Macromedia RoboHelp HTML - 10.0 Operation Manual

Using

ADOBE® ROBOHELP® HTML 10

Legal notices

For legal notices, see http://help.adobe.com/en_US/legalnotices/index.html.

Last updated 7/13/2012

Chapter 1: Getting started

Basic workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Activation and registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Help and support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

What’s new in RoboHelp 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

About RoboHelp Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chapter 2: Exploring the workspace

Workspace overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Working with pods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Menus and toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Create or remove keyboard shortcuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Configure general settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

iii

Chapter 3: Projects

Project basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Create and manage projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Authoring content in multiple languages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Import PDF files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Importing and linking Word and FrameMaker documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Importing and linking Microsoft Word documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Importing FrameMaker documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Import a DITA map file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Import XML files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Import Microsoft HTML Help projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Import WinHelp projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Adding projects to version control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Version control with Microsoft SharePoint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Merging Help projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Chapter 4: Working with topics

Create, save, and open topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Author in XHTML . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Import and copy topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

View topics and design elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Master pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Manage topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Managing resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Check spelling and find and replace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Contents

W3C compliance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Chapter 5: Editing and formatting

RoboHelp editors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Character formatting and fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Format paragraphs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Borders, backgrounds, color, and sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Headers, footers, and page breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Text boxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

User-defined variables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Single-source with snippets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Chapter 6: Styles and style sheets

Style types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Media rules and attributes in styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159

Media queries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Manage style sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

Create styles for style sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Table styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164

List styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

HTML styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Apply styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Edit styles in CSS files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Delete styles from style sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Use color and images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Inline styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Reset styles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Clear formatting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

Chapter 7: TOCs, indexes, glossaries

TOCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

TOCs and indexes in Microsoft HTML Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188

Glossaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Glossary hotspots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Chapter 8: Linking, navigation, and search

Navigation basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Create text links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199

Link to a pop-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Bookmarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Link images and multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

External links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Link View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Contents

Link maintenance and repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204

Link controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Text-only pop-ups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210

Browse sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

RoboHelp output search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

External content search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Chapter 9: Multimedia and special effects

Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Adobe Captivate demos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221

Multimedia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223

Dynamic HTML and special effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224

Marquees . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

HTML comments in topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228

Iframes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Chapter 10: Conditional text

Conditional text basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Conditional build tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Conditional build tag expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Chapter 11: Context-sensitive Help

About context-sensitive Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Author and developer roles in creating context-sensitive Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Map files and map IDs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Dynamic editing of context-sensitive topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Information for developers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

What’s This? Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Maintaining text-only topics (Microsoft HTML Help projects) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 274

Working with text-only topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Testing context-sensitive Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Context-sensitive Help terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Create Help for iOS and Android apps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284

Chapter 12: Generating output

Single sourcing basics and more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Work with layout types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Generate, view, and publish output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312

Distribute the project output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Printed documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354

Skins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Screen profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Screen layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Contents

Chapter 13: Review and collaboration

Review in Design Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

PDF review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386

Manage comments and changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Review and collaboration in AIR Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 390

Chapter 14: Advanced program features

ActiveX controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Applets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 400

HTML Help controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Information types (for HTML Help) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

Scripts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

About ExtendScript Toolkit support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Twisties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412

Chapter 15: Default keyboard shortcuts

Last updated 7/13/2012

Chapter 1: Getting started

Adobe RoboHelp software is designed for developing Help systems, e-learning content, policies and procedures, and knowledgebases. Its enhanced editing and layout capabilities enable you to create professional looking content. With the new Multiscreen HTML5 and eBook layouts (SSLs), you can now take your content authored in RoboHelp, FrameMaker, or Microsoft® Word to mobile devices, eBook readers, and tablets. You can create custom fluid layouts to ensure that users can view the output on a wide range of devices. If you want an integrated online and offline user experience, you can use the Adobe AIR layout.

With the Multiscreen HTML5 layout, you can even generate desktop output from legacy projects in screen layouts that are different from the traditional WebHelp layout. For example, you can place the TOC on the right or design a page for displaying search results. In the multiscreen paradigm, desktop is another screen with a specific width and height.

Worldwide, Adobe RoboHelp is a leader of online Help authoring tools through innovation. New features create a more productive experience for technical communicators and their audiences.

For latest information about Adobe RoboHelp, visit www.adobe.com/go/learn_robohelp_product_en

Before you begin working with your software, take a few moments to read about the basic workflow and the many resources available to you. You have access to instructional videos, plug-ins, templates, user communities, seminars, tutorials, RSS feeds, and much more.

Basic workflow

1. Create a project.

Every Help system has at least one project. The basic element of the project is the topic. See “Projects” on page 23.

2. Author the content.

Create topics. You can add multimedia now, or later when you customize the output. Work with the application developer to start planning which topics to also use for context-sensitive Help. Context-sensitive topics appear when the user clicks a Help button in the user interface or presses F1. See

3. Import files.

You can import HTML files, Microsoft Word files (.doc, .docx, .docm, .rtf), FrameMaker books and documents (.book, .bk, .fm, .frm, .mif), XML files (.xml), and Adobe PDF files (.pdf). See

4. Develop the navigation.

Based on the hierarchy, or organization scheme, of the content, create links among topics and to external content if necessary. You can also link text or images to other content. Create a table of contents that reflects the content hierarchy, and include an index that users can browse. You can also create browse sequences, paths a user can follow through Help topics. For example, if a user must read several related topics to understand a feature completely, you can link them in a browse sequence. See on page 197.

“TOCs, indexes, glossaries” on page 173 and “Linking, navigation, and search”

“Working with topics” on page 112.

“Projects” on page 23.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

5. Customize the output.

You can apply layouts (which determine behavior and appearance) and formatting. You can also use conditional text to show or hide content, depending on user interest, application being used, skill level, and other factors. Add multimedia to make your Help more compelling and richer. See

and publish output” on page 312.

6. Create, test, and distribute the Help package.

Create the output so you can view the Help and check links, formatting, and so on. Test every output you intend to distribute, including printed documentation. See

“Generating output” on page 285.

