Webhelp and PDF output being generated at the same time

[kate_wilcox]

Hello community,

I inherited a ditamap that does something I haven't seen before: When I generate the webhelp output, it automatically generates a PDF: The pdf_out folder appears nested within the webhelp_out folder. Does anyone know what is causing this?

In the first topic of the ditamap, there is a relative link to the pdf (../../..pdf). I originally thought that this would point to the pdf_out folder at the same level as the webhelp_out folder. But it looks like it points to the pdf_out folder nested within the webhelp_out folder (which is automatically created when I generate webhelp).

So the folder structure looks like this:

webhelp_out folder
   pdf_out folder
   help_topics folder
      index.htm
      DITA topics folder

To further complicate the issue, when a colleague generates the webhelp from the same ditamap, she doesn't get the nested pdf_out folder. Any ideas what's causing this behavior?

Environment:
Windows 7
XMetaL Author Enterprise 7.0

Thanks,
Kate

[Derek Read]

The software is not designed to produce multiple output formats at the same time, so this shouldn't be happening (and your colleague's machine is the one I would consider to be operating in the expected manner).

Perhaps your system has been customized. The code that drives the XMetaL "deliverables" is located here:
C:\Program Files\XMetaL 7.0\Author\DITA\XACs\shared\renditions\print_dita15.xml

Perhaps you could diff your file against your colleague's to see what the changes are.
If you are generating WebHelp then I would expect to see extra DOS batch commands in the WebHelp section in that file. Those commands are what drive the DITA OT from XMetaL.

Perhaps it would be best to submit a support case to XMetaL Support and include copies of these files so they can have a look.

If a 3rd party has integrated XMetaL with their system (ie: you are probably working with one of our partners) then perhaps they have made changes or added something to XMetaL that is doing this. Best to check with them in that case.

[kate_wilcox]

Thanks for the quick response Derek. I'll follow up with XMetaL Support.
-Kae