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Mark Southee
Mark Southee
Inspiring
October 26, 2011
Question

Links to open PDF not working in WebHelp RH TCS3

  • October 26, 2011
  • 3 replies
  • 1223 views

In my FM files I want to create links to open a pdf file (ideally at named destinations, but that seems a distant dream )

In RoboHelp I have included the PDF in my baggage folder (in it's own folder, called PDF)

My Go to URL link in FM is: message URL PDF/ICM_User_Manual.pdf

The link seems ok as far as the view source for the .htm file is concerned

The help is being served from a folder on a Tomcat web server, if that makes any difference.

However, the link does not display as a hyperlink (no hand is displayed). I've tried all kind of things to make it work, but to no avail.

Having searched the forums, I haven't come across a definitive answer as to:

A. Whether this actually works in a linked project.

B. If it does work, what the correct syntax is in FM to persuade the link inn RH to do as it should?

Mark

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3 replies

Mark Southee
Mark SoutheeAuthor
Inspiring
October 26, 2011

Out of curiosity, I deleted the generated link in RoboHelp and created a link from RH itself. This worked fine.

So I copied the RH link back into the Go to URL link in FM and updated the linked file and re-generated WebHelp.  Back to having no link.

So it is definitely a problem with the FM to RH conversion.

Matt-Tech Comm Tools
Community Expert
Matt-Tech Comm ToolsCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 26, 2011

Hi Mark,

Compare the link in the RH file with the location of the PDF baggage file. Modify the FM marker to reflect that path.

One note:

Per Rick (I think) you should disable the Mark of the Web in order to see a working link in the generated SSL. This doesn't impact the published file (and in any case it would work in the published project) but with MOTW on, you will experience a dead link when previewing the project.

-Matt

-Matt Sullivan, FrameMaker Course Creator, Author, Trainer, Consultant
Mark Southee
Mark SoutheeAuthor
Inspiring
October 27, 2011

I decided to go back to scratch, and removed all formating (including conditional text settings I applied). I checked the link as you mentioned Matt, and used this in the FM Go to URL link. And it worked. I re-applied the conditional text settings and it now seems happy with that as well. Weird!

MOTW wasn't affected, as I had to FTP the Help to my test server hosting the software app to test the links, as they are relative to a Tomcat folder. Even the Named Destinations links work now. Only took half a day to get it sorted!

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