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Extending Flash Help Panel Content

Converting Flash MX Reference panel content

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The Flash MX Reference panel offered users a way to display reference material for custom actions. The Flash MX 2004 Help panel now extends the options that were available in the Flash MX Reference panel, supporting richer content and allowing for more customization.

You can convert your Reference panel XML content to Help panel HTML content using the Flash MX 2004 Reference Panel to Help Panel Converter.

Download the Flash MX 2004 Reference Panel to Help Panel Converter

Using the Flash MX 2004 Reference panel to Help panel converter

The order and TOC structure of the new Help panel book reflect your custom actions as viewed in the Actions panel toolbox.

A new folder is created for each immediate child <folder> node of the <actionspanel> node in your custom actions XML file. Each new folder represents a book in the Help panel, and contains HTML and XML files in the Help panel format.

Note: Only three TOC levels below the book level are supported.

Also, helpurl attributes are added to your custom Actions panel XML file, to link to the new HTML pages.

To convert Reference panel content to Help panel content:

Create a staging folder for the Flash MX XML files.
Separate the custom Actions panel XML and the Reference panel XML into two XML files, if it is not already (this is an optional feature for Flash MX content). The Reference panel content is contained by the <reference> nodes within the root <customactions> node. This structure should be maintained in the new file.
Run the command and browse for the following files/folders:
Actions Panel XML File Select the custom actions XML file, with the <reference> nodes removed.

Reference Panel XML File Select the reference XML file, with the <reference> nodes contained within the root <customactions> node.

Staging Folder Select the staging folder; the content will be created here.
Click OK to convert the files. Large file sets may take a minute. A message appears when the conversion is complete.
To install the new content into Flash, locate the local Configuration folder, which contains the local HelpPanel and Custom Actions folders:
Windows 2000 and XP <boot drive>\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\ Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\<language>\Configuration

Windows 98 <boot drive>\Windows\Application Data\Macromedia\Flash MX 2004\<language>\Configuration

Macintosh <Macintosh HD>/Users/<username>/Library/Application Support/Macromedia/Flash MX 2004/<language>/Configuration
Copy each new book directory into the Local Configuration/HelpPanel/Help/ folder.
Copy the Actions panel XML file into the Local Configuration/ActionsPanel/CustomActions/ folder.
Restart Flash.

XML requirements

The XML files must be valid in order for the Converter command to run successfully. You can use Dreamweaver to validate the XML. Also, <reference> nodes that do not conform to the Reference panel XML spec will stop the conversion process. These types of errors may not be revealed by the Dreamweaver Validator.

Hyperlinks are only supported for items within the converted actions.

<reference> nodes that are not represented in the Actions panel XML file and toolbox will not be converted.

Troubleshooting

Error	Possible cause	Fix
A reference page exists in the Flash MX Reference panel, but no help page is created for the MX 2004 Help panel.	The `<reference>` node for the item is not in the Reference panel XML file.	Move all `<reference>` nodes from the Actions panel XML file to the Reference panel XML file. Run the Command again.
An alert appears with the message:"Please check the Reference panel xml file.There may be a missing or misplaced tag within the node: ..."	A `<p>` or `</p>` tag is missing or misplaced.	All of the immediate child nodes of the `<reference>` nodes must be either `<p>`, `<ul>`, or `<li>` tags. All other tags, including `<br>` tags, must be enclosed by one of these tags. Inspect the code in the node referred to in the alert. If an error is not found, inspect the next node. There may be a problem with the closing `</reference>` tag. After errors have been fixed, run the Command again.
No error messages appear, The `<reference>` nodes are in the Reference panel XML file, but no html is created.	There might be additional errors with the Reference panel XML file.	Open the file in a browser, and check for errors, or validate the file in Dreamweaver. After errors have been fixed, run the Command again.
The new content contains broken links.	The reference paths in the links are invalid, or the links point to items outside of the converted doc set.	Check the reference path in the links, or remove the links. When the links have been fixed, run the Command again.