Creating multiple versions of help for different cu

[Adina Rabinowitz]

Hi
We are using Help and Manual 6.5.2 to create online help.
We have 2 products - Product X and Product Y.
The requirement is for the TOC of the help to unified. I found that this is possible in Help and Manual using Master Projects where it pulls in the help from each product.
However, it is possible for a customer to buy one product and not the other.
It is also possible for a customer to have Version 1 of Product X and Version 2 of Product Y. Another customer could have Version 2 of Product X and Version 4 of Product Y.
This is still possible using Master Projects by pulling in the correct version of each help for each customer and then building it each time.

However, the next requirement is that the person installing the project at a customer site be able to build this himself during the installation. The installer gets to a customer and wants to give him Help for Version 1 or Product X and Help for Version 2 of Product Y and the TOC should be unified as one TOC. So it doesn't require the TW to build a new help for each customer each time. Is there some way (API?) to grab the correct help files and build the TOC at product installation time.
Is this possible in Help and Manual?
Thanks
Adina

[Tim Green]

Hi Adina,

This is possible if your product is a Windows application and you are using the CHM help files installed locally for the help. Then you use modular help with what is called "Runtime Merging". You insert the module projects in your master project in "runtime" mode and compile each one separately as a separate CHM file. This CHM file will only appear in the contents of the master file if it is present. If it is not present it is simply not displayed. You then only add the CHM files for the modules that the customer actually has, in addition to the master CHM file, which must always be there.

See here in the Help & Manual help for detailed instructions.

[Adina Rabinowitz]

I forgot to mention that we are using Webhelp and not CHMs. Is it possible with Webhelp?
Thanks,
Adina

[Tim Green]

Hi Adina,

I forgot to mention that we are using Webhelp and not CHMs. Is it possible with Webhelp?

To have different versions of your help for WebHelp you need to generate different versions and put them all on your web server in different locations. Then you create a login page where your users go and are directed to the appropriate version. The login page is separate from Help & Manual, as you will probably also need a login system with a database of user names and passwords.

You can't dynamically show and hide different TOCs and versions in a single WebHelp collection, however.