Generate Mobile App output
The Mobile App SSL helps you generate an Android or iOS mobile application as output. The procedure uses the RoboHelp - PhoneGap integration to generate an Android or iOS mobile application.
important: You require a PhoneGap account to create Mobile apps. To create more than one app you need to purchase Creative Cloud Subscription.
To generate a Mobile app:
1)Choose Output > Mobile App.
note: If the project you have opened was created in a previous version, you will need to create a Mobile App layout. In the Single Source Layouts pod, click the Create Layout icon and select Mobile App as the output type.
2)Select a layout and customize it for look and feel. For more details, see Customize the Layout. You can click Preview to generate a preview of the changes you have made to the layout.
3)Check the Use Dynamic Content Filter in the output to assign a dynamic content filter to the current output. For details on how to create a user dynamic content filters, see Generate dynamic content output
4)In the Application Details tab, set the following options:
Package
A name that will uniquely identify the Mobile app. A common naming convention is to use your company domain name in reverse followed by the name of the App. For example com.adobe.myapp. This name is used by PhoneGap to uniquely identify the application.
note: To avoid issues with third-party tools used in PhoneGap, you are recommended to use English alphabets, underscore character, and the dot as the separator.
Version
The PhoneGap version number for the app.
VersionCode (Android)
The Android version number for the app. If you upload your app to an Android store such as Google Play, a user will be notified of updates to your app every time you update the version number.
note: This is not required if you are creating an iOS app.
Title
The title of the application that will display on a mobile device.
Description
The PhoneGap description for the application.
Icon
The icon of the application that will display on a mobile device.
Splash Screen
The splash screen that will display when the app is opened on a mobile device.
You can specify multiple splash screens. Your users will see the splash screen based on their device screen size and screen resolution. For details on how to do this, see the following PhoneGap document: Splash Screens.
PhoneGap / Adobe credentials
PhoneGap or Adobe ID user name and password.
note: To use the RoboHelp - PhoneGap integration, you require a PhoneGap or Adobe user account.
Platform
Choose the platform (iOS and/or Android) for which you want to create the app.
You can create an Android debug app without requiring the following Android signing files and credentials. However, for iOS, you will need the signing files.
Platform - Android
To create an Android app, you are required to provide the following credentials:
KeyStore File
A keystore is a binary file that contains a set of private keys.
Keystore Password
Password associated with the keystore file.
Certificate Alias
Represents the entity to be identified with the app, such as a person or a company.
Certificate Password
Password associated with the alias.
Platform - iOS
To create an iOS app, you are required to provide the following credentials:
Digital Certificate
To run the app on an Apple device, the app must be signed by a valid certificate. This file is provided by Apple through the Provisioning Portal.
Certificate Password
Password associated with the digital certificate.
Provisioning Profile
A file that allows applications to be installed on an iOS device. The file contains the digital certificate, App ID, and one or more device UDIDs on which you can install the app for testing. A user can directly install the app on these devices.
5)(Optional)In the Content tab, set the following options:
Table Of Contents
Select the TOC to be displayed in the generated output. See TOCs.
Index
Select the index to be displayed in the generated output. See Indexes.
Glossary
Select the glossary to be displayed in the generated output. See Glossaries.
Variable Set
Select a variable set to override the default variable set in the generated output. See User-defined variables.
Default Topic
The topic that appears when Help opens. By default, the first topic in the table of contents is the default topic.
Language
Specify the output language for the layout if the language is different from the language of the project. RoboHelp uses this language setting for the UI strings and language-related UI elements in the preview and generated output.
Encoding
Specify the character encoding format.
Map Files
Specify the map files that contain topic IDs associated with map IDs to provide context-sensitive Help.
Browse Sequences
Select the browse sequences to display.
Conditional Build Expression
If you have conditional tags in the project, click Define to specify conditional build expressions. See Conditional build tag expressions.
Apply To All Topics
Select this option to apply master pages or CSS at the project level:
Master Page
The selected master page overrides the settings of all the individual topics with or without a master page applied to them in the project. The CSS and layout of the master page override the CSS and appearance of all the topics. If the selected master page does not have a header or footer, no topic displays a header or footer irrespective of if it had one header or footer defined.
CSS
The master pages associated with individual topics become effective. The selected CSS overrides all the topics and their CSS irrespective of whether they are associated with a master page or not.
See Applying a master page or CSS at the time of generation.
Exclude Unreferenced Topics From Output
Select this option to exclude any topic that exists in the project but is not the default topic in the layout or is not referenced from the selected TOC, index, or browse sequence, or any referenced topic.
note: RoboHelp displays the unreferenced topics that are excluded from the output in the Output View pod.
Exclude Unreferenced Baggage Files From Search
Select this option to exclude any topic that exists in the project but is not referenced from the selected TOC or any referenced topic (if Exclude Unreferenced Topics From Output is selected). If Exclude Unreferenced Topics From Output is deselected, RoboHelp excludes baggage files that are unreferenced from any topic in the project.
Table Of Contents Settings
Select Index, Glossary, or both to add an index and a glossary at the end of the TOC. By default, the index is placed before the glossary. Use the Up and Down buttons to reverse the order in which the index and the glossary are to be placed.
6)(Optional)In the Search tab, set the following options:
Enable Substring Search
If you enable this feature, a search for "log" returns topics containing the words "catalog" and "logarithm." Substring search takes longer than whole-string search.
Enable External Content Search
Select to display content from identified URLs outside the Help system. For information about how to specify URLs and associate them with search terms, see External content search.
Show Context In Search Results
Select to have the search results displayed along with the first few lines of the topic.
Use Topic Comment as Search Context
Select to use the topic comment to display in the search result.
note: By default, each search result displays the RoboHelp topic title, followed by the first 100 characters of the first paragraph in the topic.
Number of Characters in Search Context
Set the maximum number of characters to display in the search result.
Exclude Baggage Files Types From Search
Select the types of baggage files to exclude from search.
7)(Optional)In the Optimization tab, set the following options:
Convert Auto-sizing And Custom-sized Popups To Hyperlinks
Select this option to make sure that hyperlinks configured to display in auto-sizing or custom-sized pop-ups are converted to flat hyperlinks.
Convert Text-only Popups To Hyperlinks
Select this option to make sure that text-only pop-ups are converted to flat hyperlinks.
Convert Absolute Image Size To Relative Image Size
Select this option to convert the actual width and height of images into percentages. In this way, you can make images used in your project device-friendly and adapt to different device sizes.
Convert Absolute Table Size To Relative Table Size
Select this option to convert the actual width and height of tables into percentages. By allowing RoboHelp to optimize the tables in this way, you ensure that the tables adapt to different device sizes.
Enable Zoom On iOS Devices
Enable or disable pinch zoom on the iPad and the iPhone. When this option is enabled, users can zoom in on a RoboHelp output displayed on an iPad or iPhone by pinching the device screen.
Use Adobe Captivate HTML5 Output
Select this option to use Adobe Captivate HTML5 output instead of Adobe Captivate SWF output.
note: Adobe Captivate HTML5 output must be available for demos that are imported or inserted in the project.
Limit The Scope Of Project Styles Only To Topic Contents
Select this option to do the following:
•Prevent the styles defined in project style sheets (CSS) from overriding the styles defined in the screen layout CSS
•Prevent topic and screen layout style sheets (CSS) from overriding the CSS used by SharePoint master pages
Example: Your project CSS may contain the style:
div{
color:red;
}
If the layout CSS also contains a div style but with a different color and if this setting is not selected, the project definition could undesirably override the layout definition applying red.
8)Click Save.
9)Click Save and Generate.
RoboHelp publishes the Mobile App and displays the Result dialog.
10)Click View Result to launch the Mobile App Output dialog:
Mobile App Output dialog with download details
Click Save to Local Drive download button to download the app to your computer.
You can download and allow other users to download the app onto mobile devices by scanning the QR code or by navigating to the URL on the devices.
note: iOS apps can only be installed via this URL if your device UDID is added in the mobile provision file.
Upload your mobile app to the app store
After you have configured your mobile app settings, you can then generate the app. This app is the uploaded to the PhoneGap server. You can then either download the app to your computer or you can use the QR code to download the app to your mobile device.
To upload the app to the Apple or Android app stores, follow the instructions in the following articles: