BUG: Error Associating ALinks Across Merged HTML Help Files (267948)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft HTML Help 1.21
  • Microsoft HTML Help 1.22
  • Microsoft HTML Help 1.3
  • Microsoft HTML Help 1.31
  • Microsoft HTML Help 1.32
This article was previously published under Q267948

SYMPTOMS

When you click a link or button in an HTML Help file (.chm file), you may receive the following error message:
Selection is not associated with any topic. Please try another selection.

CAUSE

The link or button uses the HTML Help ALink control. The ALink control allows you to jump to other topics based on keywords; this is done at run time.

There are two possible causes for this problem:
  • The author of the HTML Help file didn't create any topics that contained the desired keyword.
  • The ALink control is trying to operate across merged .chm files. In this scenario, the .htm topic file that contains the control does not have any keywords. The keywords are being used in other .htm topic files that reside in the other .chm file. If there are no keywords in the .chm file that contains the ALink HTML Help control, the ALinks will not work properly with other .chm files after they are merged.

RESOLUTION

You can resolve the first cause by verifying that the keyword the ALink control is looking for actually exists in one of the topics. Carefully check the spelling.

The second cause, which involves the merged .chm problem, requires several steps to resolve it:
  1. Open the .htm topic file that contains the ALink HTML Help control.
  2. Place the cursor within the BODY tags.
  3. On the Edit menu, click Compiler Information.
  4. On the ALink Names tab, click Add. Specify any name (it does not have to be used).
  5. Save and recompile the child project that contains this .htm topic file.
  6. Open the master .chm file that merges the child .chm files, and recompile it.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

To reproduce the problem, follow these steps:

First, create a Source.chm file:
  1. Create a new project named Source.hhp.
  2. Create a new topic file named Source.htm and add it to the project.
  3. Open the Source.htm file in the workshop, and place the cursor between the BODY tags.
  4. Click HTML Help Control on the Tags menu.
  5. In the Specify the command list, click ALink Search. Click the default values for the remaining steps, but when prompted, click to select the word "test" for an ALink name.
  6. Save the project, and compile it.
Next, create a Dest.chm file:
  1. Create a new project file named Dest.hhp.
  2. Create a new topic file named Dest.htm and add it to the project.
  3. Open the Dest.htm file in the workshop, and then place the cursor between the BODY tags.
  4. On the Edit menu, click Compiler Information.
  5. On the ALink Names tab, click Add. Specify the name "test".
  6. Save the project, and compile it.
Finally, create a Container.chm file:
  1. Create a new project file named Container.hhp.
  2. Add the Source.htm file to this project. This file was created in the first steps.
  3. Double-click the [OPTIONS] section to bring up the project options.
  4. On the General tab, click to select the Source.htm file in the Default file list.
  5. On the Merge Files tab, add the Source.chm and Dest.chm files to the list of merged files.
  6. Save the project, compile it, and view it.
When you try to click the ALink link text or button, you receive the error message shown in the "Symptoms" section.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:4/11/2001
Keywords:kbbug kbCompiler kbDSupport KB267948
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