Using ALink Checker =================== 18mar03 If your Help system uses ALinks to link to topics in other CHM files, you probably know that the HTML Help compiler does not report ALink errors. You can use this ALink Checker to verify that all ALinks actually work. It searches through all HTML files defined by a list of HHP files, locates all ALink jumps and ALink names and verifies that a name is defined for every jump. It generates a report (ALINKCHECK..TXT) that lists the following .. ALINKNAMES: = ... (in the file , there is an ALink name ) ALINKJUMPS: ;; ... (in the file , there is an ALink jump to , ) ALINK JUMP ERRORS: >> > : ... (in the file , there is an ALink jump to , , and this ALink name does not exist) ALinked CHMs: -> ... ( has at least one ALink jump to ) Results: ALink names: 4817 ALink jumps: 10152 ALink jumps resolved: 9911 ALink jumps unresolved: 157 Requires ALINKCHECK.INI file which lists the groups of HHP files to search. The following is an example of an INI file group: [EXAMPLE] file1chm=D:/projects/one/file1.hhp file2chm=D:/projects/two/file2.hhp file3chm=D:/projects/three/file3.hhp file4chm=D:/projects/four/file4.hhp This has been used on a merged Help system of 17,000 topics (18 CHMs), if you run into a problem that relates to the number of files, please let me know. This tool is a Perl script and thus requires that Perl is installed on your computer. For Windows systems you can get Perl from ActiveState (http://activestate.com/Products/ActivePerl/). Once you have Perl installed on your computer, you should be able to run it by double-clicking the PL file from Windows Explorer. The ZIP file consists of the following files: ALINKCHECK.PL - The Perl script. ALINKCHECK.INI - Defines one or more groups which specify the HTML Help projects (HHP files) that are to be analyzed. ALINKCHECK.TXT - The documentation (this file). The following is the basic procedure for setting things up: 1. Copy the contents of the ZIP file to a folder in your file system. It doesn't really matter where as long as it's convenient for you. 2. Edit (or create) the ALINKCHECK.INI file. You should create a group for each Help system. Each group (section) contains a parameter and value for each HHP. The parameter is the CHM name (without the .CHM extension), and the value is the path and filename of the associated HHP. The path can be expressed as a drive letter or a UNC path. 3. After setting up the ALINKCHECK.INI file, run the ALINKCHECK.PL script. The script reads the ALINKCHECK.INI file and lists the available groups. Enter the number of the group to analyze. 4. When the script is done it generates a report that lists all of the ALink names, ALink jumps, and any errors. It also provides a list of the CHMs that have ALinks to other CHMs (this is useful to make sure you've included all of the HHPs that you should have). Although this script is free to use, rather than passing it around, I would appreciate if new users could download it from the site. This way I have an idea of how many people are using it and can contact those people if there is an update. Please direct people to the following URL: http://www.leximation.com/downloads/alinkcheck/ If you run into any problems, or would like to suggest any improvements, please email Enjoy! ...scott *************************** DISCLAIMER *********************************** This tool is currently offered as "freeware." Neither Leximation, Inc., nor affiliated persons, accept liability for any problems that may occur from the use of this tool. **************************************************************************