Flare Version 11 WebHelp read htm data

[helpdoc]

Hello, I am using Flare version 11 (we cannot update at this time) and my application uses WebHelp. Before loading the WebHelp page in a new tab, I want to read the .htm files data and print some text out in a modal that I have set up. I have the .h header file to use. Which file would I give the ids from the header to receive the path to the correct .htm file? All I need is the files path itself. I can do the rest of the file parsing. Thank you.

Edit: Are the Alias files suppose to have the same ids at the header.h files? The Alias files have paths but the ids are not the same as in the header.h file. I am not the one doing the Flare side of the project (I am the developer). If they are the same, would that be the best way to find the files to read them?

[Psider]

I can't provide any specific advice, but you can find the Flare help for content sensitive help here:
https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare11 ... e_Help.htm

[NorthEast]

Yes, the alias files will use the same IDs as the header file. The header file is simply a list of the IDs in text format. The alias file is a list of only the IDs that have been linked to help topics, and is in XML format. So the Flare app uses both files to manage your CSH.

When you build the help, the alias file is contained in /Data/Alias.xml; so for example, this is the alias file for Flare 11's help: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare11/Data/Alias.xml

When you make a CSH call, you send the ID to the default output file - for WebHelp you use the "_CSH.htm" file, e.g. Default_CSH.htm#CSHID=identifier
See: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare11 ... lopers.htm

So the Default_CSH.htm file is parsing the ID (CSHID) and using the alias.xml file to locate the topic.

Hopefully there's enough information there to help you.


It's also worth mentioning that you'll need to move away from using WebHelp soon, and use HTML5 instead. WebHelp is going to be removed from Flare soon: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... atures.htm

[helpdoc]

Yes, the alias files will use the same IDs as the header file. The header file is simply a list of the IDs in text format. The alias file is a list of only the IDs that have been linked to help topics, and is in XML format. So the Flare app uses both files to manage your CSH.

When you build the help, the alias file is contained in /Data/Alias.xml; so for example, this is the alias file for Flare 11's help: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare11/Data/Alias.xml

When you make a CSH call, you send the ID to the default output file - for WebHelp you use the "_CSH.htm" file, e.g. Default_CSH.htm#CSHID=identifier
See: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare11 ... lopers.htm

So the Default_CSH.htm file is parsing the ID (CSHID) and using the alias.xml file to locate the topic.

Hopefully there's enough information there to help you.


It's also worth mentioning that you'll need to move away from using WebHelp soon, and use HTML5 instead. WebHelp is going to be removed from Flare soon: https://help.madcapsoftware.com/flare20 ... atures.htm

So is there object or function that Madcap provides to return the file path (or a file that I can read from), when given the name (ex getFilePath("Name_of_file"))? I do not want to call FMCOpenHelp until the user presses a button in the modal (the modal displays some info form the same file). Or would I have to manually look at the alias and header files for that information?

[NorthEast]

So is there object or function that Madcap provides to return the file path (or a file that I can read from), when given the name (ex getFilePath("Name_of_file"))? I do not want to call FMCOpenHelp until the user presses a button in the modal (the modal displays some info form the same file). Or would I have to manually look at the alias and header files for that information?

No, MadCap don't provide any functionality like this.

You'd have to write a script that looks at the alias file in the output (Data/Alias.xml) as this contains a list of the topics linked to the IDs.

About 5 years ago I wrote a script that reads the alias file, which may give you some ideas
https://ukauthor.wordpress.com/2015/06/ ... ent-topic/