Named destinations in PDF

When Help+Manual generates PDF documents it automatically exports a number PDF anchors known as "named destinations" for targets in the document. These destinations are similar to topic anchors in HTML documents. You can use these destinations as targets in hyperlinks to the PDF files.

Key Information

Named destinations are only generated if you generate an interactive PDF document.

Items exported as named destinations

Topic IDs

Topic IDs are exported as named destinations in all lower case. Links to named destinations are case-sensitive, so you must also use the lower case format in all your links to named destinations in PDFs created by Help+Manual.

For example, if your topic ID is Index_Topic then the named destination in the PDF will be index_topic.

Topic anchors

Anchors inserted in your topics are exported together with the topic IDs, also in all lower case letters, using the syntax topicid#anchorid. The topic ID is always part of the named destination for an anchor, with a pound character (#) between the two.

Links to anchors in PDF only work in PDF links:

Links to named destinations including anchors are a special case. They will only work in links in PDF files, not in links in WebHelp files. If you use a link with an anchor in WebHelp output the link will only open the PDF file at the first page.

Standard PDF template sections

The following named destinations are exported for the standard PDF template sections defined in your print manual template. These destinations are exported in all lower case as shown below, and that is also how you must link to them. (The commas are not part of the destinations.)

cover, title1, title2, title3, foreword, toc, topics, endnote1, index, endnote2, backcover

Note that there are no destinations for repeating sections like Top Level Entry and Blank Pages.

User-defined template sections

User-defined PDF sections created in Manual Designer with the Insert Page option in the Pages menu are also exported as named destinations. The destinations generated for these sections are called custom1, custom2, custom3 and so on – i.e. the word "custom" in all lower case plus the sequential number of the custom page in the order in which the pages were created in the template.

Important note:
The named destinations for user-defined sections are fixed and are assigned in the order in which the user-defined sections are created. The first section you create gets the destination custom1, the second section gets custom2 and so on. The actual order of the custom sections in your template is irrelevant.

Linking to named destinations in PDF documents

You can create links to both page numbers and "named destinations" in PDF documents. The procedure is the same for links that will be used in PDF files and in WebHelp output.

Named destinations are jump targets that work like anchors. These links will work in PDFs created by Help+Manual and in WebHelp created by Help+Manual, but not in CHM files. The Microsoft CHM viewer does not support the link format needed to jump to destinations in PDF files. A link to a PDF in a CHM file will simply open the PDF at the first page. See Named destinations in PDF for details on the named destinations created in PDFs by Help+Manual and more background information.

Use normal topic links for targets in the current document

Note that named destinations are only needed for links between two different PDF files or from other applications or documents. Use normal topic links to jump to targets within your Help+Manual projects (i.e. from one topic to another). You don't need to use named destinations for this.

Requirements:

•File Links are required for linking to PDFs:
You must use the File Link option for creating links to targets inside PDF files. The Internet Link option will not always work correctly, even in WebHelp.

•Set the PDF to "interactive" to use named destinations:
If the PDF you are linking to is created with Help+Manual it must be generated using the "interactive PDF" option in your PDF settings. Named destinations are only generated for interactive PDF documents.

Linking to named destinations in PDF documents:

You need to create a file link with the destination added to it to link to a destination in a PDF document. Internet links will not work correctly, not even in WebHelp.The syntax is the same for links that are going to be in PDF files and WebHelp files. The links to the PDF files will also work in CHM files, but they will only open the PDF document; they will not jump to the destination in the PDF from a link in a CHM.

Procedure:

1.Follow the instructions for inserting a file link and enter the name of the PDF file you want to link to.

2.Add #nameddest= after the file name, followed by the name of the named destination in all lower case characters. See this topic for details of the named destinations you can jump to.

Examples:

myfile.pdf#nameddest=toc (jumps to the Table of Contents in the PDF)
myfile.pdf#nameddest=welcome_topic (jumps to the topic with the ID Welcome_Topic)
myfile.pdf#nameddest=custom1 (jumps to user-defined template section 1)

Special case: anchors:

Example:

In a PDF file, the following file link will jump to the anchor testanchor in the topic with the ID Welcome_Topic. In a WebHelp file it will only open the PDF at the first page.

myfile.pdf#nameddest=welcome_topic#testanchor

Linking to a page number in a PDF document:

You need to create a file link with the page number added to it do link to a page number in a PDF document. Internet links will not work correctly, not even in WebHelp.The syntax is the same for links that are going to be in PDF files and WebHelp files. The links to the PDF files will also work in CHM files, but they will only open the PDF document; they will not jump to the page number in the PDF from a link in a CHM.

Important: The page number destinations in PDFs created by Help+Manual start counting at 0, so you must jump to the actual page number minus one. If you are jumping to pages in PDFs created by other tools you can usually jump to the actual page numbers.

1.Follow the instructions for inserting a file link and enter the name of the PDF file you want to link to.

2.Add #page= after the file name, followed by the page number:

myfile.pdf#page=123 (jumps to page 124)
myfile.pdf#page=0 (jumps to page 1, same as just opening the PDF file without a target)
myfile.pdf#page=11 (jumps to page 12)

Links to PDFs from WebHelp and HTML files

Links to named destinations in PDF from Help+Manual WebHelp

When creating links to named destinations in PDF files from WebHelp you can use exactly the same procedure and syntax as for links from PDF files. Create a file link and follow the instructions above.

Links to named destinations in PDF from other HTML files

The syntax is also the same for links to named destinations in other HTML files not generated by Help+Manual. Just create a hyperlink using the same pdf_file.pdf#nameddest=xxxx and pdf_file.pdf#page=yy syntax for the href target of the link as you use in Help+Manual, where xxxx is the named destination and yy is the page number.

Links to PDF from CHM files

You cannot link to named destinations in PDFs from a page in a CHM file. The Microsoft CHM viewer will block all attempts to do this. You can only use a normal file link to open the PDF file at the first page. That is the only option available. This is a limitation of the CHM format and the Microsoft CHM viewer. Help+Manual cannot do anything to change this (and the PDF must be in the same folder as the CHM to open at all).

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Use normal topic links for targets in the current document

Requirements:

Special case: anchors:

Links to named destinations in PDF from Help+Manual WebHelp

Links to named destinations in PDF from other HTML files