I need to export my toc only to RTF

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Leah Guren
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:17 pm

I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Leah Guren »

Hi, everyone.

There is probably some way to do this that I haven't figured out yet.

Part of a normal review cycle is to show the client the expanded toc before I start populating topics with any real content. It is a crucial milestone for feedback. But I cannot figure out how to push just the toc into some sort of format (preferably RTF) that would allow them to look at it, add comments, etc.

Help!
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Martin Wynne
Posts: 2656
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 3:21 pm
Location: West of the Severn, UK

Re: I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Hi Leah,

Try this:

1. publish your project to Webhelp without any skin.

2. create a new temporary topic.

3. Project > File > Load Topic from File, from the just created hmcontent.html file in your output folder.

4. print that topic, possibly using a PDF generator virtual printer program* to create a PDF file which your clients can print out.

(To print a single topic -- Shift+Ctrl+P , Project > File > Print Topic)

*In Windows10, Microsoft Print To PDF printer is available.

regards,

Martin.
Leah Guren
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:17 pm

Re: I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Leah Guren »

Thanks. That seems pretty complicated for something that is a necessary part of most early review cycles.
Dave Gehman
Posts: 575
Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Re: I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Agreed that this is a necessary project milestone need.

Somewhat simpler: expand everything in your TOC, then capture the Project Explorer pane using a screen capture program that can capture scrolling windows.

The result is a bitmap, but that bitmap can be 'printed' as a PDF for markup. If you need editable copy, then OCR the bitmap... but we're back to complicated with the addition of this step.

Meanwhile, you might want to add this need to the Wish List forum. The Project Explorer is assembled dynamically and sent (printed) to the screen - it might be a relatively simple coding step to enable it to be sent to a printer - but all depends on the routines that are going on behind the scenes.
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Martin Wynne
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Location: West of the Severn, UK

Re: I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Leah Guren wrote:Thanks. That seems pretty complicated for something that is a necessary part of most early review cycles.
Hi Leah,

Not really, in the context of all the other things you need to do to create a finished help project.

In "traditional" H&M (i.e. without skins) there is a simple "no frames" option in the "classic" settings, which creates the TOC as a separate web page. You could upload that to your server so that your clients could see it online.

I didn't suggest it, because in switching back to the classic settings it is easy to lose any customizing you have done on your layout templates.

regards,

Martin.
Simon_Dismore
Posts: 205
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 2:57 pm

Re: I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Simon_Dismore »

Leah Guren wrote:push just the toc into some sort of format (preferably RTF) that would allow them to look at it, add comments, etc. Help!
The TOC is stored in the file Maps/table_of_contents.xml.

If you're handy with XSLT transformations you can turn this into anything you like. Or you can simply open the file in Word 2016: the captions will be converted into a hierarchical listing that you can save as RTF.
Leah Guren
Posts: 15
Joined: Mon Nov 06, 2017 3:17 pm

Re: I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Leah Guren »

Thanks to everyone for their input. However, none of these things solves my problem.

First, one of the main reasons that I got my client to choose this application is that they DO NOT use Word and do not want anything that sits on Word. So that rules out solutions that required Word (in any version).

Second, I am not a programmer and am not quite techie enough to do the kinds of conversions you are talking about. I'm a content developer (technical communicator) and pretty good with a lot of DTP and graphics applications (and HATs), but I'm not going to start doing a complex 4-step conversion just so that my clients can sign off on a toc.

Web-based viewing of the toc is useless. They need to be able to do markups and annotations.

And yes, with over 35 years of expertise in content development, I *can* tell you that having a client sign off on the proposed toc of any project is a FUNDAMENTAL part of the process.
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Martin Wynne
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Re: I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Leah Guren wrote:First, one of the main reasons that I got my client to choose this application is that they DO NOT use Word and do not want anything that sits on Word. So that rules out solutions that required Word (in any version).
Hi Leah,

My feelings about Word exactly. :)

So why do you want RTF and which application are they using to view the RTF?

Your hmcontent.html file can be opened in your browser and printed, or copied and pasted from there into any text editor. It is in your output folder after publishing to Webhelp.

regards,

Martin.
Simon_Dismore
Posts: 205
Joined: Thu Jul 13, 2017 2:57 pm

Re: I need to export my toc only to RTF

Unread post by Simon_Dismore »

Leah Guren wrote:I am not not quite techie enough to do the kinds of conversions you are talking about
It would be better if the TOC files generated by H&M had built-in style transformations, but it's not technically challenging to do what you want manually:
  1. Open the file Maps/table_of_contents.xml in Word 2016.
  2. Save As RTF.
one of the main reasons that I got my client to choose this application is that they DO NOT use Word and do not want anything that sits on Word. So that rules out solutions that required Word (in any version)
Fair enough, but you said you wanted to convert the TOC to RTF in the shortest number of steps, and RTF is a format designed for Microsoft Word. Once you have the TOC as RTF your client isn't forced to use Word to view it.
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