Top Level Intro Page missed in PDF export

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KonDt
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Top Level Intro Page missed in PDF export

Unread post by KonDt »

Hi Tim,

we have reorganized our manuals to Help&Manual 7. Now, the top Level intro page does not exist if the chapter consists only of one (top level) topic.
The published document has only top level intros for top level chapters having one subtopic at least.
Additionally, the start page (odd or even) is also not set in this case. Simply, the next page is used.

For example:
  • 1. Introduction -> does not have a top level intro page

    2. Chapter 2 -> has a top Level intro page
    • 2.1 Chapter 2.1
      2.2.Chapter 2.2
    3. Annotation -> does not have a top Level intro page
We did not changed the PDF templates and so we use the traditional view of the intro page.
Is there anything to do in the .mnl templates in version 7?

Best regards
Konni
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Tim Green
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Re: Top Level Intro Page missed in PDF export

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Konni,
The published document has only top level intros for top level chapters having one subtopic at least.
That is correct and is by design. A single topic cannot be considered to be a top-level chapter. It is just a topic, and does not merit a top level intro.
Additionally, the start page (odd or even) is also not set in this case. Simply, the next page is used.
This would be a result of not having the top level-intro page, if you set the odd/even start page there. You would also have to set one for the corresponding topic level itself if you want that to start on an odd or even page, but then that would apply for ALL topics on that level, even if they have a top-level intro page. You set this in the page break settings in the table a the bottom of the Page Options for the Topics section in your PDF template.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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KonDt
Posts: 42
Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2010 2:22 pm
Location: Germany, DD

Re: Top Level Intro Page missed in PDF export

Unread post by KonDt »

Hi Tim,

hm, that design is new in H&M7. It's not a good idea, because now we have chapters with and without intro pages in the same document. For example, an Introduction or a Glossary or a Version history are chapters containing usually one but often a very long topic and merit definitely a top level intro. We have another PDF template for smaller documents publishing the manuals without an intro page in this case. But now we have mixed documents, it'sapity and not what we want (and what we had to date). :|

Setting the odd or even page for a top level heading does not operate anymore. I have applied the top level heading to odd page for all topics at the page Options in the Topics section. The new chapter always start on the next page avaliable (odd or even). In case of having an intro page, the intro page starts correctly on an odd page. The corresponding Content of the chapter starts on the backside of the intro page, not on the next odd page. The PDF Export Option Ignore empty pages in PDF is always deactivated.

Best regards
Konni
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Tim Green
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Re: Top Level Intro Page missed in PDF export

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Konni,

I can understand the difficulty in this case. I've passed your concerns on to the development team... :)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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KonDt
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Location: Germany, DD

Re: Top Level Intro Page missed in PDF export

Unread post by KonDt »

Hi Tim,

Many thanks.
Especially, starting the chapters of the configured page is important. Having an intro page is a Feature but a very nice one :) .

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Konni
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Tim Green
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Re: Top Level Intro Page missed in PDF export

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Konni,
For example, an Introduction or a Glossary or a Version history are chapters containing usually one but often a very long topic and merit definitely a top level intro.
For the time being you could solve this by splitting up these topics into a main topic with a couple of sub-topics. This also makes them easier to read and access. For example, a glossary can have a 1-2 paragraph introduction in the main topic, and the sub-topics can be divided into groups of letters. The number of topics would depend on the number of entries you have. You can use a similar approach for an introduction -- here too, having different themes directly accessible in sub-topics makes them more easily accessible.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Alexander Halser
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Re: Top Level Intro Page missed in PDF export

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

We are going to change this rule (back to the way it was in HM v6) with the next update.

A pre-release build of H&M 7.0.7 that includes the change is already available from this link:
http://download.ec-software.com/help-an ... p-v707.exe
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
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