after the application is installed properly.

    I haven't figured out how to link to a specific topic in the Air help. There are options in the Shortcut Wizard to pass command line arguments when running the program. However, I don't know how to pass a link to a specific html file as a command line argument. Any advice?

    - Maura

    2 replies

    Maura_GCorrect answer
    Participant
    October 1, 2009

    This comment might be a few months late, but I've been able to add a control that opens an Air file from a .chm file.

    You can add a shortcut (Insert < HTML Help Controls < Shortcut) to a topic in the .chm file. In the second screen of the Shortcut Wizard, specify the name of the .exe file for the Air help as the program to run when the shortcut is activated.

    As far as I can tell, the Air help application must be installed in order to link to it. So the shortcut shouldn't link to the .air file but to the .exe file created after the application is installed properly.

    I haven't figured out how to link to a specific topic in the Air help. There are options in the Shortcut Wizard to pass command line arguments when running the program. However, I don't know how to pass a link to a specific html file as a command line argument. Any advice?

    - Maura

    Anonymous
    December 29, 2009

    A belated thank you, Maura. I'm back on this project after being derailed for several months to work on other deliverables for the same client. Now I'm in "must focus on content" mode, so as soon as I'm feeling better about that aspect of the Help file, I'm going to try your solution. If I discover anything new, I'll be sure to post another reply!

    Katie

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