Despite acquisitions from eHelp to Macromedia, to now Adobe, the RoboHelp product still falls short on what so many technical writers desperately need – a true single-source writing environment. While we all know way too much about the RoboHelp feud with its seceded competitor MadCap and their Flare product, we still don’t have what we need. I really need help finding some shortcuts. I'm a lone writer at a company in New York trying to figure out the best way to get things REALLY single sourced.

Macros, Keyboard Shortcuts, Snippets, and Variables...
That’s right, I want to work in one place, one environment, and be able to use macros, styles, assign keyboard shortcuts, use Snippets (that can include expandable text, tables, and images), and Variables that can span multiple projects. Say I created a variable like Warranty and used it in multiple projects. Why couldn’t I make changes to any one project containing this variable and have it automatically produce all the other occurrences and offer to automatically update them? If this were the case, I’d be turning re-useable sections of manuals into variables and duplicating them without the painstaking and arcane practice of manually checking using Microsoft Excel matrixes to track such sections or topics occurring across various projects and outputs.

Why can’t I generate a Word document right from RoboHelp? Maybe I’m doing something wrong? I don’t know about you guys, but when I generate Print Documentation, I have to painstakingly edit the file in Word to have certain “customized” perks as covered in the following sections:

Numbered Captions
Okay, so I want captions on figures inserted in my project. Can I have a Number (Seq) field? Can I have one based on Chapter too? I know this already exists in Word, but if we’re truly single sourcing here, as the list of post compilation items grow, we’re moving further away from really single sourcing our content.
Numbered Tables
Same holds true for Tables. How about some Number (Seq) fields?
Headers and Footers
Sigh. This one is a doozy. How does one create Headers and Footers for various sections in RoboHelp HTML and have it correctly passed to a Word document? Oh, did I forget to mention that for professional print output, authors will undoubtedly want different odd/even pages, separate sections for the First Page, TOC, and content, y’know items already available in Word.
Customized Title Pages, TOC’s, Glossaries, and Indices
Say I want a customized Title page or Glossary, Index, etc.? Why can’t I opt to have these result in their own section break (to accommodate the header and footer differences)?

Does anyone know some answers to the aforementioned? Maybe you know of a book or site that can help? Thanks in advance.
Best,
Tony