Merged project

[Art Campbell]

This probably isn't the kind of advice that you're hoping to get, but
the way that you're setting stuff up is so far from the standard way
that FM and RH work that you're way off the edge.

As you probably know, the normal way to work, and the way the programs
work best, is to build a book in FM that contains all the chapter
files. IF... it really "takes forever" to update files and that's your
reason for not using a standard workflow, that would tell me that
there's something wrong with your setup. I know that I'm working on
several books with 500-600 pages and all the files are on a server...
and it takes maybe 2-3 minutes to update all insets, graphics, and
generate the TOC and Index. Which I can live with.

Your note that the system fails when you try to work correctly is
another key that you've got basic system or configuration problems.
Normal work doesn't cause systems to fail.

So the right direction would be to find and fix the underlying
problem, rather than look for additional kludges. Which would involve
supplying a lot more details about your system, RAM, free space,
network config and so on...

Art


Art Campbell
                          art.campbell at gmail.com
  "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52
Vincent and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson
                                                      No disclaimers apply.
                                                               DoD 358



On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 5:57 PM, Judy Bragg <judy at hypack.com> wrote:
> I'm using Tech. Comm. Suite ( FM8 ver. 8.0p277 & RH7 ver. 7.02.001) to generate multiple user manuals (a full manual and 3 quickstarts) as well as CHM Help files.  (Windows XP SP3 if it matters.)
> The manual has 10 chapters, each in its own FM book, complete with TOC and IX.  All chapters are added to RH by reference and each is compiled to a CHM.  So far so good!
> The problem comes when I try to merge them.  The TOC is OK, but the Index is wrong.
> Here's what I did:
> I used the first chapter as the master and merged the other 9 onto the end of it.  (In the ch. 1 TOC, I clicked the New Merged Project icon and added the ch. 2 chm.  Repeat the process for chapters 3-10.)  In the HTML Single Source Layout, I used the merged TOC...what should I do with the IX field?
> I tried adding IX placeholders to the end of the ch 1 IX, but the result was 10 catenated IX files.   They don't merge.
> Theoretically, I suppose I could generate the full manual in 1 FM book and reference it in RH, but it takes forever to update that many files and I've noticed the system tends to fail one way or another when I attempt to do too much.  Also, I have to produce a modular system patterned after the previous one.  Changing the help calls in the numerous program modules of our software would be our last resort at this point. This way I can do 1 chapter at a time and the TOC's  are easily updated from the FM file.  Now if I can just get the index to merge...
> Can anyone please steer me in the right direction?  I would be forever grateful!
> Judy Bragg
> Technical Writer
> Hypack, Inc.
>
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