How can I get CHM help to open full-screen automatically?

[Guest]

Is there a setting in the HTML Help Options dialog that will allow me to specify that the help should open full-screen?

When I first open the CHM help it opens as a small window that I have to maximize to fit the screen.  Is there any way to get it to open full-screen by default?

[RoboColum_n_]

You can set the INITIAL size of the CHM file window inside your RoboHelp project. All you need to do is create a window designed specifically for use with your CHM files. This allows you to define the window properties including its size. You then need to ensure you have used that window inside the Microsoft HTML Help single source layout.

One thing to consider when creating a new window is which single source layout is your default. You don't say which RoboHelp version you are using. From RoboHelp 9 (I think) when you create a new window you are given the choice of which layout it relates to. Versions before that, you have to set your default single source layout to the layout that the window will be used with. This is important as the properties differ between the different window types.

Finally I stated that this only sets the INITIAL window size. There is nothing to stop a user resizing the window. I am pretty sure that when they do this, their size setting is recorded and used the next time they open the CHM file. This is recorded in the HH.DAT file on the end user's PC. You can read more about this file here.

[Guest]

Thanks for your answer.

I've now set up a new window for the CHM help (and I'm using RoboHelp 10), but I'm not able to specify a height or width large enough to fill the screen. The maximum height x width it is allowing me to enter is 768x1024.  Is there a way to get around this limit?

[RoboColum_n_]

No. You have to consider that the screen definition used by different users differs. Whatever values you specify will never be maximaxed for some users. Even if you set the window size at the maximum size of the largest screen definition available anywhere, this would massively inconvenience users with a lower resolution. RoboHelp uses an average maximum value to please most users.

[Captiv8r]

Hi there

Another thing to consider is that what we are talking about here is behavior observed if the end user simply double-clicks a CHM to open it. If your CHM is linked to an application and you are opening it from inside an application, I believe the developer may use code that causes the CHM to open full screen if they desire.

Cheers... Rick