link to PDF, receive error during compile

[Jan]

Currently using Flare v3.1 to output to CHM. In the past, I've been able to link to external PDFs by replacing code in HTML file with:
<OBJECT id=hhctrl
type="application/x-oleobject"
classid="clsid:adb880a6-d8ff-11cf-9377-00aa003b7a11"
codebase="hhctrl.ocx#Version=4,73,8412,0"
width=100
height=100>
<PARAM name="Command" value="ShortCut">
<PARAM name="Font" value="Arial, 8pt">
<PARAM name="Text" value="Text:View or print a high-quality version of this graphic (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)">
<PARAM name="Item1"
value=",c_remint.pdf,">
</OBJECT>
Then, compiling to CHM.
Now after replacing with same code and trying to compile, I receive Flare v3.1 error: Internal error: Object reference not set to an instance of an object. Flare is unable to produce the CHM file. Any ideas?

[Pete Lees]

Hi, Jan,

Does this code work any better? I've closed off each of the Param tags with trailing forward slashes.

Code: Select all

<OBJECT id="hhctrl" classid="clsid:adb880a6-d8ff-11cf-9377-00aa003b7a11">
<PARAM name="Command" value="ShortCut" />
<PARAM name="Font" value="Arial, 8pt" /> 
<PARAM name="Text" value="Text:View or print a high-quality version of this graphic (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)" />
<PARAM name="Item1" value=",c_remint.pdf," />
</OBJECT>

Pete

[Jan]

The new code fixed part of the problem. Flare now completes the compile and creates the CHM file. However, my link to the PDF file still isn't working. Thanks for your help Pete. Any more suggestions?

[KevinDAmery]

Just to cover the basics, is the link path correct?

[Jan]

Yes, the path is correct.

[Pete Lees]

Hi, again,

Are the .chm and .pdf files stored remotely, on a network drive? Shortcut commands don't work in those circumstances because of Windows security restrictions that Microsoft implemented several years ago. This issue is described in the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/323180/en-us

If that's not the cause of the problem, another factor could be the way that you're opening the .chm file. Because of the "relative path bug" in HTML Help, Shortcut commands may not work properly in .chm files that are opened from the parent application (as opposed to, say, opened from Windows Explorer). This issue is described here:

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

Pete

[Jan]

It now works!! I used the code that Pete provided above to replace the a href link code but also had to delete the object code found near the bottom of each html page. The chm compiles and links to the PDF!!