RE: Subject: RoboHelp Printing Options for End-Users

[Paul Hanson <PHanson -at- Quintrex -dot- com>]

Hi,

I was asked off-list to post my workaround. I should have clarified that my
workaround was to use a PDF version of the help file they were looking at. I
did not have a workaround for clicking "Print Topic" and getting the
hotspots on my graphics to be included. My workaround 'worked' for me, it
may not for you. I was working with WinHelp projects in RoboHelp for Word.
My requirement was to generate a PDF version of my online Help.

When I had graphics with hotspots, I organized my RTF files such that when I
generated Print doc, the hotspots came immediately after the graphic. I set
up a series of three Word docs for each main topic:

Main.doc
Main_context.doc
Main_context_print.doc

Main.doc contained the bulk of the information about the subject and a
graphic.
Main_context.doc contained the hotspot topics that I linked to in Main.doc.
The text in the topic was in a 3" single cell table to control how far
across the graphic the popup displayed. 
Main_context_print.doc contained a copy-paste of main_context.doc. I then
ran a series of macros to remove page breaks, to convert the table to text,
and some other formatting I needed.

And yes, when I updated a field's definition, I had two places that needed
to be updated. I worked around this with the macros I mentioned above. It
took as long as it takes to click five buttons to process a
"main_context_print.doc" file. I have to admit, it was pretty slick.

Then, when I was ready to generate Print doc, I would select Main.doc and
Main_context_print.doc in the Robohelp interface, but not main_context.doc.
This gave me the desired output.

That all said . . .

I just finished removing all formatting like this in my 100 Winhelp
projects. I found that users wanted to print the topic from the online Help,
not go to a different location (PDF). I removed all hotspots from the
graphics and inserted main_context_print.doc into main.doc. In this way,
immediately below the graphic, the field information displays. Users no
longer click the hotspot on the graphic, they simply roll down a bit. This
is also an easier way to include information when printing. I guess another
workaround is to not include hotspots if you want the users to be able to
print the information from the online Help. If that's not a requirement,
send them to the PDF file. This change was also fueled by a pending
conversion to HTML-based Help and a focus on task-based Help instead of
field-based help. 

Somewhere in the archives, I recall describing my process in more detail. I
also think I have a PDF, somewhere, that I wrote to describe how I made this
work. I don't find it on my work PC so it's likely I have it at home. If
anyone is interested, contact me at prhmusic -at- inav -dot- net and I'll let you know
if I find it. 

Paul Hanson
Technical Writer
RoboHelp MVP -
http://www.macromedia.com/support/forums/team_macromedia/robohelp.html
Quintrex Data Systems http://www.quintrex.com
email: phanson at quintrex.com

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