Reusing the browser window for WebHelpMobile

[jeffrey]

In the WebHelp version of our Help, we use target=”MCWebHelp” to use the same browser window for the Help (instead of opening a new one each time you click the Help link). Is there an equivalent for WebHelpMobile? I tried target=”MCWebHelpMobile” but that doesn't seem to work.

[NorthEast]

I've done a quick check (in 7.2), and it seems to work for me using any name that I set as the target in the hyperlink; e.g. <a href="..." target="name">.
Obviously, all the links need to use the same target name to reuse the same window/tab.

[LTinker68]

You don't need to declare or call a window -- you should just be able to set the target of the hyperlink to "_parent".

[NorthEast]

You don't need to declare or call a window -- you should just be able to set the target of the hyperlink to "_parent".

No, you would need to give a named target if you want the help link to open subsequent topics in the same window/tab.

The _parent target is used when you want to open the link in the parent frame of the current frame; but WebHelp mobile doesn't even use a frameset. If there is no parent, the _self target is used instead, meaning the link would open in the same window/tab.

The only time I can imagine _parent being used is if you were are using standard WebHelp (which has frames), and you are making a CSH link inside a help topic itself to 'reload' the current help in the parent frame; but only for that specific case, and it wouldn't work for CSH links from outside the help.

[LTinker68]

You don't need to declare or call a window -- you should just be able to set the target of the hyperlink to "_parent".

No, you would need to give a named target if you want the help link to open subsequent topics in the same window/tab.

Ok, I'm confused. From the original post I assumed he meant his app was running and they wanted to replace the same window/tab with the contents of the help. Using _parent would ensure the whole window was replaced with the help. But it sounds like you're saying he's already in the help and wants to open subsequent topics in the same window. The default behavior in WebHelp is to open linked topics in the same topic window -- does Mobile help behave differently? I don't use it, but it seems like it would have the same behavior.

EDIT: Re-reading the original post, I guess he means his app is running and they've opened the help then switched back to the app and clicking help again opened a third window instead of reusing the second window. In that case, I get what you mean, but that sounds like the browser/mobile behavior would control that more than Flare would, especially since he's coming from his app each time. I'll concede that I know little about mobile apps and help, though, so it could be very different in that environment.

[jeffrey]

Thanks for all the replies.

LTinker68, the third window scenario you described is what we’re trying to avoid. If a Help window is already open (the second window—with the app being the first window), we want that window to be reused when clicking Help links from the app.

In the WebHelp version of our Help, we were able to use target=”MCWebHelp” for that purpose. I just wondered if there’s an equivalent in WebHelpMobile.

[NorthEast]

Thanks for all the replies.

LTinker68, the third window scenario you described is what we’re trying to avoid. If a Help window is already open (the second window—with the app being the first window), we want that window to be reused when clicking Help links from the app.

In the WebHelp version of our Help, we were able to use target=”MCWebHelp” for that purpose. I just wondered if there’s an equivalent in WebHelpMobile.

Going back to my original post, this was the same scenario that I tested; I had one HTML page containing a CSH link that had a named target, and clicking this several times successfully opened the WebHelp mobile output in a separate window/tab that was re-used.

The format of my link was (to open topic with identifier of 'A'):

Code: Select all

<a href="Mobile/Default.htm?cshid=A" target="Test">Test</a>

I found that any target name worked, whether it was "test" or "MCWebHelp" (but make sure the name is not the same as an existing browser window, e.g. your app if it is browser-based).

Note that WebHelp mobile CSH links are different in format to standard WebHelp CSH links.

What format are your CSH links?