As you enter custom text in bubbles and Introduction/End frames, you can link to an attachment from this text. For example, you could use a web page linked at this level to provide a definition of a term. Linked text appears in the frame bubble in color and underlined. When a user clicks linked text while viewing a topic in the Player, the attachment is displayed. If the attachment is a package file, the file opens in its parent application. If the attachment is a web page or URL, it opens in a new, independent browser window.
Note: When a glossary term is used in a manually created bubble text link, no glossary link is created during glossary markup. That is, text used in manually created bubble text links is excluded from glossary markup.
The Bubble Text Link Properties dialog box of the Topic Editor provides the tools for linking to and managing the links to attachments from bubble text. When linking to a package file or web page, you can filter the display to include packages or web pages only and navigate through the Library folders to the specific file you want to link. When linking to a URL, you can type or paste a base URL and then follow links in the preview displayed in the results pane of the Insert Hyperlink dialog box to reach your desired target. The Bubble Text Link Properties dialog box also provides a preview of the linked attachment.
Note: An absolute URL represents the fixed location of a piece of content without regards to its context. A Relative URL is a shortened version of the full URL that only makes sense when used in context. The full URL is constructed by taking a Base URL (set in the General Content Defaults) and appending the Relative UR set when creating a hyperlink). Here is an analogy to help clarify. Let's say you asked me where my brother lives and I said "right next to my house". If you didn't know where I lived, this information would not be useful. However, if you did know where I lived, then you could find my brother's house by locating my house and then find his next door. In this case, my house is an example of the Base URL and "right next to my house" is an example of the Relative URL.
Relative URLs are useful when the content developer is not sure of the location where the content will be deployed. They allow the content developer to link to content outside of the Library in the Developer.
The Base URL can be set in the Developer and can be changed, if necessary, in the Player Package after publication.
Note: If a Base URL is set in the General Content Defaults, you can enter a Relative URL (beginning with../) when inserting a hyperlink for a URL on the Insert Hyperlink dialog.
Like concept and frame links, a link to an attachment from bubble text becomes part of the parent document. If you then move or reuse the topic, the linked attachment remains associated with that text in the topic. Conversely, deleting the link to an attachment from bubble text in one location removes the link in all places where the topic is used.
To link to a package file or web page from bubble text:
Note: At step 4, you can also click Create new web page to create a new web page and link to it in one step. When you do so, you first specify the name of the web page and the Library folder in which it should be saved. The Bubble Text Link Properties dialog box then closes, and an empty web page opens in a new tab. After you complete the web page, you can preview its contents in the topic by reactivating the Topic Editor tab, selecting the appropriate bubble text, and again displaying the Bubble Text Link Properties dialog box as in step 3 above.
To link to a URL from bubble text:
To create and link a new package from bubble text: