Linking versus importing Word documents

You have two options for integrating content from Word documents into RoboHelp projects: linking and importing. The following table lists the differences between the two methods:

Option

Linking

Importing

Remarks

Ability to update generated topics

Yes. You can update the generated topics whenever the source document or your RoboHelp project settings change.

No. When you import a Word document into a RoboHelp project, RoboHelp copies the contents of the Word document into RoboHelp project. RoboHelp generates topics based on conversion settings. If the source document changes, delete the generated topics and reimport the Word document.

Use the link option when the source Word document can change. Typically, if multiple projects share the Word document, you link the Word document.

If, however, you are bringing in content as a one-time activity, you can use the import option.

Ability to automatically update TOC, index, and glossary changes from the source document

Yes. When you link a document, separate TOC, index, and glossary files are created and associated with the linked Word document. When the linked Word document is updated, the linked TOC, index, and glossary files are also updated.

No. When you import a Word document, the generated TOC is appended and index and glossary are merged into the selected TOC, index, and glossary file.

Use the link option if you want to automatically update the TOC, index, and glossary whenever these components are updated in the Word document.

Ability to regenerate deleted topics

Yes. You can delete a topic that is generated from an imported Word document, and then regenerate the same topic when you update the Word document.

No. Import the source document again to generate the deleted topic.

Use the linking option when you share the source document across multiple projects.

Ability to preserve changes in generated topics

Yes. You can mark topics generated from a linked Word document to ensure that the marked topics are not updated when the linked document is updated. In this way, you can preserve any changes you made in RoboHelp.

No. When you re-import a Word document, all topics previously generated from the imported document are recreated, overwriting any changes you made in RoboHelp.

Use the link option if you need to retain updates made to both the linked Word document and the generated topics.

Ability to change the filenames and topic titles of generated files from Project Manager

No. When you link a Word document, you cannot change the filenames or topic titles of generated files from Project Manager.

Yes. When you import a Word document, you can change the filenames or topic titles of generated files.

Use the import option if you want to customize the filenames and topic titles from Project Manager.


September 30, 2016

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