FM hypertext doesn't work - work around in RH doesn't work... need help!

Report · Nov 24, 2009

I am working in TCS2 in Windows XP. I posted this in the RH discussion too... I hope that is OK that I put it here as well (hoping to reach the correct audience somehow!)

I am trying to single-source things. So I have created a huge doc in FM. Within FM, I have hypertext links to openfile a PDF (which works just fine in FM, and when I generate a PDF it still works nicely). Then I import into RH and those hypertext links don't work anymore. So I created my own little work around:

Went to that place and coded the FM hypertext as PRINT

Added a hypertext link (coded as ONLINE) that will jump to the required destination in the online help files

Works beautifully. But b/c I am single-sourcing (I think) whenver I make changes in the FM files and I have to update the RH files, the manual changes I've made to the RH files (as above) disappear. That is not going to work for me... I cannot do that manual work around everytime I update... too hard to remember, to time consuming, etc. etc.

Here is ultimately what I need:
-the PDF link to work in FM (which it does) - usable in PRINT generation
-a RH link which jumps to that location in RH - usable in ONLINE generation

Suggestions?

Thank you!

Adriana

Report · Nov 24, 2009

We do it in FM with Marker of Type Hypertext.

Then in my dokument it works.

Report · Nov 24, 2009

Thanks Michael- that is what I've done in FM as well is a hypertext marker which works great in my FM doc and my PDFs... but RH and the consequent online output seems to be ignoring it...

Report · Nov 24, 2009

Adriana,

It might help if you provide the exact format of the hypertext link markers that do not work for you.

Report · Nov 24, 2009

Sure. In FM, the hypertext marker is:

marker type: Hyptertext

market text: message openfile directorystructure/filename.pdf

Report · Nov 24, 2009

And what's the resulting HTML code when that FM doc page is imported/linked in RH?

Report · Nov 24, 2009

nothing... that's just it. the text in FM is coded as "internal" bc i have conditional text markers for internal/external versions of things. so the text and the hypertext marker are coded as internal.... in RH, i can see the text coded as "internal" but there doesn't appear to be any evidence of the marker at all. maybe its a setting RH??

Report · Nov 24, 2009

So you see it in the Design View pane - right? Flip to HTML View and see

what it looks like there.

If you want to remove any issue with conditions, try doing a new .fm doc

with no conditions; add your hyperlink to any pdf you've got kicking

around; create a new project in RH, and try pulling the FM doc in and

see what's happening when you create some help from that.

Report · Nov 24, 2009

here's what it says in HTML:

for additional information please refer to <?rh-cbt_start condition="Internal" ?> <?rh-cbt_end ?><?rh-cbt_start condition="Internal" ?>Additional document name<?rh-cbt_end ?><?rh-cbt_start condition="Internal" ?>. <?rh-cbt_end ?><?rh-cbt_start condition="External" ?>External Manual.<?rh-cbt_end ?>

so i can see reference to FM_Hyperlink. but i can't seem to click it, do anything with it, etc etc.

I tried a new FM doc, no conditions, linked to random PDF (again, hypertext marker) opened PDF no prob in FM and when saved FM as PDF, opened new PDF all good... linked FM file by reference into new RH project, generated nothing.... in HTML it says:

Report · Nov 24, 2009

Does the PDF file referenced in your link actually exist? The "message openfile" construct is very specific in that it tries to launch the application (Acrobat for PDFs) with the file. For generic links to another FM file/book being linked to, you should be using the "openlink" command (at least with PDFs).

Report · Nov 24, 2009

Hi there

Could it be as simple as the setting in the RoboHelp HTML Single Source Layout of "Mark Of The Web"? (MOTW)

With MOTW enabled, links to local files such as PDFs don't work. At least when you test using Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Cheers... Rick

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Report · Nov 24, 2009

i'm not sure what you mean by "does it exist" - yes it does. and the link works in FM and in PDF. RH that ignores it.

i changed the hypertext marker in FM to openlink and from within FM, the linked PDF no longer works (so in other words it worked when it was openfile it does not work with openlink...)

and MOTW is not enabled (thanks for the suggestion however).

Report · Nov 24, 2009

I'm not very familiar with hypertext links (because I don't use them at all in my project), but when I just tried to create one & bring it into a blank RH project, I got a warning telling me that the PDF I was linking to was outside of the project & therefore would not be shown. Maybe you need to add the PDF to RH's Baggage Files for any link to be brought in & working?

Report · Nov 24, 2009

Adriana,

I was asking if the PDF that you are linking to was being generated (as a cross-file link) during the FM book-building (and may not yet exist) or if it was a static, pre-existing PDF that you need to link to. For the static PDF, the "message openfile" construct should continue to be used. The "openlink" construct should be used when pointing to a FM file (not a PDF) that will become part of PDF that you want to link to.

Anyway, I suspect that this line of thought isn't going anywhere...

Report · Nov 24, 2009

Thanks for clarifying Arnis - but you are correct that that doesn't quite help this situation.

I have actually created another workaround for now (until I think of something better). I added 2 more conditional build tags - one for PRINT and one for ONLINE. Then I added a xref to my doc and coded it as ONLINE. RH recognizes the xref in the generated online help correctly and I can ignore the ONLINE text in my generated PDF.

Thx to all for their time/feedback/insight... anyone who has additional thoughts is welcome to comment but for now, this works.

Ultimately, I'd still like to know why RH is ignoring my hypertext markers...

-A

Report · Jan 29, 2010

One note about the formatting: anytime you see class="FM_ (blah, blah) you have formatting being pulled from FM, rather than your css. You'll get cleaner, more controllable html if you map Para and Character tags to css elements instead.

Report · Feb 10, 2010

Hey there,

I have the same problem. I want to use the hyperlink "message openfile /path/file.pdf" but the link vanishes during the import to robohelp html. Are there any news to that?

Or is there another good workaround. I have a big (1000 pages) technical documentation in framemaker with hyperlinks to existing pdf-files. I want to import the framemaker book in robohelp and create a windows html help file (chm), packed with all linked pdf-files.

Report · Feb 11, 2010

Hello!

I solved my problem: Use a hypertext with the following command: "message URL Path/MyFile.pdf"

If you have now in Robohelp also in the baggage folder a folder "Path" and inside the "MyFile.pdf" then the created chm includes also the PDF-file