Printing CHM topic/subtopics

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ccinocco
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Printing CHM topic/subtopics

Unread post by ccinocco »

Hi,

One of my SMEs is questioning the way topics print from the CHM file. I am sure this is the way it is supposed to behave (strangely, to say the least - but CHMs are an old system).

He selects the Print button in the help window and then selects the option Print selected topic and all subtopics. It does print the selected topic - but prints other topics first based on, I believe, the hierarchy of the links within the topic and possibly TOC. There are several links in the topic for help navigation/procedural purposes. He feels it should print the selected topic first and then the topics linked within AFTER. While I agree that this would make far more sense, I've checked many other chm projects I've worked on over the last 15 years, and the behavior he is experiencing seems to have been around forever (doesn't make a difference what the program was used to create the help - H&M or RoboHelp - the end result is a CHM file).

I checked, and it works exactly the same way when I right-click on the topic in the TOC and select the Print selected topic and all subtopics option.

I found an old forum topic where this is basically discussed ---

http://helpman.it-authoring.com/viewtop ... ics#p47834

I am sure nothing has changed since CHMs are old --- but want to confirm more recently than 2012. I don't believe this can be controlled - but I have to ask: Is there something I can do to control this OR is it just the way the CHM format works?

Thanks.

C
Cindy @ Trimble
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Tim Green
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Re: Printing CHM topic/subtopics

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Cindy,

Like so much else in the ancient Microsoft CHM viewer, the Print function is simply awful. If you use it at all, we can only recommend using the single-topic option. For better single-topic printing, the Premium Pack CHM skins have a smart print button that generates a printer-friendly format with a preview. The modern standard CHM skins that come with Help & Manual also have a print button that you can activate in the topic header when you publish with them (check the option in the Include Options box in the Publish screen).
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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dan weil
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Re: Printing CHM topic/subtopics

Unread post by dan weil »

Printing CHM topic: Do not allow print or copy in CHM

how, exactly, do I add javascipt (js) routines to the html files to
a) turn off the right click menu (nomenu.js)
b) Clear the clipboard to stop Print screen button (nocopy.js)

is it possible?
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Tim Green
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Re: Printing CHM topic/subtopics

Unread post by Tim Green »

Hi Dan,
a) turn off the right click menu (nomenu.js)
b) Clear the clipboard to stop Print screen button (nocopy.js)
Neither of these things are possible, not even with low-level programming languages like C, let alone Web scripting like JS. The CHM/HTML Help Viewer is a Windows component that has only very minimal configuration options, and it has no interface to JavaScript at all. You can only use JS within your CHM pages. Everything beyond their boundaries is out of reach.

The configuration you can do is available in the Project Explorer on the left, in Configuration > Publishing Options > HTML Help > Extended HHP Options. However, nothing you can do there will disable or even configure the right-click context menu in the viewer, so all the functions there are always available to the user.

You might want to have a look at the eWriter format in Help+Manual 7, which is an alternative to CHM that eliminates a lot of the disadvantages. Among other things, that does allow you to disable printing.
Regards,
Tim (EC Software Documentation & User Support)

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dan weil
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Re: Printing CHM topic/subtopics

Unread post by dan weil »

Hi
Microsoft Forums seems to say it is possible to block the right click, I have tried what they say but I probably did it incorrectly, hence my question

https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forum ... um=devdocs

Maybe that is only for the raw Html generated chm.
I found a similar posting elsewhere on the web, I can't remember where though

Dan
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