“Conditional text” on page 230 and “Generate, view,

Activation and registration

To review complete system requirements and recommendations for your Adobe® RoboHelp® software, see

www.adobe.com/support/robohelp.

If your computer is not connected to the Internet, you can check the ReadMe file on the installation disc.

Install the software

1 Close any other Adobe applications open on your computer.

2 Insert the installation disc into your hard drive, and follow the onscreen instructions.

Note: For more information, see the ReadMe file on the installation disc.

Help with installation

For Help with installation issues, see the Up and running section on www.adobe.com/support/robohelp.

License activation

During the installation process, your Adobe software contacts an Adobe server to complete the license activation process. No personal data is transmitted. For more information on product activation, visit the Adobe website at

www.adobe.com/go/activation.

Register

Note: Register only once for RoboHelp 10.

❖ To register, follow the onscreen instructions in the Registration dialog box, which appears after you install the

software.

If you postpone registration, you can register at any time by choosing Help > Registration.

Adobe Product Improvement Program

After you have used your Adobe software a certain number of times, a dialog box appears, asking whether you want to participate in Adobe Product Improvement Program.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

If you choose to participate, data about your use of Adobe software is sent to Adobe. No personal information is recorded or sent. The Adobe Product Improvement Program only collects information about the features and tools that you use in the software and how often you use them.

You can opt in to or opt out of the program at any time:

• To participate, choose Help > Adobe Product Improvement Program and click Yes, Participate.

• To stop participating, choose Help > Adobe Product Improvement Program and click No, Thank You.

Adobe provides more information about the Adobe Product Improvement Program in a frequently asked questions (FAQ) list on the

Adobe website.

Help and support

Adobe Community Help

Adobe Community Help is an integrated environment on Adobe.com that gives you access to community-generated content moderated by Adobe and industry experts. Think of Community Help as collections of related items rather than books. Adobe continually curates and adds to these collections.

Bookmark the RoboHelp Help hub page to find the best content on the web about RoboHelp, including these resources:

• Videos, tutorials, tips and techniques, blogs, articles, and examples for designers and developers.

• Complete online Help, which is updated regularly.

• All other content on Adobe.com, including knowledgebase articles, downloads and updates, Adobe Developer

Connection, and more.

Viewing online Help content

• When you launch Help from within the product, your default web browser (Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome,

Firefox, etc.) will launch with the product Help content displayed.

• You can then use your browser’s native functionality to search, bookmark, comment, or rate the content.

Downloading offline Help content

• The first time you launch Help from within the product, Adobe Help Manager launches in the background and

checks for the availability of new or updated content.

Adobe Help Manager is an AIR-based content installation utility that downloads offline help content and notifies you when new updates are available, ensuring that you always have the most up-to-date and accurate reference information from Adobe.

• If no new content is available, the application will shut down until the next time you select Help.

• If new content is found, a small pop-up notification will be displayed on your desktop, usually in the lower-right

corner of your screen.

• When you click on the notification message, the Help Manager will launch and show you all of the help content

that is available for download in the Local Content preferences.

• You can select individual packages by highlighting the desired product or Help package title and clicking on the

Update button.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

• To update all of the content that is available, select the ‘Download’ button on the General preferences pane. Note:

The total download size for all of the applicable content is displayed – large updates may take several minutes or more to download.

• During this download, you may continue to browse and search Help content with your web browser.

• If you prefer to have your Adobe applications use the local, installed Help files by default, select “Display local help

content only’ in the General preferences tab.

• Or you can simply choose to continue viewing online content and the Help Manager will automatically switch to

offline help if Internet access is no longer available.

Services, downloads, and extras

You can enhance your product by integrating various services, plug-ins, and extensions in your product. You can also download samples and other assets and see various resources to get your work done.

Adobe Exchange

Visit the Adobe Exchange at www.adobe.com/go/exchange to download samples as well as plug-ins and extensions from Adobe and third-party developers. The plug-ins and extensions can help you automate tasks, customize workflows, create specialized professional effects, and more.

Adobe downloads

Visit www.adobe.com/go/downloads to find free updates, trials, and other useful software.

Adobe Labs

Adobe Labs at www.adobe.com/go/labs gives you the opportunity to experience and evaluate new and emerging technologies and products from Adobe. At Adobe Labs, you have access to resources such as these:

• Prerelease software and technologies

• Code samples and best practices to accelerate your learning

• Early versions of product and technical documentation

• Forums, wiki-based content, and other collaborative resources to help you interact with like-minded users

Adobe Labs fosters a collaborative software development process. In this environment, customers quickly become productive with new products and technologies. Adobe Labs is also a forum for early feedback. The Adobe development teams use this feedback to create software that meets the needs and expectations of the community.

Adobe forums

To reach out to experts in the Adobe RoboHelp community, visit www.adobe.com/go/learn_robohelp_forum_en. If you comment on a Help page, the comment is automatically posted on the forum. The experts and other users can respond to your comment.

Adobe TV

Visit Adobe TV at http://tv.adobe.com to view instructional and inspirational videos. The Technical Communications channel features videos relevant for technical communicators. The videos on the RoboHelp channel help you get started.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

RoboHelp sample projects and output

Visit the RoboHelp resources page and download sample projects created with RoboHelp and other resources, such as workspaces and applications configured for implementing context-sensitive Help.

RoboHelp Developer Center

Visit RoboHelp Developer Center for articles written by internal and external RoboHelp users on various user- requested topics.

Previous RoboHelp Help

Download the documentation of older versions of RoboHelp from the RoboHelp Help hub page.

What’s new in RoboHelp 10

Authoring enhancements

Enhanced Find and Replace RoboHelp 10 comes with a significantly enhanced tool for finding and replacing text

across files. The Find and Replace tool works unobtrusively and supports both wild cards and regular expressions. See “Find and replace text in files” on page 134.

New External Content Search pod The workflow for setting up search to include external content—a feature

introduced in RoboHelp 9—has been streamlined in RoboHelp to provide ease of use. Access the External Content Search pod from the View menu and specify URLs for content available outside the Help system (for example, in blogs) and map them to terms that users are likely to search for. By curating relevant content in this way, you can optimize the search experience for users and provide easy access to user-generated content. See page 216.

