Links to open PDF not working in WebHelp RH TCS3

[Mark Southee]

In my FM files I want to create links to open a pdf file (ideally at named destinations, but that seems a distant dream )

In RoboHelp I have included the PDF in my baggage folder (in it's own folder, called PDF)

My Go to URL link in FM is: message URL PDF/ICM_User_Manual.pdf

The link seems ok as far as the view source for the .htm file is concerned

The help is being served from a folder on a Tomcat web server, if that makes any difference.

However, the link does not display as a hyperlink (no hand is displayed). I've tried all kind of things to make it work, but to no avail.

Having searched the forums, I haven't come across a definitive answer as to:

A. Whether this actually works in a linked project.

B. If it does work, what the correct syntax is in FM to persuade the link inn RH to do as it should?

Mark

[Mark Southee]

Out of curiosity, I deleted the generated link in RoboHelp and created a link from RH itself. This worked fine.

So I copied the RH link back into the Go to URL link in FM and updated the linked file and re-generated WebHelp.  Back to having no link.

So it is definitely a problem with the FM to RH conversion.

[Matt-Tech Comm Tools]

Hi Mark,

Compare the link in the RH file with the location of the PDF baggage file. Modify the FM marker to reflect that path.

One note:

Per Rick (I think) you should disable the Mark of the Web in order to see a working link in the generated SSL. This doesn't impact the published file (and in any case it would work in the published project) but with MOTW on, you will experience a dead link when previewing the project.

-Matt

[Mark Southee]

I decided to go back to scratch, and removed all formating (including conditional text settings I applied). I checked the link as you mentioned Matt, and used this in the FM Go to URL link. And it worked. I re-applied the conditional text settings and it now seems happy with that as well. Weird!

MOTW wasn't affected, as I had to FTP the Help to my test server hosting the software app to test the links, as they are relative to a Tomcat folder. Even the Named Destinations links work now. Only took half a day to get it sorted!