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James_Gage
Participant
September 21, 2009
Question

Back Button Problem with Context-sensitive WebHelp (RoboHelp 8 HTML)

  • September 21, 2009
  • 1 reply
  • 901 views

The context-sensitive help (CSH) for one of our web applications is broken, because the help window reopens every time you select the Back button on the main web application window.


Here's some "technical" background: We have CSH integrated with a web application. The CSH was generated using RoboHelp HTML 8, and the output is WebHelp. We're using Map IDs (which rely on one of RoboHelp's .js files) rather than linking directly to .htm files. The browsers being used are IE 6 and 7, although I suspect the problem would exist in all browsers. (Our customer uses IE 6.)

The precise steps to reproduce the problem are as follows:

  1. Access a page in the web application.
  2. Click a link to open a help topic. The correct topic opens in a new window.
  3. Close the help topic window and return to the main application's browser window.
  4. Click the browser's Back button. The browser does not return to the previous page. Instead, it opens up the pop-up containing the help topic again. The Back button on the main window is essentially useless at this point, because clicking it always opens the help page, no matter what.


I'm wondering if anyone has heard of a solution to this problem. My developers haven't found a workable solution that doesn't cause additional problems. I can send out code snippets if anyone is interested.


I have seen two other posts for this same issue, with no responses, from 2007 and 2005. I hope that doesn't mean there is no solution. I would think everyone implementing CSH from a web application would have this same problem.
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/448302
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/114952

Thanks in advance for any insights!

Best regards,


James Gage

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

T
TechWriter77
Known Participant
October 1, 2009

We also ran into the same issues and, unfortunately, this is an issue that's tied to the way the help is called in WebHelp. According to the Developers I work with, the reason the Back button doesn't work is because we send a URL with an ID to the server and the server converts that URL to the final URL with the html page.  Thus, the back button only goes back to the URL with the ID and the server converts the URL again.

To fix this issue, you need to modify the whcsh_home.htm page that's generated by your webhelp. We got it to partially work, but it still didn't do what we wanted it to so we gave up on this project.

Hopefully that sheds a little light on it.

Willam van Weelden
Willam van Weelden
Inspiring
October 2, 2009

Hi,

If going back one page reopens the help, going back two pages just might work. You can create a custom back button with history.go(-2) to go back two pages. Perhaps you can get it to work with that from your help.

Greet,

Willam

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