Merging chm files so that each chm acts as a master
Version |
1.0 |
Date |
2006-12-27 |
Changes |
Initial version. |
Description
I've been creating merged .chm files with WWP 2003, but now I'm trying to set up the same thing with with WWeP. There is one thing that I can't seem to do in WWeP. With the help of this web site and some emails with its creator, I was able to achieve what I needed to do: http://www.helpware.net/htmlhelp/how_to_merge_ctx2.htm#Solution_3. Here is what I need to be able to do:
- I need to have three "slave" chm files set up, so that when you call each slave file, the full TOC, index, and search works across all three slave files.
- Each slave .chm needs to have its own context IDs and properly display its own first topic.
In essence, each slave file acts as a master when called from the application using cs help calls. I was able to do this in WWP 2003 by using separate projects for each of the slave .chm files, then merging them using the Merge/Deploy function. I acheived what I needed by editing the template.hhp file for each project.
Changes to the template.hhp file in WWP 2003
Below are the changes I had to make to the template.hhp file for each project:
- Edited the window definition line using the following pattern for each .chm. This tells the slave chm file to use the toc of the master.chm file when you open the slave chm. This lets you view and access the whole toc. The name of the first topic of the slave chm file is included.
[WINDOWS]
$global_TriPane=,"master.chm::/toc.hhc","index.hhk","FirstTopicFileName.html"0x35200x30060
- The names of the other slave chm files are also hard coded in the file. This lets each subchm display the full index and search function when opened.
[MERGE FILES]
SecondSlaveCHM.chm ThirdSlaveCHM.chm
In addition, all three WWP projects share the same .h file. The “master” .h file is in the Support folder of the first project. The other WWP projects all point to this file.
What I need WWeP to do
I need to be able to set up the same type of process in WWeP. I have one project with three groups in it, which does generate the merged files. I have customized the template.hhp file for that single project to use the $global_TriPane option, which makes sure that help does not spawn new help windows.
However, when I open the individual slave chm files, they only display their own toc, index, and search. Through the master.chm, I can see everything, but I can't get the cs help calls to work because the master doesn't know about the cs help IDs.
There are some other solutions on the web site that I listed above, but this is a project that I have to turn over to a client, and I can't make it too complicated to maintain. That means I really want to avoid the complexities of the other two solutions described on that site.
I need a way to customize each .hhp for each group in my project so that I can add info that lets each slave know about the other slaves and display the full index and toc. This is what I did in WWP 2003 project, and I need to replicate that behavior. I don't see a way to have different content in the template.hhp file for each group in a project. Is there some way to do this?