Support for applying CBTs to external content search definition You can now apply a CBT to each external content

search definition. For example, you can add a CBT to make sure that a high-quality video mapped to a search keyword is played only if the output is accessed from a mobile device. For information about the procedure, see

content search” on page 216.

Window creation delinked from primary layout selection In RoboHelp 9, any new window you create is of the same

type as the primary layout in the SSL pod. In RoboHelp 10, you can select a window type when creating a window. This feature allows you to delink the creation of a window from the primary layout selection in the Single Source Layouts pod. See

Editing projects over the network Opening and editing RoboHelp projects over the network is a tedious experience in

previous versions of RoboHelp. In RoboHelp 10, architectural changes have been made to enable you to access projects over the network.

Note: The overall experience depends on your network speed and the size of the project you are accessing.

Support for User Defined Variables in topic titles In RoboHelp 10, you can use UDVs not just in topic contents, TOCs,

or index terms but also in topic titles. With this enhancement, you can use UDVs instead of actual product names and or feature names in topic titles and avoid rework if these names undergo frequent or last-minute changes. For step-bystep information, see

“Windows” on page 371.

“User-defined variables” on page 153.

“External content search” on

“External

Support for CSS styling of snippets In RoboHelp 10, you can create different styles for different snippets and attach

the style sheets with the snippets. RoboHelp displays the snippet contents with the look-and-feel defined in the style sheet. You can specify a CSS before inserting the table and list style in the snippet, and RoboHelp will copy these styles to the CSS on the first use. For step-by-step information, see

“Create and manage snippets” on page 156.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

Note: The Topic CSS overrides the snippet CSS.

Title and ALT attributes for images In RoboHelp 10, you can specify the TITLE and ALT attributes of an image using

the Screen Tip and ALT Text options. The default value of both TITLE and ALT attributes will be empty.

If you generate 508-compliant output in WebHelp (or enable accessibility in Printed Documentation) and the ALT attribute is empty, RoboHelp sets the value of the ALT attribute with value of the TITLE attribute (if it exists) or the image name. For step-by-step information, see

Support for latest devices, products, and browsers Stay up-to-date with support for the latest platforms, browsers,

“Edit an image in RoboHelp” on page 220.

and devices (eBook readers, mobile devices, tablet PCs, and more). End users can view content generated from RoboHelp in the latest version of Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, and Google Chrome.

Integration with FrameMaker 11, Adobe Captivate 6, and Acrobat 10 RoboHelp 10 supports the latest version of

Adobe products such as FrameMaker 11, Adobe Captivate 6, and Acrobat 10. Leverage the latest enhancements in these products, such as support for adding hotspots in graphics in FrameMaker 11, or support for generating HTML5 output in Adobe Captivate 6.

Import and linking enhancements

General import and linking enhancements In RoboHelp 10, the following enhancements apply to import and linking

of both Microsoft Word and FrameMaker documents:

• Automap styles RoboHelp provides a quick option to map paragraph, character, and table (including captions)

styles in Microsoft Word and FrameMaker files to the corresponding styles in the CSS selected for style mapping. The style names in the FrameMaker files and the CSS should be same for automap to work. See

Enhanced FrameMaker import and linking In RoboHelp 10, FrameMaker document import and linking includes the

“Automap” on page 70.

following additional enhancements:

• Enhanced pagination and topic naming of imported or linked content In RoboHelp 9, you can paginate a

document or split the document into topics based on paragraph styles or a marker type. In RoboHelp 10, you can use a combination of both paragraph styles and marker type. This enhancement gives you more ways to implement pagination. For example, you can now specify that a document should be paginated on Heading 1 with some exceptions or a document should be paginated on Heading 1 and in some cases on Heading 2 as well. Topic names are based on the topic name pattern specified in the Other Settings tab of the Conversion Settings dialog box or the marker text specified in the FrameMaker document for the marker type used for pagination. See

“Setting pagination and topic

names” on page 75

• Support for FrameMaker-generated TOC and index in FrameMaker DITA map import and linking FrameMaker

now creates a TOC and index while converting a DITA map as a book with FrameMaker component. When you import or link a DITA map in your RoboHelp project, you can use the FrameMaker-created TOC and index to create a TOC and index or add to an existing TOC and index in the project.

• U3D view links in imported or linked FrameMaker content FrameMaker 11 allows you to create hyperlinks to a

U3D view. When you import or link FrameMaker content, these hyperlinks work if the U3D view and all objects linking to it are placed in an anchored frame. While conversion, RoboHelp generates a PDF for each U3D view placed in an anchored frame and embeds the PDF in an iframe in the topic. During conversion, if RoboHelp finds that a U3D view is linked to any object outside the anchored frame, it removes the hyperlink.

More Help topics

“Importing and linking Microsoft Word documents” on page 48

“Importing FrameMaker documents” on page 63

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

Review and collaboration features

RoboHelp 9 introduced workflows for authors, SMEs, and end users to collaborate in multiple ways. In RoboHelp 10, some of these workflows have been enhanced to address specific needs of RoboHelp users.

Enhancements in PDF review Create a PDF from an entire RoboHelp project or from parts of it, including topics,

master pages, and snippets, and send it for review (Reviewers only need the free Adobe Reader to add comments to the PDF). After the review ends, import the comments into the project and view and manage the feedback from Review Pane. For step-by-step instructions, see

• TOC-based review When you create a PDF for review (select Review > Create PDF For Review), RoboHelp displays

the list of topics in the current project so you can select a set of topics to include in the PDF. By default, RoboHelp shows the list of topics as it appears in Project Manager. This default view is not useful if you generate output based on multiple TOCs and need to select a set of topics from a TOC to include in the PDF for review. In such scenarios, the new option to show files from a selected Table of Contents comes in handy.

The Exclude TOC Items Not Linked To Topics option helps you ensure that the PDF you create based on the selected TOC does not contain TOC items that are linked to the options on the Link menu.

