Topic name as saved print document title and file name

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DavidLLJ
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Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:37 pm

Topic name as saved print document title and file name

Unread post by DavidLLJ »

Sorry if this is a dumb question. I don't seem to find any guidance in either the H&M Help file or this Forum.

By using a skin I can add a "print this topic" button to the displayed topics. When using it to print to a PDF file via PDF Creator the default document title that is displayed is a long string of technical jargon (e.g. mk:@MSITStore:C:\Users\David%20Lbby\Documents\My%20HelpA). It can, of course be edited to something more useful such as the topic name before saving it to file with the same name. But it would be so much more convenient if the default document title could automatically be the same as the topic name. Can this be done?
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Tim Green
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Re: Topic name as saved print document title and file name

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi David,
But it would be so much more convenient if the default document title could automatically be the same as the topic name. Can this be done?
No, because the setting isn't something that Help & Manual has access to. The CHM viewer is really Internet Explorer with a different interface. The page layout settings for CHM printing (i.e headers and footers etc., everything outside the content of the page) are defined in File > Page Setup in Internet Explorer, but that is on the individual user's computer. You can't change that for them. In addition to this, if you are using a PDF driver to save as a PDF then that may have its own header and footer settings, but those also can't be controlled from HM.

The bottom line is that printing from CHM is simply awful and something to be avoided if you possibly can. It is much better to create your own PDF version for printing with Help & Manual and provide a download link for that for users who want to print. They can then print in infinitely better quality, and they have the added advantage of having the entire PDF as well.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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DavidLLJ
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 02, 2014 11:37 pm

Re: Topic name as saved print document title and file name

Unread post by DavidLLJ »

Thanks for your most comprehensive reply which makes a lot of sense. What great service! Greatly appreciated.
Simon Dismore
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Location: London, UK

Re: Topic name as saved print document title and file name

Unread post by Simon Dismore »

Tim Green wrote:
Can this be done?
No
It's insanely unpredictable, and you definitely wouldn't want to do it, but this can be achieved if the topic ids are relatively short and the chm is in the drive root directory or in a child folder of the root that has a very short name. For example, when I compile the modular help example to product "Master.chm" and print the final topic to PDF (in this case using Acrobat XI), the filename offered in the print dialog varies according to the path as follows:
  • C:\Users\sdismore\Documents\My HelpAndManual Projects\Examples\Modular Help Systems\Master.chm yields My%20HelpAndManual%20.pdf
  • C:\DELL\123456789ABCDEF\Master.chm yields master_linki.pdf
  • C:\DELL\Master.chm yields master_linking_3links.pdf, which is the correct topic ID.
This is just a curiosity. Tim's bottom line recommendation is still the way to go.
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