MadCap Software Forums

Hi,

If all that your friend has is the .chm file, he might try decompiling it with the free KeyTools utility — the only decompiler to my knowledge that provides the option to recreate the HTML Help project (.hhp) file — and then use the .hhp file to import the project into Flare. See ...

Hi, Susan,

Yes, exactly. I'd better add a caveat, though: I don't currently use Flare, so I'm not sure if the edits that you make outside Flare will survive when you next edit the index with Flare. Perhaps this is something to test before you make wholesale changes to the index file.

You can use ...

Hi,

If you are using HTML Help as your output, Index entires will be at the top of the page, this is a limiation of the HTML help viewer as it doesn't allow mid topic index entires.

This is true of the keywords that you embed in the HTML topic files, using either ActiveX <object> elements or ...

Hi, Andy,

This earlier thread may help:

Losing stylesheet properties when printing

If you install patch PATF3102 ("Patch for HTML Help Issues in Flare 3.1") or PATF3103 ("Patch for Popup Window Issues in Flare 3.1") then you should have an extra checkbox in the Advanced tab of the target editor ...

Hi,

I don't have Flare open at the moment and I don't remember the actual CSS property, but one of those repeat fields is supposed to have an option to keep the background stationary and move the text over it -- sort of anchor the image in place.

That's right: "background-attachment: fixed". So ...

Hi, cpylelo,

The reason why this problem arises is described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article 830609 .

According to article OUTH1009F in the Madcap Knowledge Base:

A change was made in Flare 3.1 generated .CHMs in how the stylesheet is linked to the topics and called to address issues people ...

Hi, Jason,

You're right that instances of the HTML Help ActiveX control don't print, so your workaround of using script to invoke the hidden controls is the way to go.

Pete

For what it's worth, I suspect that anyone who applies the methods in that Knowledge Base article to a merged HTML Help collection is likely to run into the problems that the Helpware method is designed to work around. That's to say, indexes that don't merge properly, and a table of contents that ...

Hi,

Have a look at this Knowledge Base article:

No Search results in HTML Help file

Pete

Hi, igleski,

Just to clarify, you have a master .chm file and five slave .chm files, and you want to channel all the context help calls through the master file? Here are two different methods, using different HTML Help API commands, which should enable you to do this. Sorry I can't give Flare ...

Hi, bash7012,

From what you've written so far, it sounds like this problem is evident only when you call the help file from the application. Is that correct? That the contents of the help file look OK when it is opened by double-clicking in Windows Explorer but wrong when the file is called from ...

Hi, Michal,

The "ms-its:" protocol is one of several protocols that you can use to link to files compiled into an HTML Help file, whether stored locally or not. Other similar protocols are "mk:@MSITStore:" and "its:". In fact, they all appear to be optional nowadays, as mature versions of HTML Help ...

Hi, Susan,

Here are some resources that may help:


Microsoft HTML Help Application Programming Interface (API) Reference
MSHelpWiki HTML Help 1.x Articles page
Helpware HTML Help - Context Help Ids and .NET Application Help

Typically, a developer adds help calls like the following one at ...

Hi, rochfort,

If it's any help to you, here is a simple script to copy the contents of the nominated element to the Clipboard.

<script type="text/JavaScript">
<!--

function copyToClipboard(id) {

window.clipboardData.setData("Text",document.all(id).innerText);

// Omit the following line to ...

Hi,

It would be worth having the customer ensure that the file %windir%\system32\itircl.dll is correctly registered, as this is the DLL that handles the index and full-text search functionality in all HTML Help files on the computer. The command to enter at the command prompt is:

regsvr32 %windir ...

Hi, Ty,

Unlike TOC merging, index merging doesn't work recursively across more than one level. This is a limitation in Microsoft's design of HTML Help. So, you'll need to merge the "sub-slave" (#3) directly into the master project.

See the "Other Tips & Tricks" section of this page:

http ...

Hi, Abby,

The index that you show in your screenshot is not the index for a compiled HTML Help (.chm) file, so perhaps your boss generated the help project in some other format at some point — and the resulting index file has somehow been dragged into the .chm file at compile time. This might be ...

Hi, Jason,

... we use the same script to open other files (which requires the full path in the argument, even tho CHM cannot obtain that information without ActiveX), so this will still be an issue.

Have you seen the following articles?

http://helpware.net/FAR/far_faq.htm#externalfile
http ...

Hi,

You may be able to pick up a few ideas on this subject from the following thread on the MSDN "Developer Documentation and Help System" board:

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3262133&SiteID=1

The fact is, though, that Microsoft simply didn't anticipate this requirement ...

Dave Lee wrote:

Pete Lees wrote:Do you need to use JavaScript at all for this?

It's for a WebHelp toolbar button, i.e. a javascript onClick action.

So something like this ought to work?
Pete

Hi, Marie-Claire,

Do you need to use JavaScript at all for this? In most circumstances, a standard hyperlink is all that is needed to link between topics in two different .chm files. For example, this should work:

<a href="ms-its:Generic.chm::/Generic/Introduction.htm"><img src="button.gif" /></a ...

Hi, HÃ¥kan,

Because you're opening the .chm file from a remote location, it is subject to some security restrictions that Microsoft introduced a few years ago. You can read more about these in the following article, which also describes how to work around the restrictions by making changes in the ...

Hi,

You may want to look at the HTML Help API command HH_SET_WIN_TYPE , which lets you define the properties of the help window at run time. One of those properties is fNotExpanded , which specifies that the help viewer is opened with the navigation pane closed.

But I believe that it would be far ...

This is a very late response, and I imagine that Bill has now found the solution. But for the benefit of anyone else who may be searching these forums for a solution to the same issue, here is an explanation of why HTML Help files usually retain focus when called from a program, and a suggested ...

Juliette,

You need to include the CHM internal path to the target topics in the links that you make to them. For example, if a topic is compiled into an "HTML" folder within the CHM, you would code the hyperlink like this:

<A HREF="ms-its:filename.chm::/HTML/topic.htm">Click here</a>

To ensure ...