• Filter topics or files based on date modified When creating a PDF for review in RoboHelp 9, you can select a topic

status for Robohelp to filter topics or files with that status from the project. In RoboHelp 10, you can use the last modified date independently or in conjunction with the topics status to specify the criteria for selecting topics for the PDF for review.

“PDF review” on page 386 and “Manage comments and changes” on page 388.

• Use CBTs to include or exclude topics in the review PDF RoboHelp 10 gives you a quick way to select the content

for the review PDF.

• Autoset statuses as Sent For Review and Reviewed RoboHelp 10 comes with two new topic statuses, Sent For

Review and Reviewed. Just as you assign other topic statuses, you can edit the properties of the current topic and manually assign one of these statuses. However, with a single click, you can assign these statuses to a set of topics in the following scenarios:

• When creating a PDF for review

If you select the Set Topic Status To Sent For Review option, RoboHelp updates the statuses of the topics being sent for review to Sent For Review.

• When importing the comments

In RoboHelp 10, the Import Comment Summary screen contains a new option called Update Status to Reviewed. If you select this option, RoboHelp updates the statuses of all topics that are being imported after review to Reviewed.

Publishing features

New Multiscreen HTML5 SSL to generate different output for different devices RoboHelp 10 provides a new

Multiscreen HTML5 SSL, which lets you generate output for multiple devices, such as smartphones and tablets, from the same source content. The generated output is HTML5-compatible and adaptive to different screen sizes and interactivity features that mobile devices provide. For example, users can access your content seamlessly across Android smartphones, the iPad (9.7 inches screen), and the Samsung Galaxy 10.1 tablet.

What’s more, you can use Multiscreen HTML5 in place of WebHelp to leverage the power of HTML5. For example, you can generate desktop Help with a new frameless look-and-feel, add high-quality videos, and provide a uniform crossbrowser experience.

Videos with .mp4, .ogg, .ogv, and .webm file extensions play natively in the browser, without requiring additional plugins. If a browser can’t play MP4 videos natively, QuickTime is used.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

For more information, see “Generate Multiscreen HTML5 output” on page 313.

Support for packaging Help content as a native mobile app Using RoboHelp 10, you can package your content as a

native mobile app. This functionality is currently available for the Android mobile operating system.

RoboHelp-generated Android project files are development versions. You can test and debug these files and then publish them to user devices and/or Google Play. See

Support for Help integration with iOS and Android apps RoboHelp provides an API that you can leverage to integrate

“Generate a native mobile app” on page 334.

Multiscreen HTML5 output with iOS and Android apps. The API ships with the source code for the included functions as well as sample apps demonstrating the usage of the exposed API.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

iOS sample app demonstrating mobile Help API capabilities

Android sample app demonstrating mobile Help API capabilities

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

This feature is supported for iOS versions 5 (and later) and Android 2.2 (and higher). You can leverage the following capabilities using the mobile Help API:

• Embed the Help into the app

• Open the Help in the in-app browser or the default browser for the mobile operating system

• Implement context-sensitive Help from mobile app screens

• Host the Help on a server and link to it from within the mobile app

For more information, see “Create Help for iOS and Android apps” on page 280.

Customizable screen profiles and screen layouts Your RoboHelp 10 installation includes a set of screen profiles

suitable for standard devices and a variety of screen layouts that help you generate output with different look and feel (for example, with the Table of Contents placed on the right). You can customize these screen profiles for new devices and use the powerful Screen Layout Editor to customize the screen layouts in a variety of ways.

Support for media queries With this support, you can now style your content differently for different media or

devices. For example, you can use media queries to style images and hyperlinks differently for printed and online content. See

New eBook SSL to generate EPUB 3 and Kindle Book output RoboHelp 9 provides the capability to generate EPUB 2

“Media queries” on page 161.

output using a script. In RoboHelp 10, the script for generating EPUB 2 output has been enhanced to address several known user requirements. What’s more, EPUB support has been extended for generating EPUB 3 output as well. You can configure the new eBook SSL, provide standard as well as custom metadata, and generate output that conforms to EPUB 3 specifications. See

“Generate EPUB and Kindle Book output” on page 317 format and “Generate EPUB 2.0.1

output” on page 320.

Native SharePoint (ASPX) output generation RoboHelp 10 supports publishing WebHelp, FlashHelp, and Browser

based Help (Adobe AIR SSL) output to a SharePoint site using Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path. See “Generate WebHelp output” on page 321, “Generate FlashHelp output” on page 324, and “Configure a server to host

browser-based Help” on page 310.This output is in HTML format and therefore does not blend with the SharePoint

chrome (the navigational links, branding, and UI options that come from a SharePoint master page and are common to all SharePoint pages).

RoboHelp 10 supports publishing the Multiscreen HTML5 output to SharePoint in its native format (ASPX), ensuring a problem-free display of output in both SharePoint 2010 and SharePoint 2007. When you view the published output, the topics appear in the SharePoint chrome as a single continuous HTML page. See

“Generate Multiscreen HTML5

output” on page 313.

New script to generate output with the glossary restyled as popups or tooltips When you generate the output of a

RoboHelp project in a layout selected from the Single Source Layouts pod, RoboHelp generates the glossary as expanding hotspots. RoboHelp 10 comes with a script to generate output for a selected layout with the glossary restyled as popups or tooltips.

Run Glossary Hotspot Wizard once and select Tools > Scripts > Output Generator With Glossary Restyling to run this script.

Note: Run Glossary Hotspot Wizard once and select Tools > Scripts > Output Generator With Glossary Restyling to run this script.

New script to generate WebHelp output with a CHM skin RoboHelp 10 comes with a script to generate WebHelp

output with the appearance of CHM output.

Select Tools > Scripts > WebHelp To CHM Converter to run this script.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

Enhanced search experience In RoboHelp 9, significant changes are made to ensure that end users have a better

search experience. Using the option to exclude unreferenced topics from the output and unreferenced baggage files from search, you can ensure more relevant search results.

