PDF HTML Help Control Shortcut stops working

[Asis22]

I've created a chm that uses HTML Help Control ShortCuts to open PDFs not compiled within the chm
These work fine.
I have some hyperlinks that open the same pages outside of the chm (_blank) (so the user can view and compare pages)

The HTML Control stops working in these pages

HELP!

Thanks

[Pete_Lees]

Hi, Asis22, and welcome,

Can you say a little more about the "_blank" hyperlinks that you want to use in your help file, and perhaps provide a sample of your HTML code? It's not obvious to me what you seek to achieve with these hyperlinks, given that HTML Help shortcuts always open the target files outside the help viewer, in their native application.

If you have multiple shortcuts in the same help topic, each must have a unique ID. Could this be a factor in your case?

Pete

[Asis22]

I have a chm file where some topic contain design controls that open pdf's (in acrobat, outside of the chm) - these work great

There were a few instances where the client wanted to open topic pages outside of the chm so they could have more then one topic open at a time to compare information then decide if they actually want to open the whole pdf
(the topic pages are summaries of the full pdf)
a href="US20030009244.htm" target=_blank

These topic pages open fine outside of the chm window but the design control to open the pdf no longer works

Thanks
I hope you can hrlp

[Pete_Lees]

Hi, again,

I think the cause of the problem is that HTML Help Shortcut commands work in compiled help files only. When you open a topic file outside a help file, in a browser window, it is operating as an uncompiled HTML file, and therefore all Shortcut commands in the topic are disabled.

This article on Microsoft's MSDN site identifies the HTML Help commands that work outside a compiled help file:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms644645(VS.85).aspx

Instead of opening the topics in a browser window, can you open them in a secondary HTML Help window? Then the Shortcut commands should continue to work.

Pete

[Asis22]

I'd need to be able to create an undefined amount of secondary windows. The toc requires hard-wiring the topic to a specific window?

Is there a simple way to just hyperlink a pdf and not have it compiled into the chm?

Thanks

[Pete_Lees]

Hi,

You could define just one secondary window type and then force topics into it as necessary, either by assigning it to the appropriate TOC entries or by nominating it as the target window for in-topic Related Topics links (see this thread for an example).

Ultimately, I think there are only two ways to open an external file from a topic in a .chm file:

1) By using a Shortcut control.

2) By using the script described here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms644690(VS.85).aspx

Unlike the Shortcut control, this script displays the external file in the topic pane of the HTML Help viewer. So, it's not really ideal for viewing the contents of lengthy PDF documents.

Pete

[Asis22]

I'll take a look at these and see if there's a solution I can use

Thanks for your help