Include an external CHM into other CHM or WebHelp on publish

[Ruslan Mogilevskiy]

Hi,

I`m evaluating H&M with below scenario: I have an external CHM with developer help that`s generated by an external tool. I also have a "core" help project which should be published into either CHM or web help. I need to include the external CHM file (1) into some topic within the core help project on publish time and receive one merged CHM or web help as an output.
I `ve done it while generating the CHM format but do not with the web help format. How can I do that for the last one format?

[Tim Green]

Hi Ruslan,

Welcome to the forum!

I've done it while generating the CHM format but do not with the web help format. How can I do that for the last one format?

That isn't possible any more. The CHM format is Windows only and has severe security restrictions because it can theoretically be used to install malware. Windows only allows it to be opened locally, not on network drives or the Internet, and only in very restricted contexts.

In addition to this, you can't open a CHM file from a web page because to open it you would need to specify the viewer program hh.exe as well, and it is not allowed for links on web pages to call executable programs directly. Simply linking to a CHM file will not open it in the viewer, unlike a DOC or DOCX file, which can be made to open automatically in Word.

It's also not possible to access the contents of a CHM file from a web page, again because of security restrictions. It used to be possible to use the JavaScript window.showHelp() method, but that only worked in Internet Explorer and is now no longer supported there either.

In summary: There is no longer anything you can do with CHMs in WebHelp. If you no longer have the source you need to decompile the CHM with Microsoft HTML Help Workshop or a third-party tool like FAR, extract the HTML pages and use those pages.

[Ruslan Mogilevskiy]

The decompilation of the CHM file is OK for me but I want it to be automated by H&M. I.e. the external CHM file is generated on each build from the built .NET assembly.
How should I structure my core help project in order to H&M decompile this CHM and auto-insert its content under the specified node when publishing either to CHM or web help formats?
So the steps should be:
* An external CHM file is generated.
* The code help project is being published to CHM/HTML so the output contain the above CHM`s pages as well as other custom written pages stored in the code help project.
I tried to import the external CHM file into the core help project but it`s a complete mess as 1) all CHM`s pages are inserted to root level and 2) I can`t refresh these generated pages when the external CHM has changed.

[Tim Green]

Hi Ruslan,

The decompilation of the CHM file is OK for me but I want it to be automated by H&M.

Sorry, this is not supported. Also, planning to re-import a CHM on an ongoing basis is not a good plan. You want to import your external data once and then do your editing in Help & Manual after that.

1) all CHM`s pages are inserted to root level and

The CHM will be imported at the end of the current project's TOC when you import to an existing project, but its TOC structure will be preserved. If this is not happening please mail an example of the CHM file you are trying to import at support AT ec-software.com (replace the AT with @) and we will check it for you.

2) I can`t refresh these generated pages when the external CHM has changed.

That is not possible and there is no practical way of achieving it. Even a single import from a CHM is difficult because of the virtually unlimited range of formatting possibilities each page can have. You will almost always have to do some editing and changes after importing. Creating this kind of "live" connection to a CHM file is not a realistic option, sorry.