Basic Working Procedures > Links, Anchors, Macros, Scripts and HTML

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How to insert plain HTML code in a topic

Referencing external files in plain HTML code

Help & Manual 4 supports so many powerful formatting features that you will normally not need to make additions of your own. However, if you do need to add special features or formatting with HTML code or scripts you can do it with this function. For example, you can write dynamic HTML code with JavaScript to add expandable sections or other dynamic features to your topics.

This function "injects" HTML code into your topic at the point where you insert it. The code is entirely your responsibility and is not checked or parsed by Help & Manual in any way, so you need to be familiar with HTML coding.

Plain HTML Code is only supported in HTML Help (.CHM), Browser-based Help (HTML) and Visual Studio Help (MS Help 2.0). It is completely ignored in all other formats, including Help & Manual eBooks (eBooks are formatted with HTML but do not include full browser functionality).

•	Note that if you want to use this feature in projects that will also be compiled to formats where it is not supported you need to use Help & Manual's conditional output features to create alternative text for those versions.

How to insert plain HTML code in a topic:

1.	Click in the editor at the point where you want to insert the plain HTML code and select the button in the Toolbar or select Plain HTML Code in the Insert menu.

2.	Type your code in the editing window displayed. You can resize the window for easier editing by dragging on the lower right corner.

The and functions allow you to save blocks of code in text files for reuse.

You can resize the HTML code object in the Help & Manual editor by dragging its corners. This allows you to see more of the object's content in the editor without actually opening it.

Referencing external files in plain HTML code:

If you reference external files in your plain HTML code you are entirely responsible for making sure that the files are included in your output. Help & Manual does not parse or check the code and will not do this for you. There are two ways to make sure that referenced files are included in your project:

Add the files to the Baggage section:

This is the simplest solution. Help & Manual 4's new Baggage function provides a quick and easy way to integrate external files in your project and make sure that they are available to the compiler and included in your output.

•	See Using Baggage Files for details on using this function.

•	See Graphics references for more details on referencing graphics files. Since graphics files are often large it is not always a good idea to add them to the Baggage.

Manually integrate the files in your output:

•	In Browser-based Help you must manually copy the files to your output directory if you have not added them to the Baggage section (see above).

•	In HTML Help you need to tell the compiler to include the files in the .CHM. Proceed as follows:

1.	Copy the external file(s) to your project directory (the directory containing your .HMX project file).

2.	Open Project > Project Properties > HTML Help > Extended .HHP Settings.

3.	In the Additional Settings editing box add the following entries:

[FILES]
..\donald.js
..\mickey.asp

•

Don't add a second [FILES] header if one already exist. Enter each external filename on its own line below the [FILES] header and precede it with the ..\ relative path reference. (This is necessary because the project is compiled from a temporary subdirectory in the project directory, so files in the project directory are one level up.)