Open topics folder in extra tab

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John Johann
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Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:35 pm

Open topics folder in extra tab

Unread post by John Johann »

When working on topics, it is possible to have multiple open topics.

I currently have a project with ca. 2800 topics which I need to resort into sub-folders (wonder why :-)).

My sub-folders are displayed at the top of the list -- when I drag and drop topics from way down the list in the tree view, I'm scrolling for ages. Is there a way to open a secondary view of the topics folder contents?
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Tim Green
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Re: Open topics folder in extra tab

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi John,
Is there a way to open a secondary view of the topics folder contents?
No, but there is another way you can deal with this situation that is also useful in many other ways: If you are using the uncompressed HMXP format for working (and you should be, for many reasons!) you can open the same project twice in two copies of Help+Manual. Just open the program a second time and open the same project again. Then you can have one Help+Manual window with one set of topics and another with another one.

When you do this you are effectively doing Help+Manual's native multi-user editing with a single user, so all the normal procedures for this apply:
  • Save in one instance before doing something in another instance, particularly if you do anything in the TOC or configuration (access to this is shared between both instances).
  • Use the Refresh tool in the second instance before proceeding.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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John Johann
Posts: 305
Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:35 pm

Re: Open topics folder in extra tab

Unread post by John Johann »

Cool :-)
My projects are all uncompressed -- so that's not a problem -- I was unsure about synching changes between different instances of the same project -- but you cleared that up.
John Johann
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Joined: Mon Aug 21, 2017 7:35 pm

Re: Open topics folder in extra tab

Unread post by John Johann »

I should have tested first.
Drag and drop to a different topics folder in a second instance doesn't work in my case -- A "No Entry" symbol is displayed in the second instance.
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Tim Green
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Re: Open topics folder in extra tab

Unread post by Tim Green »

John Johann wrote:Drag and drop to a different topics folder in a second instance doesn't work in my case -- A "No Entry" symbol is displayed in the second instance.
That's true, you can only copy topics directly via drag&drop between TOCs. However, there is an easier way if the topics don't have TOC entries: Then you can copy directly between the \Topics folders of the two projects in Windows Explorer. Note that doing that for topics without TOC entries won't create a TOC entry in the other topic. Also, you need to reload the project for the copied topics to show up in Topic Files. HM doesn't actively look for new topic files that it didn't create itself while the project is open, only when opening it.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

Private support:
Please do not email or PM me with private support requests -- post to the forum directly.
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