RoboHelp 10 comes with more options to provide an enhanced search experience:

• Show the total number of search results

• Support AND search

• AND search configurability for end users

• Exclude specified baggage file types from search

• Support CJK (Chinese/Japanese/Korean) content in search queries

WebHelp and FlashHelp output in RoboHelp supports keyword search, which means a user query is broken into individual words and then each word is looked up in the project content. Breaking a search query into individual words is not easy for Chinese/Japanese/Korean languages because these languages do not clearly mark word boundaries. In RoboHelp 10, the search functionality with WebHelp, FlashHelp, AIRHelp, and browser-based AIRHelp output is enhanced to recognize CJK content in search queries so that the results you get are more useful.

For more information, see “RoboHelp output search” on page 213.

Usability and productivity features

Sample applications with layouts configured for multichannel publishing RoboHelp 10 installation comes with three

sample projects, Global Site Consult, Salesbuilder, and EmployeeCare. Check out these projects to understand how you can create RoboHelp projects for different uses, for example to maintain a knowledgebase. The layouts are set up for you to generate different types of output. Read the About Adobe RoboHelp 10 topic for an outline of the new features of RoboHelp 10.

Open linked topics in new tabs with Ctrl + click You can now use Ctrl + click to open a linked topic in another tab in

Design Editor. This eliminates the need to find the linked topic in Project Manager or Topic List, and will save you some clicks to get to the topic.

Clear Formatting and Reset Styles options The new Clear Formatting icon in the Format toolbar lets you remove all

inline and CSS styles from a selection. You also have the Reset Style option in the Style And Formatting pod to remove all formatting applied to a selection through a style by simply selecting the style category. See page 172 and “Reset styles” on page 172.

Workspace enhancements In RoboHelp 10, you’ll find some key workspace enhancements to give you flexibility and

speed:

• Easy access to learning resources from the Starter pod Access learning resources from the Starter pod. You can

configure RoboHelp settings to not display this information if required. See

“Configure general settings” on page 21.

• Easy access to adding or editing search metadata RoboHelp comes with a new option, Search Metadata, in the Edit

menu to help you get quick access to the options to configure synonyms, topic keywords, and Stop Words —the three elements that constitute search metadata. With this new UI, you will be able to configure search metadata holistically.

“Add search metadata” on page 214.

See

“Clear formatting” on

• Easy access to editing the LNG file Select Edit > LNG File to quickly access the contents in the LNG file and modify

them accordingto your requirements. The LNG file contains text elements in the user interface for Multiscreen, WebHelp, WebHelp Pro, FlashHelp, FlashHelp Pro, AIR Help, printed documentation, or HTML Help output. See “Change project settings” on page 30.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

Support for events in scripting In RoboHelp 9, a script must be invoked manually; it can’t run automatically when an

event occurs. RoboHelp 10 lets you run functions defined in scripts at specific events. For example, you can automate the function to create a backup of a project whenever the project is saved. See

“Event support in scripting” on page 409.

About RoboHelp Server

Adobe® RoboHelp® Server is a server-based Help solution that provides real-time end-user feedback on your Help and knowledgebases. RoboHelp Server gathers and logs data about what questions users ask while searching content and how users navigate through topics. Results are displayed in an easy-to-view graphical format for quick interpretation. Your Help system resides on a server (for example, Adobe Help Resource Center), and you can make instant updates to your Help system content.

RoboHelp Server contains the back-end processes, database functionality, and ODBC connections necessary to integrate it. RoboHelp Server works with the authoring tool, so authors can edit content, set master project options, maintain windows, and view reports.

Authoring Tool

RoboHelp HTML

Project A Project B Project C

Database

RoboHelp Server

Reports

RoboHelp Server interaction with different components

Servlet Container

Apache Tomcat

Web Server

IIS / Apache HTTP Server

Users

MS Access Oracle MS SQL Server

Note: With RoboHelp Server, you can install your database server on a separate machine or use any of the existing database servers.

Tracking and reporting

Adobe RoboHelp Server provides end users with the ability to find information when they have questions. Users can view content using any standard browser and operating system. Any number of users can access the published documents.

Note: You can define the maximum number of database connections for Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server database management systems through the

maxload property in the robohelp_server.properties file.

RoboHelp Server tracks the following types of data:

• Where users request assistance: Identifies the location where users make repeated requests for specific information.

• How users search: Searches that users perform repeatedly. This data can be mined to move frequently searched

information to a more prominent position in the content for easier access. You can also use this information to find information gaps and to improve heading titles for more intuitive navigation.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Getting started

• How users navigate online content: Tracks how users seek information in online content and how frequently they

access particular information such as headings and articles. This information is available at a topic level.

• RoboHelp Server tracks all the operating system and browser details. You can use this information to improve the

content quality for browsers preferred by users.

Automatic project merging

Concurrently work on multiple projects and merge them into the project at run time.

While building an online information system, authors can develop and publish their content according to their own schedules. RoboHelp Server provides automatic project merging, so authors can work on different parts of a project at the same time, and publish them to the same server. When end users view the content, they see one seamless online information system. Do not worry about sharing source or depending on a single author or project—all the separate projects are merged when users access the content. Users can navigate across all the projects using the Index, Contents, and Search buttons.

By default, the projects are added to the Table of Contents in the order they are published to the server. You can customize this order in the Projects page of the Web Admin interface. When you merge projects, each project file in the authoring tool remains intact, but the keywords from the indexes and glossary terms are combined at run time, or when end users access the system from the server.

Support for languages other than English

The runtime interface (including Table of Contents, index, glossary, and search) can be automatically localized, and authors can publish projects written in various languages to the same server. You can change the display text on the user interface of the online system to another language, including text on the Contents, Index, and Search buttons.

In addition, end users can perform a full-text search of online content in their native language. This flexibility allows authors to develop content in languages other than English and take advantage of server-based online information systems.

Last updated 7/13/2012

Chapter 2: Exploring the workspace

Workspace overview

You create and manipulate your projects using various elements, such as pods, panes, bars, and windows. Any arrangement of these elements is called a workspace. The RoboHelp workspace includes pods, panes, and customizable toolbars and menus. Expanding menus track commands you frequently use and display them on a shortened version of each menu. You can also customize keyboard shortcuts and add new toolbars.

