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Authoring Source Documents » DITA - XML » Creating Context-Sensitive Help in DITA Source Documents » Context-Sensitive Help » Planning for Context-Sensitive Help
Planning for Context-Sensitive Help
Creating context-sensitive help requires you to collaborate with application developers. Because topic IDs and map numbers must be embedded in both the software application and in your source documents, you and the application developers must agree in advance on the values to use.
Before you create context-sensitive help topics, complete the following steps:
1. Confirm with your application developers that the application supports context-sensitive help.
2. Meet with your application developers to identify each context-sensitive help topic you need to create.
3. Determine if you will use topic IDs or file names to create links to context-sensitive help topics.
4. Discuss the process for referencing context-sensitive help topics from the application with your application developers. Writers and application developers have the following options for creating context-sensitive help links:
*The writer chooses the topic IDs or file names and embeds them in the source documents. If the generated output supports map files, the writer performs the following steps:
*The writer uses topic IDs inserted into source documents and ePublisher to generate a map file, also known as a header file, that contains the topic IDs defined by the writer and automatically generated mapping IDs.
*The writer supplies the generated map file to the application developers to implement.
Note: The writer must supply the header file along with the help system to the developers each time the writer updates the help system. This ensures correctly identified context-sensitive help topics each time.
*Application developers choose the topic IDs or file names and then give the topic IDs or filenames to the writer to embed in the source documents. If the generated output supports map files, the application developers perform the following steps:
*Application developers create the map file, or header file.
*Application developers give the writer a copy of the map file, or header file, and the writer embeds the topic IDs from the map file into the source documents.
Note: The group context must be unique so that if there are the same topic ID’s in a help system, the context sensitive pointer will go to the correct place in the help.
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Last modified date: 11/13/2024