Fixing Links to External CHM Files

[Dave Reed]

To all:

I just bought the MadPak after using the trial version of Flare. I installed the Analyzer to find the errors in my projects. In the links area I have resolved all my problems, except all my links to topics in other CHM files. All 3 CHM files will be in the same directory when given to the uses, but where does Analyzer expect the CHM files when link checking? I put them in the directory of the Flare project file, but that didn't work.

TIA,
Dave Reed

[Pete Lees]

Hi, Dave,

I can't answer your question, but, for what it's worth, you can use this tool to check cross-CHM links:

http://helpware.net/downloads/index.htm#CHMLinkChecker

Pete

[mattbnh]

Hi Dave:

I am guessing because you did not mention specifics and you did not say whether or not the links worked correctly when you tested the built chms together in a folder.

My guess would be that the format of your link is being misinterpreted by Flare.

The Insert Hyperlink Dialog box in Flare has been a tiny bit quirky since 1.0, but you can get used to it.

If I try to link to External Project and try to navigate to find the topic, I always get a mess for a link.

What seems to work is to type in the correct syntax, and click OK.
ou just have to know the syntax.

What works for me in the link (for a chm that is in the same folder) is:
filename::/folder-in-chm/topic-in-chm.htm

For examples:
apC.chm::/apC_Readers_Tab.htm
mainhelp.chm::/Launch/Batch_Printing.htm

After you click OK, open the dialog box again. Surprise! Now the Link to: radio button is set to Website! I don't know why. (That is one of the quirks I mentioned.)

Also, you should see a drop-down list in the Website field. This drop down will show the link you just typed in and others you have previously added.

This is the key thing - once you get the syntax right, you can choose a similar example and just change the name of the chm and or the topic file.

If you do this and do a build you should not get build errors or Analyzer errors - even if the chm file you are referencing is not in your build output folder.

Hopefully I have not misinterpreted the issue.

[Dave Reed]

My external links appear to be defined properly in the topics. But somewhere,somehow Content/ gets prepended to the external kink as seen by Analyzer. Below is one of the errors reported in the broken links report.

Alarm Configuration.htm Content/ Content/Views_Help.chm::/POINT_ANALOG_PM_ALARM_VIEW.htm Missing File POINT_ANALOG_PM_ALARM_VIEW a htm

Alarm Configuration.htm is in the content folder. For checking purposes my external chm files are in the content folder. So with a link defined as Content/Views_Help.chm::/POINT_ANALOG_PM_ALARM_VIEW.htm, the topic would be looking for it in ...../Content/Content.

Dave

[mattbnh]

Dave - did you use Link to Website on the Insert Hyperlink dialog box?

When I use that, Analyzer does not report a broken link.

In fact, I can type in a chm file name that does not exist and no error is reported.

But if I make sure that file is in the same folder when I test the link after building my chm, it works.

[Dave Reed]

mattbnh:

I started to try your suggestion, but ran into a more basic problem. When I selected Edit Hyperlink, the "Link to:" was set to "Topic in Project". Setting it to "External Topic" or "Website" and saving the topic did not help. When I selected Edit again, it was back to "Topic in Project".

Regards,
Dave

[mattbnh]

Hi Dave

I think that if you try to fake out Flare and tell it that a topic in project link (formatted that way) is a website, it won't be fooled. You have to make a selection and then enter a path for your link that Flare accepts for the link type you chose.

Let me try to walk through the steps I use. Forgive me if this ends up adding no new info, but it is the only thing I can think of.

I have a word in a project topic that I want to link to a topic in another chm that will ultimately reside in the same folder as my project's output chm.

I select the word and click the hyperlink icon. The Insert Hyperlink box appears. Link to: initially is set to the option last previously used.

I click Website.

I type in "reader.chm::/reader.htm" to link to my chm about proximity card readers. (It does not matter where that chm is now; don't even bother trying to find it - yet.)

The link text is already there because I selected the words "Card Reader".

I click OK and I have a hyperlink. (the link will not work until after you compile)

If I click Insert Hyperlink again, it still should have "Website" selected.
(It also seems on my system that if I click External Topic, and type in "reader.chm::/reader.htm", click OK, and then click Insert Hyperlink again, the Link to: selection changes to "Website" - that is what I was trying to say previously).

If you build your target chm and place it in the same folder with reader.chm, the link in your chm should work.

If you are getting different results after trying these steps, I am perplexed.

[Dave Reed]

Mattbnh:

I tried changing one of my links to Website. Selected OK. Then I selected Edit hyperlink. It is now a Topic in Project. We are missing something that is forcing all links to be in the project. I will take it MadCap support now. thank you for your help.

Dave

[mattbnh]

You have to change the format of the link.

You cannot pick something from a windows file dialog like with Topic in Project. You have to manually type in the .chm name ::/ and the .htm name of the file.

Changing the button is not enough. What I am saying is that your existing link will not work.

[gewriter_2]

For external CHM links, we use this format:

mk:@MSITStore:help_file.chm::/help_topic.htm

This renders the links correctly in the compiled help, but Analyzer 1 doesn't catch broken external links. I think this was fixed in Analyzer 2 though...

I've also found that the radio buttons for links are inconsistent. For most of our external links, the option is 'Website' regardless of the number of times we try to change it. But it hasn't affected the way the output works, so I haven't lost too much sleep over it.

[Dave Reed]

Rachel:

Yea. The radio buttons don't make much sense for external links. I created a Flare support case about it. I hope something comes of it.

Dave