RoboHelp workspace A. Menu bar B. Toolbars C. Clubbed pods D. Tabbed Document pane E. Design Editor F. Workspace switcher

• The menu bar across the top contains the commands to display various menus and a workspace switcher.

• Various toolbars appear below the menu bar. Select View > Toolbars to show or hide toolbars that you require.

• The topic window or the Tabbed Document pane displays the topic(s) that you are editing currently. Select Tools

> Options > Allow Editing Of Multiple Topics to edit multiple topics concurrently. You can paste objects and selections across multiple topics. You can select horizontal or vertical tiling of topics.

The Design and HTML buttons in the topic window let you switch between Design Editor and HTML Editor.

When multiple topics are open, click the down arrow button in the upper-right corner of the Tabbed Document pane to display the list of open topics and navigate to any topic.

Take advantage of fixed buttons in the Tabbed document pane to open and close topics quickly.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Exploring the workspace

Right-click a tab to find options to save the active topic, close the active topic, close all topics, close all but the active topic, and create horizontal or vertical tab groups.

• Various pods, such as Project Manager, Project Set-up, Resource Manager, and Single Source Layouts, help you

complete the different steps to create the project and generate the required output. Select View > Pods to show or hide pods that you require.

From the context-sensitive menu of the title bar of a pod, access options such as Dockable, Floating, and Tabbed Document to arrange pods in various ways. The menu also includes options to hide and close the pod.

Working with pods

Pods are workflow panes that you can float or dock anywhere in the application window. They provide quick access to logically grouped features from one location. For example, you can select and generate various layouts from the Single Source Layouts pod.

RoboHelp provides access to your most frequently used pods and projects, with flexible options. You can move a pod anywhere on the screen or to a different monitor. Use the auto-hide feature of pods to show or hide them on the desktop.

View a pod

❖ Select View > Pods > [pod name].

Arrange pods

• Click the title bar of a pod and drag-and-drop it on the required part of the screen.

• Change the display of the pod.

1 Do one of the following:

• Click the down arrow button in the upper-right corner of a pod.

• Right-click in the titlebar of the pod.

2 Select one of the following options:

Dockable Docks the pod if it’s in the Tabbed Document state or in the Floating state

Close Closes the pod

Floating Floats the pod if it’s in the Tabbed Document state or in the docked state

Auto Hide Pins or unpins the pod if it’s not in the Tabbed Document state.

Tabbed Document Opens the pod in a new tab in the topic window.

Types of pods

Starter pod

The Starter pod provides links to common commands and product information.

Recent Projects Open recently used projects (up to ten recent projects are listed) and other projects.

Create New Select the Help type you want to generate.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Exploring the workspace

Import Import a Help project, such as an HTML Help project, Word document, and all other available types.

Resources Access forums, developer centers, knowledgebase articles, and other online content.

News Announcements Access information about Adobe products.

View Online Help Access the complete online Help.

Quick Tour Of RoboHelp Access a set of videos for a quick tour of RoboHelp features.

Project Manager pod

The Project Manager pod contains various folders where you create and delete project files, or edit their properties. It also has folders for various key project components, such as the table of contents, the index, and the glossary.

If the project has many topics, collapse the Project Files folder first to view the other folders.

More Help topics

“Project Manager folders” on page 36

Project Set-up pod

The Project Set-up pod contains the following folders:

Windows folder Containers for output. Custom windows for projects are stored in this folder. Modify window

properties by double-clicking a window icon.

Master Pages folder Use master pages to reuse information and create a standard appearance across topics.

Skins folder Use skins with WebHelp or FlashHelp projects to change the appearance of the Help system. You can

match the appearance of a company website or add interest and style to the output. Use skins to customize colors, buttons, text, fonts, icons, backgrounds, multimedia (FlashHelp projects), images for TOC icons and navigation buttons, and more.

External Content Search Map URLs and search terms to enable users find related content outside the Help system.

Context-Sensitive Help folder Container for the Map Files folder and the What’s This Help Files folder.

• Use the Map Files folder to access map files and perform most window-level context-sensitive Help tasks.

• Use the What's This Help Files folder for field-level context-sensitive Help in HTML Help projects.

More Help topics

“Windows” on page 371

“Master pages” on page 117

“Skins” on page 365

“External content search” on page 216

“About context-sensitive Help” on page 236

“Map files and map IDs” on page 237

Snippets pod

Add custom HTML code snippets to a project for insertion later into desired topics. When you modify a code snippet shared by different topics, the changes are reflected in all the associated topics.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Exploring the workspace

Snippets are stored in a Snippet library as separate files with the .hts extension. In the Snippets pod, you can organize them in categories, expanding or collapsing the categories for easy viewing. The category names appear in a sorted order in the Snippets pod and in the Insert dialog box. You can drag snippets to desired locations in a topic. You can also select snippets and then copy, duplicate, or delete them. Select the Preview option from the context menu to preview a snippet.

More Help topics

“Single-source with snippets” on page 156

Styles And Formatting pod

Use the Styles And Formatting pod to apply styles quickly. Select a style in the pod and apply it to the selected text in the topic. You can create and edit a style directly from the pod. Right-click the name of a style to rename, delete, or preview that style.

Note: Select Format > Styles to view the Styles And Formatting pod. You must open a topic to view the Styles And Formatting pod.

More Help topics

“Create a style using the Styles And Formatting pod” on page 163

User Defined Variables pod

From the User Defined Variables pod, you can accomplish these tasks:

• Create, edit, or delete variables.

• Create, edit, or delete variable sets.

• Provide and modify runtime values uniquely for different variable sets while generating the output.

• Format variable values.

More Help topics

“User-defined variables” on page 153

Error List pod

The Error List pod shows buttons for errors, warnings, and messages that are displayed when you try to validate a topic or a master page. You can click these buttons to display the relevant information in the Error list. The caption of buttons shows the number of errors, warnings, and messages. You can click all of these buttons to display the relevant information.

Output View pod

The Output View pod displays important errors, warnings, and messages that RoboHelp captures while importing content or generating project output. You can use the toolbar and the right-click options to save, copy, select, or clear the log.

