External cross-references in FM, not links in RH

[Guest]

I was having a terrible time with external cross-references that look fine in FrameMaker (FM) but didn’t work in RH. The cross-references worked because they were going to the previous place where the file used to be, but only with cross-references that previously were in different books.

Although I put all the files together in the same folder, and added them to the FM book, they retained their previous path. But, the path didn’t show up in the FM book and all the cross-references were working in FM. This was only happening in files that were previously in different FM books. Cross-references between files that used to be in the same book, but were now in the Help book, worked fine and appeared as links in RH.

With the help of Matt Sullivan, I was able to identify that even though you couldn’t tell it, the book still thought these files were external.

If you’re having problems with cross-references that look fine in FM and don’t appear as links in RH, try this:

1. In FM, look for one of the cross-references that works in FM but not in RH and open the file in FM.
2. Then, go to the file in the folder where you’re keeping all your files for the Help book. If you have two files, it means even though you’ve copied the file to your Help book, it’s still going back to the old neighborhood. So you need to break the bad habit and make it a real part of the book.
3. Remove the folder where the file used to be. Now you will get broken cross-references.
4. Search for unresolved cross-references in your book.
5. Open each file that has the unresolved cross-references, and select Edit, Update References.
6. Select the All Cross-References check box.The Update Unresolved Cross-References window opens. At the top of the list will be the total number of unresolved cross-references in the file you have open. As you select each file in the list, the number of unresolved cross-references that go to the selected file is displayed under the list box as well as the path of the file.
7. If the selected file in the drop-down list has unresolved cross-references to it, start typing the name of the file (not the path, just the name), and select it, and click Open. This points the cross-reference to the file in the same folder as all the others.