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context sensitive help, map-id, .ali file, re-map

Explorer ,
Feb 15, 2018 Feb 15, 2018

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I'm in trouble with a Microsoft HTML Help project which used to work but by someaction I did - and I don't know which it was - the MAP-Ids resp. the linkage bewteen the information in the .ali-file and the map-ids got lost.

What is the mechanism to make the map IDs known to a project? (a merged project in this case).

I have two mapfiles in my project :

all_mapids_sorted.h

BSSCDefault.h

all_mapids_sorted.h contains all map ids in the form:

#define Item 18269

(it's an ANSI encoded file containing Umlauts - I'm not sure whether I had to change this to UTF-8 but it used to work and I didn't change anything in that area).

My .ali file has the name

Merged_project.ali

and is a catenation of all .ali files in the subprojects

It contains for this Map ID:

<alias name="Item" link="Redirect.1.htm#its:SUBPROJECT.chm::/path\to\Item_explained.htm" >

When I compare the working merged CHM with the non working then I can see that all its:links are missing in the non-working.

By which mechanism do I make known the .ali and map-information to the project (merged~)?

--

Christoph

(maybe I have asked this before but forgot - IT WAS A DIFFERENT CAUSE THEN. MAP IDs don't get recognized (Umlaut problem?) )

P.S.: using HTML Help Studio I can see that the working CHM has 48KB of strings containing the content of the .ali file while the defunct CHM doen's contain this information.

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Explorer ,
Feb 15, 2018 Feb 15, 2018

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General question: the files (*.h, *.apj, *.ali), do the have to be utf-8 encoded and have a respective BOM? Or do they have to be ANSI?

I have a problem that the rh compiler beefs about a map definition:

The following map definition has an invalid context ID: #define Winkel_80?60208

which is actually

#define Winkel_80° 60208

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Community Expert ,
Feb 15, 2018 Feb 15, 2018

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Don't know but suggest you create a new project and see how it is set out there.

My guess would be the use of the degree character is the issue.


See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

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Explorer ,
Feb 15, 2018 Feb 15, 2018

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First off I found that there were TABs in the map_id.h file.

In the working case all map Ids where the the name of the ID contains a character >127 (ANSI), the CSH Test fails.
All other IDs are working, as said, in the working case.

When are the map (.h) and .ali files read into the project? At every new start ? Or are the burried in the .cpd file?

--

Christoph

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Community Expert ,
Feb 16, 2018 Feb 16, 2018

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They get included in the generated CHM. See Calling CHMs


See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

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Explorer ,
Feb 18, 2018 Feb 18, 2018

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Hi Peter,

thanks for the link.

I'm trying to pile up a little example but I can't get it to work (RH9)

When building a TOC for the central project, does one have to build the subchapter manually or are they built automatically from the baggage files?

I don't see the .ali file being built in the central project. It's just a 3 byte empty file just containing the UTH-8 BOM.

--

Christoph

Can I upload a zip file here?

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Community Expert ,
Feb 18, 2018 Feb 18, 2018

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CHMs are not really my thing as most of my work has been with WebHelp. Then add in the way that was called was using URLs. For those reasons troubleshooting what you have done is not something I can help with.

There is another page on my site that might help. Merged CHM Help That was written with the assistance of someone who did use merged CHM help.

It is not possible to upload files to the forum other than images and I'm sorry I can't help you with this problem beyond what is in those pages.


See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

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Community Expert ,
Feb 18, 2018 Feb 18, 2018

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I seem to remember many years ago I had problems with the format the the map file. But I can't remember if it should have been ANSI or UTF-8. Looking at the default (unused) one in a current project, the format is UTF-8, but I don't produce chm files, so I'm not sure if this helps.

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Explorer ,
Feb 19, 2018 Feb 19, 2018

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Thanks for the data point, Amebr. That should read UTF-8 in my post, Was a typo but couldn't edit it anymore.

Another question: while I'm experimenting with the Map file (.h) file. Previously, my MAPfile in the merged project lead to all Mapids being marked yellow. Then I deleted the map file from the project and imported it again with the result that now all map-IDs are yellow and marked additional with a "lock"-symbol.

What does that mean?

Furthermore: I'm in the (lucky) situation now, that I can compare with an older build of the project which is working WRT the map id and Redirect links.

When I look at the Mapids in that working merged project, I can see that most map-IDs ate blue (with a lock symbol). Only a few are yellow (with lock)

(EDIT: which turn out to be peculiar what the character coding is concerned- they contain Umlauts)

--

Christoph

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Community Expert ,
Feb 19, 2018 Feb 19, 2018

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From RoboHelp's online help

An Icon indicates the status of a map ID

•Blue icons alias_blue_icon.png indicate that map IDs match topics.

•Yellow icons alias_yellow_icon.png indicate that map IDs do not match any topics.

•Locked icons locked_map_id.png (blue or yellow) indicate that the map ID is in a map file that is locked. It cannot be assigned or unassigned.


See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

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Explorer ,
Feb 19, 2018 Feb 19, 2018

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Thanks, Peter. So what is going on, when a Map-Id is locked? I always disliked this nomenclature. Either with the ?, this designated something odd but actually it isn't.

Giving it a lock symbol isn't very informative, either.

Sigh. So what, one cannot change it anymore. One's gotta live with these oddities.

RH behaves so unpredictable. I'm sure I compiled the right sub project CHM, copied it into the project directory and into the !SSL!/ALL_Microsoft_HTML_HELP

and nonetheless the merged project uses an old CHM.

Which role does the .cpd file play? Can it be deleted safely. It seems the XPJ files needs it. So starting over from a .HHP file, is that a way to clean up things?

Or does it break more than it heals?

Desperate at the moment.

--

Christoph

EDIT: P.S.: It seemed that deleting the .cpd file and starting over the merged project solved the glitches.

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Community Expert ,
Feb 19, 2018 Feb 19, 2018

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The CPD is merely a cache to help RoboHelp work quicker by holding information from other files. It can be deleted with RoboHelp closed and will rebuild when next opened.

Deleting the XPJ file is different. There is more about that in Opening Corrupt RoboHelp Projects and it's not what I would recommend if you hit problems in the future.

Glad you have sorted this out.


See www.grainge.org for free RoboHelp and Authoring information.

@petergrainge

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