Toolbox pod

The Toolbox pod provides shortcut icons to access various tools that come with RoboHelp. You can also add tools.

Graphics Locator, HTML Help Studio, and Resize are some of the default tools.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Exploring the workspace

Resource Manager pod

Resource Manager stores all the common resources to use across projects and allows for quick access and management of common resource files.

Shared Locations Specify the various shared folders that store resource files to use across projects. While a shared

location can contain files of any type, Resource Manager displays only those that match defined file types (Add/Edit Categories).

Categories Specify categories to organize resources according to file types. For example, you can add a category called

Video and associate .flv, .swf, and .avi file types with it.

File Types List the extensions associated with a category. For example, for the Images category, list all the file types that

you want Resource Manager to consider as images.

Linked Resources Manage linked resources (resources used in the project with links to the original versions in the

shared locations). Synchronize the original version and the copy, remove links to stop automatic tracking of updates, or replace links to point to another resource of the same file type.

More Help topics

“Managing resources” on page 125

RoboHelp Server pod

The RoboHelp Server pod enables you to connect to RoboHelp Server. You can configure the setup for the server by selecting WebHelp Pro or FlashHelp Pro as the primary layout.

You can enter Servername:port/context-name/server and connect to it to publish your projects.

Note: By default, RoboHelp uses the http protocol. To specify that the https protocol should be used, enter https://Servername:port/context-name/server.

Environments

A RoboHelp environment refers to the arrangement of various workspace components, such as pods, in the main application window. By saving the current workspace as a named environment, you can restore that workspace even if you move or close a pod. The names of saved environments appear in the Workspace menu on the right of the menu bar.

Create and save an environment

You can create multiple environments for a project. Only one environment is loaded at a time.

1 Arrange pods.

2 Click the down arrow button in the workspace switcher and select Save Environment.

3 Type a filename, including the .rhs extension.

4 Specify a location for the environment. The default location is C:\Documents and Settings\[user name]\My

Documents\My RoboHelp Projects.

Note: You can exchange an RHS file with other authors.

Load an environment

1 Click the down arrow button in the workspace switcher and select Load Environment.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Exploring the workspace

2 Browse to an RHS file and select it.

3 Click Open.

Note: The last environment you used before closing RoboHelp is used the next time you open RoboHelp.

Restore the default environment

❖ Click the down arrow button in the workspace switcher and select Default Environment.

Delete an environment

❖ Do one of the following:

• Delete the RHS file from the location where it was stored.

• Click Start > Run. In the Open box, type regedit and click OK. Locate the MRUENVFile[n] variable in

HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Adobe > RoboHelp > 9.00 > Common and delete the string assigned to the variable.

Menus and toolbars

Customize menus

1 Right-click a toolbar and choose Customize.

2 Click the Commands tab.

3 Choose New Menu from the Categories list.

4 In the Commands section, click New Menu and drag it to the location where you want it to appear on the menu bar.

5 Right-click the New Menu item on the menu bar and click inside the Name field.

6 Type the desired menu name and press Enter.

7 Choose different categories and drag the desired commands to the menu.

8 Click Close.

9 Restart RoboHelp HTML to preserve changes.

Customize toolbars

1 Select View > Toolbars > Customize.

Note: You can also right-click a toolbar and choose Customize.

2 Do any of the following:

• To create a toolbar, click the Toolbar tab. Click New, type a name, and click OK.

• To add an item to a toolbar, click the Commands tab. Select a category, and drag a command to the toolbar.

• To edit a newly added toolbar item, right-click its icon in the toolbar and select options, such as Delete and

Name. The Begin Group option inserts a separator bar to the left of the item.

You can use an ampersand (&) in the name to add keyboard shortcuts. For example, for the Format menu, an ampersand precedes the letter "o" in “Format”. To access the Format menu using the keyboard shortcut, press

Alt + O.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Exploring the workspace

• To edit a button image, right-click the button and select Edit Button Image. Use the Button Editor tools and

modify the image. Check the preview and click OK.

• To edit menus and toolbar items, click the Options tab. Set the following options as needed:

Always Show Full Menus Select this option to show all the available menus. See “Enable and disable smart

menus” on page 20.

Show Full Menus After A Short Delay Select this option to show few menus on starting the application and few

after a short delay.

Reset Menu And Toolbar Usage Data Click this button to delete the records of all the new or modified

commands you have used and restore the default settings.

Large Icons Select this option to show large icons for the menus.

Show Screen Tips On toolbars Select this option to show Screen Tips on the toolbars.

Show Shortcut Keys In Screen Tips Select this option to show keyboard shortcuts in Screen Tips.

Menu Animations Select an animation type from the pop-up menu.

More Help topics

“Create keyboard shortcuts” on page 20

“Customize menus” on page 19

Enable and disable smart menus

Smart menus display only the most frequently used commands. To access the hidden commands, click the down arrow at the end of the command menu.

1 Right-click a toolbar.

2 Select Customize.

3 Click the Options tab.

4 Select or deselect Always Show Full Menus under Personalized Menus And Toolbars.

Create or remove keyboard shortcuts

Create keyboard shortcuts

1 Select View > Toolbars > Customize.

2 Click the Keyboard tab.

3 Select a command category.

4 Select a command to assign to a keyboard shortcut.

5 Type the keyboard shortcut in the Press New Shortcut Key box.

6 Click Assign.

Remove or reset keyboard shortcuts

1 Select View > Toolbars > Customize.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Exploring the workspace

2 Click the Keyboard tab.

3 Do one of the following:

• To remove a keyboard shortcut, select the category and command for the shortcut to remove. Select the shortcut

in Key Assignments, and click Remove.

• To restore all shortcuts to their default settings, click Reset All.

Configure general settings

❖ Select Tools > Options. Click General and set the following options to configure options for using the program and

working with project files.

Set the default language and other preferences

Default Language for New Projects Allows you to change the default language for every project that is created using

the RoboHelp application.

Use Underscores In File Names Saves topic filenames with underscores between words (for example,

My_Help_Topic.htm). For HTML Help projects, topic filenames require underscores rather than spaces. This convention enables the book or page to synchronize with the topic content displayed at the right side of the viewer.

