Creating WebHelp output

Overview

This page describes how to generate DocBook WebHelp output from a DocBook input file, using our customisation of the WebHelp toolchain.

Prerequisites

• Have a working set-up of the customisation of the WebHelp toolchain in place as described here.
• Have a DocBook input file (see here).

Creation of the DocBook input file

We are editing the documents that form the basis for the DocBook WebHelp output (and the PDF output) in our Confluence Wiki installation.

To create a DocBook file for the OpenPetra application help do the following:

• Navigate to the 'Help Docs' Space, then to the 'OpenPetra Documentation' node, then to the 'OpenPetra User Guides and Help' child page.
• Open the 'Tools' menu and select 'Export to Docbook'. This invokes the 'Scroll Wiki DocBook Exporter' plug-in that is installed in our Confluence installation.
• On the 'General' tab, ensure the following options are set:
  • 'Choose a template': 'Article Style - Default Docbook Template'.
  • 'Export': 'This page and all children with label...'. Enter '^todo' in the TextBox below.
  • 'Ad hoc Workflows': 'Only published versions' CheckBox should normally not be checked.
  • Advanced:
    • 'Process toc macros' CheckBox should be checked;
    • 'Process children macros' CheckBox should be checked;
    • 'Replace thumbnails with corresponding high resolution images' CheckBox should not be checked;
    • 'Merge single, first heading and page title' CheckBox should be checked.
• On the 'Docbook Settings' tab, ensure that none of the options are set.
• Click 'Start Export'.
• After a few seconds (during which you will see a progress bar) a Download dialog will be displayed by your web browser, offering to download a ZIP file. Download this file to a location of your choice.
  • The ZIP file contains the actual docbook.xml file in the '\content\' subfolder and the images that are referenced by the docbook.xml file in the '\content\images\download\attachments\' subfolder.