Breadcrumbs in Master TOC

This forum is for all Flare issues related to the Microsoft HTML Help target.
This target produces "CHM" files in the output.
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Jodie Boedigheimer
Propeller Head
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:21 pm

Breadcrumbs in Master TOC

Post by Jodie Boedigheimer »

Hello All

I have 62 projects. Each of those projects has a Table of contents in it. All of the proejcts are merged together through the Master project's Table of Contents. All of the books in all TOCs are linked to a topic.

I have a master page with a breadcrumb proxy in it. In my stylesheet, I've specified the breadcrumb proxy to have 10 levels, just to be sure. It all works great EXCEPT for one minor problem. The linked TOCs books in the master aren't actually linked to a topic, so the breadcrumbs only go back a couple levels.

Example:

Project A TOC is organized like this:
Topic: Loggin In
Book: Customizing (linked to Customizing overview topic)
Topic: Desktop
Topic: Explorer
Topic: Word
Book: Profiles (linked to Profiles overview topic)
Topic: Adding profiles
Topic: Deleting Profiles
Book: Basics (linked to Basics overview topic)

And so on . . .

Master TOC looks like this:
Topic: Welcome to the online help
Merged Project Book: Merged Project A TOC (titled Getting Started)

Soooo, after all that, I access the online help system through the Master.chm and the TOC. I go in to Getting Started, Customizing, Profiles, Deleting Profiles.

What I expect is a breadcrumb in Deleting Profiles that looks like... Getting Started > Customizing > Profiles > Deleting Profiles. All are hyperlinks except the Deleting Profiles one since that's where I am.

In reality what I see is... Customizing > Profiles > Deleting Profiles.

It's missing the entire first level book titled Getting Started. I'm guessing this is because Getting Started is the name of the merged project link in the master TOC and not actually linked to any real topic.

Is there any way around this? It would be nice if the breadcrumbs started at the left-most book in the TOC and worked down from there instead of starting at the 2nd level book.

Thanks
J
Jodie Boedigheimer
Propeller Head
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:21 pm

Update

Post by Jodie Boedigheimer »

Sorry - looking at the previous post I realize that none of the indenting I tried to do worked. The levels of the TOC are this...

Logging in (top level topic)
Getting started (top level book)
Desktop (2nd level topic under Getting started)
Explorer (2nd level topic under Getting started)
Word (2nd level topic under Getting started)
Profiles (2nd level book under Getting started)
Adding Profiles (3rd level topic under Profiles)
Deleting Profiles (3rd level topic under Profiles)

Does that make any sense?

Thanks
J
rsandoz
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:06 am
Location: Switzerland

Post by rsandoz »

Hello Jodie,

From my experience I noticed that :

1. Breadcrumbs don't work with the master project in merged helps (in the 'slave' helps it is OK, but breadcrumbs cannot take in account, from the slave helps, the books in the master help).
2. you have to link your books to a topic. If the books have no topic linked, breadcrumbs cannot work.

Robert
Olanko
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Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Oct 02, 2007 2:28 am
Location: Belarus

Breadcrumbs in Master TOC

Post by Olanko »

I came across the same problem. I mean I have a Master TOC and a slave project. The problem is that when I follow the link in slave project leading to the Master one, breadcrumbs don't appear.

Is it a bug of Flare? Does anyone know the solution to this problem?
rsandoz
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:06 am
Location: Switzerland

Breadcrumbs in Master TOC

Post by rsandoz »

Hello Olanko,

IMHO it is not a bug, but a development that was not made til the end.
I think you can send a feature request to MadCap.

Robert
RamonS
Senior Propellus Maximus
Posts: 4293
Joined: Thu Feb 02, 2006 9:29 am
Location: The Electric City

Post by RamonS »

Anything that negatively impacts the user experience is to be considered a bug. - Michael Fine
Of course it's a bug.
Ken Billing
Propeller Head
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:33 am

Re: Breadcrumbs in Master TOC

Post by Ken Billing »

I'm having this same problem, but in my case the missing book in the breadcrumb is linked to a topic. In fact, one topic of the book shows the book in its breacrumb and the other does not. What's up with that? :?
Ken Billing | Technical Writer
BlueCielo ECM Solutions
http://www.bluecieloecm.com

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rsandoz
Jr. Propeller Head
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 9:06 am
Location: Switzerland

Re: Breadcrumbs in Master TOC

Post by rsandoz »

Hi Ken,

Just a (basic) idea: is your topic associated with your Master page (or your Master page with target)?
Ken Billing
Propeller Head
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Dec 17, 2007 11:33 am

Re: Breadcrumbs in Master TOC

Post by Ken Billing »

It's not a topic. I'm talking about the glossary generated and added by Flare when the Glossary option of the HTML Help skin is enabled. But yes, my topic masterpage that includes a breadcrumb proxy is selected for the glossary master page of the HTML Help target.
Ken Billing | Technical Writer
BlueCielo ECM Solutions
http://www.bluecieloecm.com

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