Using the Conditional Build Tags feature in RoboHelp HTML 6
Improvements offered by Adobe RoboHelp 6
Adobe has improved the functionality of Conditional Build Tags. This article illustrates the improvements so that you may more easily apply them to your own projects.
New ways to apply conditions to your content:
- You can apply one or more conditions to a folder
Prior to Adobe RoboHelp 6, this was not possible, and there were no workarounds other than to apply the condition to all topics inside a given folder. This ability now allows the RoboHelp author to easily select a folder and tag all content inside the folder accordingly.
- Apply one or more conditions to individual books and pages in the Table of Contents (TOC)
Prior to Adobe RoboHelp 6, this was not possible—at least, not directly. For instance, I had developed a workaround involving two redirect topics for each desired TOC entry.
- Apply one or more conditions to individual terms in the Index
Prior to Adobe RoboHelp 6, this was not possible—at least, not directly. I had developed a workaround involving two redirect topics for each desired Index entry.
- Apply one or more conditions to a frameset
Prior to Adobe RoboHelp 6, this was not possible—at least, not directly. I had developed a workaround involving direct manipulation of the underlying HTML code.
Color coding enhancements:
- Color coding of topics in the Topic List
Prior to Adobe RoboHelp 6, you could apply a condition to a topic. However, once a condition was applied, there was no easy way to tell at a glance that a condition was involved. You had to display the Topic Properties dialog and examine the Advanced tab. With Adobe RoboHelp 6, the Topic List now displays the topics using shading to indicate a condition has been applied.
- Color coding of folders in the RoboHelp Explorer pane
The ability to apply a condition to a folder did not exist in prior versions of RoboHelp HTML. Adobe RoboHelp 6 introduces this new capability. Assuming you have applied a condition to a folder, the collapsed folder icon will indicate this by displaying shading.
- Color coding of books and pages in the Table of Contents editor
The ability to apply conditions to individual books and pages did not exist in prior versions of RoboHelp HTML. In the past, you could devise ways to work past this limitation, but they were awkward solutions. For example, you could maintaining different versions of the ProjectName.HHC file and swapping them in and out just before compiling or generating a project; or link TOC pages to redirect pages. But RoboHelp 6 now enables you simply to right-click and apply conditions to books and pages directly inside the TOC.
- Color coding of index terms in the Index editor
The ability to apply conditions to individual index terms did not exist in prior versions of RoboHelp HTML. Help authors used awkward, yet effective workarounds such as linking the terms to redirect pages. But with RoboHelp 6, you can easily apply one or more conditions to Index terms.
- Better handling of content presented in tables
Prior to this improvement, when you applied a condition to all content inside a table row or column, the content would disappear; but the end result was less than satisfactory. What was left behind was an empty row or column. RoboHelp 6 handles this differently now. Applying a condition to all content in a row or column will result in a removed row or column.
