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namedujour
Inspiring
April 9, 2013
Question

RH10 Parent/Child Directory Structure

  • April 9, 2013
  • 1 reply
  • 1655 views

I know that you cannot embed a child project within a child project. When the parent displays in the browser, Child Project 1 is on the TOC, but Child Project 2 simply isn't in the Child Project 1 book.

Now I have a situation where I am trying to restructure my help system to display child projects in multiple different ways for different audiences. We've already had the discussion about why I don't combine 40,000 topics, video files and PDFs into one project and use categories to sort them - the project is too big. Robohelp only handles 2 gigs of files in one project before it crashes. So that is not an option.

What I did was create multiple parent projects, and publish each child project to multiple destinations using multiple single source layouts. Each parent displays only the child projects that audience needs to see. That part works fine.

However, now I have a problem on the server that reminds me of embedding child projects into child projects, and I'm wondering if I can even do this.

A parent project apparently needs to be on the root of the server, or its child projects don't display. In other words, you CANNOT put a parent project into a folder. That means you cannot separate the parents from one another because they all need to be in the same location. So, you cannot have multiple parent projects on one server - you actually need a separate server for each one.

Am I correct about this? That's what I found out when I tested the scenario. I just want to verify this with someone before I send my progress report.

Thanks

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    1 reply

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2013

    I would need to read through it myself to refresh my memory but have you seen this page on my site?

    http://www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/merging_webhelp/multiple_outputs.htm

    It was written by Phil Wells who needed what sounds like the same setup you want.

    See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

    @petergrainge

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    N
    namedujourAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 10, 2013

    Thanks but he only covers the design aspect that I already have up and running - I've already created the multiple parents and generated multiple outputs for the various child projects. Phil says he has different "output folders" but these would have to be on the C:\ drive - that part works.

    The rest of what he describes is what I'd envisioned for the project structure, but in actual fact it doesn't work. The instant I publish a parent project into a folder on the webserver, one level down from the directory root, the child projects do not display on the Table of Contents. They only display at folder Level 2, never at Level 3 , which is where they would be if you embed a child project into another child project - Parent Level 1> Child Level 2 > Child Level 3 - or Level 4, which is where they are in a mergedProjects folder.

    Let's call the webserver "S". Your published output must be to S:\ - the "root," or "Level 1" -with your start file as S:\index.htm and the project files at that same level (except for a few folders, like SSL).

    If you publish to S:\Parent1\index.htm, and publish all its child projects to S:\Parent1\mergedProjects\Child1\index.htm, the child project files are at Level 4 and don't display. Only the parent displays, without any children ot its Table of Contents.

    My problem is that child projects don't display on the server because the parents apparently all need to be published to the root directory - Level 1. Phil doesn't say how he managed this. If he actually did this successfully, I'd be interested in knowing how because I'm out of ideas.

    If I publish all parents to the same directory root, only the first one in alphabetical order displays, and the rest of the parents are lost. So it appears that you need multiple servers with multiple roots to pull this off.

    My question is : Do parent projects HAVE to be at the root of the webserver directory structure in order to display child projects? My testing says "Yes." I'm just looking for someone to confirm that Robohelp isn't coded for the design Phil and I had envisioned so I can go to the executive team with that information.

    Or, if Phil actually successfully did this, can he please tell us how? What were his target paths to the webserver, and how did he structure the folders and output on that webserver?

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    April 10, 2013

    I am going to have to read your posts and Phil's thread in detail so it may be a day or two before I can get back to you.

    Off the top of my head the requisite structure in the source is

    Parent 1

    Parent 2 etc

    Projects \ Child 1

    Projects \ Child 2 etc.

    Then you publish to

    Parent 1

    Parent 2

    mergedProjects \ Child 1

    mergedProjects \ Child 2

    That could be

    Subfolder below root \ Parent 1

    Subfolder below root \Parent 2

    Subfolder below root \ mergedProjects \ Child 1

    Subfolder below root \mergedProjects \ Child 2

    The whole trick is that the relationship between parents and children must maintain the same relative path.

    If that is not it, post back and I will look at the thread again.

    See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

    @petergrainge

    Use the menu (bottom right) to mark the Best Answer or Highlight particularly useful replies. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here.
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