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A
Anonymous
September 2, 2014
Answered

RoboHelp HTML Version 10. - OK to use an HTML cleanup tool on RoboHelp topics?

  • September 2, 2014
  • 1 reply
  • 403 views

We are considering using a Webtool like www.cleanuphtml.com to clean up the inline html styles in a large number of RoboHelp topics that were imported from Word several years ago. After the cleanup, we can still use the styles from our CSS. Does anyone see any potential problems here? Here's what the Cleanup tool adds to the Head section. It then uses these "internal" styles whereever it needs to clean up the HTML. Thanks - Charlie Kyle

HTML from Cleanup

<head>

<!-- Clean HTML generated by http://www.cleanuphtml.com/ -->

<meta name="template" content="OurTopicTemplate.htt" />

<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />

<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-US" />

<meta name="generator" content="Adobe RoboHelp 10" />

<title>AAANew Topic1 </title>

<link rel="StyleSheet" href="Our_CSS.css" type="text/css" />

<style type="text/css">/*<![CDATA[*/

p.cleanuphtml-13 {

  text-indent: -40px;

  margin-left: 140px;

}

table.cleanuphtml-12 {

  margin-left: 40px;

}

col.cleanuphtml-11 {

  width: 20%;

}

...more styles


/*]]>*/</style>

</head>

End of HTML Cleanup

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Peter Grainge

    I have not seen any reference to this tool on any of the authoring sites I follow, That does not mean it will not work without problems, simply that there is nothing to go on.

    Where I might expect problems in the future is when you amend the CSS or want to apply a new one. The embedded CSS that you have printed will always be in your content. What works today, might work tomorrow and then again...

    I understand not wanting to clean up using a good Find and Replace tool but it is the way I would go, with plenty of backing up.

    See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

    @petergrainge

    1 reply

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
    Community Expert
    September 3, 2014

    I have not seen any reference to this tool on any of the authoring sites I follow, That does not mean it will not work without problems, simply that there is nothing to go on.

    Where I might expect problems in the future is when you amend the CSS or want to apply a new one. The embedded CSS that you have printed will always be in your content. What works today, might work tomorrow and then again...

    I understand not wanting to clean up using a good Find and Replace tool but it is the way I would go, with plenty of backing up.

    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.
    A
    Anonymous
    September 3, 2014

    Thanks, Peter. Appreciate your response. A search on "html cleanup" produces a number of options including http://ww.w3.org/People/Raggett/tidy/. Tidy is a tool that offers suggestions for optimizing HTML and doesn't actually change the code as is the case with the Cleanup tool.

    I noticed today that when you run the Cleanup tool on the topics inside a RH project (vs. outside the project), then the Cleanup styles get added to the CSS referenced in the topics. Now all we need is a cleanup tool for the CSS :-) I'm suggesting to our group that if we move ahead with this that we apply a fresh CSS after the cleanup.

    Peter Grainge
    Community Expert
    Peter GraingeCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    September 3, 2014

    You do realise the styles added to the CSS are linked to the embedded styles so cleaning those will have consequences.

    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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