Map files (also known as header files) are text files that include a list of topic IDs and their corresponding map numbers. These files contain the same information whether they are created with a development tool such as C or C++ or with RoboHELP.
How they differ is in the way in which authors and developers work with them.
The developer generates the map files so they contain all the required information without the need for author input.
The author uses the Windows Explorer to copy them into the project folder and then imports them into the HTML Help project.
The author matches the topic IDs that are contained in the map files with the text-only topics or window-level topics at dialogs in RoboHELP.
For text-only topics, the author creates a text-only topics file (.TXT) for each map file that is imported into the project. The .TXT file and the map file use the same name (for example, pizza.h and pizza.txt). The .TXT file is included with the .CHM file when the HTML Help system is compiled.
For window-level Help topics, the author creates aliases. The alias is created by matching topic IDs from the map file with the window-level Help topics in the project. The topic ID/window-level topic matches are saved in a special alias file (.ALI) which is included with the .CHM file when the HTML Help system is compiled.
The author needs to obtain updated map files whenever changes are made to the application and update the context-sensitive Help topics accordingly.
The way RoboHELP generates map files depends on whether the author is creating text-only topics or window-level topics.