Automatically Check For Updates The program checks for updates when you quit the program. You can also enable

this option by selecting Help > Check For Updates.

Allow Editing Of Multiple Topics Opens topics in different tabs in Design Editor and allows editing. Deselect this

option to work in single-topic mode.

Clear Project Cache (.cpd File) Before Opening Any Project Controls whether the old <ProjectName>.cpd file will be

deleted each time while opening a project and a new <ProjectName>

Auto-Compile Outdated Files When you view or publish your project, the program automatically generates your

.cpd will be created from the project files.

primary layout when the output files are out of date. If this option is disabled, the program prompts you to generate the primary layout if the output files are out of date.

Auto-display Output View Shows the Output View at the bottom of the program window when a project is generating.

Convert RoboHelp-edited Topics To HTML Converts XHTML topics created or edited in RoboHelp into HTML in the

output. Topics created or edited with third-party editors are not converted.

Show Learning Resources On Starter Page Show or hide the area in which a stream of learning resources, such as

webinars, video tutorials, and whitepapers, is displayed on the Starter page.

Enable or disable confirmation

Prompt when a file is saved The A File Is Saved option is disabled by default. Changes to the current topic are saved

when you open another topic or close the project without saving. You can disable this setting here if necessary. For example, if you change a topic and want to restore the content, you can temporarily disable the automatic save.

Prompt when auto-generated topics from linked documents are modified Allows you to enable or disable the message

displayed when you modify a topic generated from the contents of a linked Word or FrameMaker document.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Exploring the workspace

Enable, disable, or reset notifications

By default, notifications are enabled. Some notifications include an option (Don’t Ask Me Again) to suppress their display.

• To enable or disable all notifications, deselect or select Tools > Options > General > Do Not Show Notifications.

• To restore all notifications to their default settings, click Reset All.

Last updated 7/13/2012

Chapter 3: Projects

Project basics

About projects

Projects contain the source files that become the final Help system. Help authors work with the project files, and Help users view the output. For CHM output, the project contains the content you create and the properties you set up, such as what the output window looks like. The developer determines the window for WebHelp and FlashHelp output formats, or leaves them to run in your browser window. Create folders in the Project Manager to organize topics and structure the Help system.

Projects are collections of files. The project file (XPJ file) contains information about the content and properties of the project. Whenever you change the project, this file (and any other affected file) is updated automatically. Project files consist of the following:

Content Project files contain topics with content and information about the location of topics, images, index, TOC,

and other files.

Properties Projects contain setting information, such as project title, language, and windows. When you first create a

project, the basic (default) settings are used. Modify these settings according to your design needs.

Navigation Projects include a table of contents, index, and full-text search.

You can view the elements that make up a project in several places, including the Project Manager, Single-Source Layouts pod, and Project Settings dialog box. You can also generate various reports (Tools > Reports) that identify project status, duplicate topics, files distributed with Help, and so on.

Help project components

Help systems are made up of different components that vary according to the Help format you deliver.

Projects RoboHelp HTML creates a main project file (with the extension .xpj) that contains the information about

your topics, images, and other files. (Open this file to open a project.) Project files also contain the settings that affect the appearance and functionality of a Help system.

Topics The basic unit of a Help system is the topic. Topics communicate the message of the Help system, mainly

through text and images. You decide the content, format, and organization of your topics.

Table of contents If a table of contents is included, users see a Contents tab or button when they open the Help system.

The table of contents presents a hierarchical outline of what the Help project contains. Users can browse and select topics to view from the Contents tab.

Indexes If an index is included, users see an Index tab or button when they open the Help system. The index displays

a multilevel list of topics and keywords or phrases that you’ve specified.

Full-text search Full-text search allows users to find specific words and phrases that occur in the content.

Links and navigation Users navigate a Help system by clicking links. You design the strategy that connects your topics

together. The most common links are from one topic to another. Links can also go to topics in different Help systems, different output formats, and even to a website or an application.

Styles You format topics using styles. Styles are named formats that you design and apply to control the layout and

appearance of text.

Last updated 7/13/2012

USING ROBOHELP HTML 10

Projects

Image and multimedia files Images and multimedia files enhance Help by adding graphics, sound, video, animation,

and more.

Windows Windows are the frames that display topics. In certain output formats, you can customize the appearance

and attributes of windows. You can also design new windows to suit your content. You can open multiple windows and from the Windows dialog box, select a window and click Activate to bring it to focus. Click Save to save the displayed window in focus. Using the Windows feature, you can rename the project title to display in the output.

Compilers The Help compiler isn’t part of the final Help file, but you sometimes need a compiler to create the Help

file. For example, in Microsoft HTML Help projects, the compiler aggregates the source files and other project components. The compiler then creates one Help system file that you distribute to end users. (WebHelp and FlashHelp projects are not compiled.)

Viewers and browsers Users access the Help system from within a viewer or browser.

Files in a project

Main project file (XPJ)

The project file (.xpj) is XML-based. You can open project files with the .mpj extension, the format for older versions of RoboHelp, but they convert to XPJ files.

Folder files (FPJ)

Each project folder has an FPJ file that lists the folder contents. RoboHelp displays only those subfolders and topics that are listed in the FPJ file of a folder.

All the subfolders have their respective FPJ files. The name of an FPJ file except the FPJ file for the project folder is same as that of the folder.

The name of the FPJ file for the project folder is root.fpj. The root.fpj file is modified if you add, delete, or rename a topic or subfolder inside the respective folder. The root.fpj file is also modified if the order of topics or subfolders is changed in Project Manager.

Single-source layout files (SSL)

A single-source layout file (SSL) is used for each single-source layout. An SSL file stores the properties of the respective single-source layout and is modified when you edit the properties. An SSL file does not get modified on generating, viewing, or publishing a single-source layout.

Auxiliary project files (APJ)

The following components have corresponding APJ files, which get modified when you edit the components:

• Baggage files

• Colors

• Conditional build tags

• Font sets

• Information types

• Map files

• Pop-up note topics

• See Also keywords

Last updated 7/13/2012

+ 392 hidden pages