Context Sensitive Help

[Gania]

Is there a simple method to use URLs for context sensitive Help?

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

Yes – see Peter Grainge’s site (grainge.org) & Willam van Weelden’s site (wvanweelden.eu)

[Gania]

Thanks Jeff, I did do that, but I really didn't quite understand it. That's why I was hoping someonw could make it simple.

[Gania]

Jeff, This is what I’d like to do, but where do I enter this path is what’s confusing me. I have only worked with map ids before.

Thanks,

Geri

[Gania]

Forgot to add the text:

[Gania]

Sorry I pasted it in, but it didn't take. This is better.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

The direct call is just like typing the URL into a browser – depending on where you’re calling the help from, it would just launch the hyperlink. Usually developers do all this – why are you using URL CSH calls?

[Gania]

The developer only uses URLs, I just don’t know how to create the map IDs to match up with their URLs.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

That’s all configured in the Map Files in the Context Sensitive Help section of the Project Setup tab. Use the .h and .ali files to set the links.

[Gania]

Thanks Jeff, I’ll do that.

[Captiv8r]

Soooo, if the developer uses URLs, that should simplify your life!

Why complicate matters with MapIDs? Just provide the URLs to the developer!

If you go to the trouble of using MapIDs, the stuff you create there will simply be unused and wasted effort on your part.

Cheers... Rick

[Gania]

Really? I have a spreadsheet of all the screen URLs and titles.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

That they provided you or that you will be providing to them?

[Gania]

I’ll be providing them.

[Jeff_Coatsworth]

So what’s the problem then?

[Gania]

I guess I don’t have one, thanks guys!

[Amebr]

So, what I think you have is a list of screens in the application? And you need to advise the developer of the correct topic for each screen?

If so, you can just provide the URL in the spreadsheet, or whatever file the developer gave you. A relative path should be enough as long as the developer knows where the help lives.

(My personal preference is to get the developers to set up proper CSH, just because it means that either the dev or I can change things around and not have to worry about making sure all of the URLs in the application/help get updated-don't get me started on the recurring "challenges" I've had-but you may not have time or buy-in to implement this.

If you wanted to go this route for a web app, I'd recommend looking at the 'Calling webhelp using topicids' on Peter's site - in my experience web-devs tend not to use the 'map number'. So the map/topic id would be the 'name' of the screen (no spaces or any of the special characters as per Robohelp help), which the developer would provide to you, you'd add them to a map file in Robohelp and assign map numbers and topics (the developer wouldn't need to know anything about this), then the developer would just implement the csh help call as per Peter's site.

But again, this takes work and buy-in, so consider this just a rough sketch of possible workflow. )

[Gania]

Thanks Amebr! This is the greatest forum ever! I’m really going to be depending on you through a really trying project. I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me again.