Why Does Paragraph Numbering Differ Between WYSIWYG and WebHelp?

[Guest]

Howdy. I've returned to a relatively simple and small (300+ topic) project using RH7 7.03.001on my XP Professional Version 2002 SP3 PC. What's required and what shows in the Word source docs and RH7 (editor and preview modes) after import is, for example:

Steps To Accomplish

1.      Log on to the system.

2.      Select Administration view.

NOTE

Check for user already existing prior to creating a new account.

3.      <Click> the Add User button.

4.      …

But what WebHelp shows in the end user's IE6 SP2 browser is:

Steps To Accomplish

1.      Log on to the system.

2.      Select Administration view.

NOTE

Check for user already existing prior to creating a new account.

4.      <Click> the Add User button.

5.      …

My observation is that RH7 inserts an <li style="list-style: none"> and </li> pair around every NOTE paragraph group in the generated file, which increments the step number objectionably. (Though a "small" project, I am not going to hand-delete these though that solves the problem...)

Hmm, do I need two step numbering styles -- one that starts at 1 (pre-NOTE) and one that does not restart (post-NOTE)? The Bullets and Numbering dialogue doesn't offer either option, at least via RH7's Format / Styles route. And would that help anyway on the second and subsequent Note groups that might occur? Just tried it -- no difference. Auggh. I've wrestled with styles and formats a bit but obviously don't understand -- or is this an RH7 bug or feature? (I would expect WYSIWYG to be just that...)

I have attached a PDF describing my problem in more detail, though I realize this is not the preferred method...

Thanks all!

Steve

[Willam van Weelden · Accepted solution]

Hi,

This is indeed curious, I have this same problem too, I just hadn't noticed it until I read your post.

As to the why... I have no idea . I think this answers question no1.

2. Bug is a harsh word, probably a simple operator error, much in the same way that RoboHelp sometimes rewrites custom HTML code.

3. Wrestling, no.

4. A simple solution is to place all the paragraphs withing the list item. This will require handwork in your source files, but it's only once and when you know how Robo works, it's only a very minor nuisance.

Your source code looks like this:

<li class=p-Steps><p class=Steps>Text</p></li>

<p class=Note>NOTE</p>

<p class=NoteBody>Text</p>

<li class=p-Steps>etc

Now place all paragraphs within the list item:

<li class=p-Steps><p class=Steps>Text</p>

<p class=Note>NOTE</p>

<p class=NoteBody>Text</p>

</li>

<li class=p-Steps>etc

This looks exactly the same, but with correct numbering. I don't know wheter this can be done from the WYSIWYG editor, but a simple operation is to go to HTML mode and relocate the </li> tag.

Greet,

Willam

PS. Excellent problem description in your PDF.

[Guest]

Thank you, Willam, for your prompt, thoughtful and complimentary reply. I'm somewhat relieved that I haven't missed something obvious but concerned that more effort will have to be applied.

As I indicated, I do not plan to fix this by hand. Instead, I will now do what I'd done two and a half years ago when using RH X5 and write code to examine each imported RH source file and apply this fix (using MS Access, my tool of comfort). The previous effort was to insert the Javascript that implemented search highlighting, developed by college student Calvin Ly and so well documented by Peter Grainge among others. Since then, RH7 has solved that oversight. So, perhaps RH8 has done the same for this one.

Meanwhile, my comment and question:

1.      If WYSIWYG is to be trusted for a commercially mature product, then if not true I'd consider the product to have a bug (notwithstanding someone coming forth with a fix that doesn’t require postprocessing!).

2.      Does RH8 exhibit this same paragraph-numbering discrepancy? (My customer plans to purchase RH so "their people" can also work the project. This could become problematic, and not just because once converted, as another post points out, the RH8 project cannot be used by RH7. Whee!)

Thanks, all, for reading. Please keep adding to the body of knowledge!

Steve