Rummaging through WebHelp hmskins & edit - possible?

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Dave Gehman
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Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Rummaging through WebHelp hmskins & edit - possible?

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Is it possible to unzip an hmskin then
  • -- extract and edit, say, a CSS file in our favorite text editor
    -- pack the new CSS back into the hmskin archive
    -- then archive it
and still have it all work?
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Tim Green
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Re: Rummaging through WebHelp hmskins & edit - possible?

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Dave,
Is it possible to...
Absolutely. You can also work with completely unzipped skins. Just unzip it into an empty folder and change the name of the project.hmxp file it contains to anythingyoulike.hmskin. Then you can edit everything directly and also use the skin normally. The only thing that doesn't work is the preview image of the skin when you select it.

However, you don't really need to do this. That is what the Toolbox utility in the Premium Pack is for, which you can link to your favorite code editor in Edit > Preferences. You then open the skin with Toolbox, select Baggage Files and then double-click on the file you want to edit and it opens in your favorite editor. Toolbox does this by exporting a temporary copy automatically, loading it into your editor and then monitoring the copy for changes. As soon as you save in your editor the file lights up red in the Baggage File list in Toolbox and the Save Project button activates. When you then save it is automatically saved back to the skin with your edits.

You can also automate it completely if you activate the auto-save option in Toolbox preferences. Then the copy will be saved back to the skin automatically when you save in your own editor. Personally, I prefer to leave that off so that I can decide if I want to keep the edits or not. 8)
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Dave Gehman
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Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Re: Rummaging through WebHelp hmskins & edit - possible?

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Thanks - exactly what I needed.

Er. wait - I'm not sure I understand about changing the 'project.hmxp' to 'whatever...hmskin' Is there some area in the hmskin that is has become hardcoded to contain the name of the H+M project that called it to do its skin thing when the help file is published?
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Tim Green
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Re: Rummaging through WebHelp hmskins & edit - possible?

Unread post by Tim Green »

Dave Gehman wrote:Er. wait - I'm not sure I understand about changing the 'project.hmxp' to 'whatever...hmskin' Is there some area in the hmskin that is has become hardcoded to contain the name of the H+M project that called it to do its skin thing when the help file is published?
No, the contents of a .hmskin file are really the same as a normal HM project. Inside every skin there is a standard project file called project.hmxp. If you unpack the skin you need to change the extension of that file to .hmskin to be able top use it as a skin in its unpacked form. The name before the extension can be anything you like. It doesn't have to match the project or anything like that.

If you REpack it into a zipped .hmskin file, however, the internal project file MUST be renamed back to "project.hmxp".
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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Dave Gehman
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Joined: Sat Sep 23, 2017 9:05 pm

Re: Rummaging through WebHelp hmskins & edit - possible?

Unread post by Dave Gehman »

Thanks. Interesting schema to say the least - it's taking a awhile, but I'm beginning to enjoy the coherence of the H+M world.
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