Reference > Publishing Formats

This format – equivalent to the Rich Text Format files generated by MS Word – is provided for backward compatibility. Because of its limitations as a help and documentation format its use is generally not recommended. PDF provides very superior output and much more control over formatting. There may be some special cases where you still need to use it, but generally PDF is always preferable.

Features and pros and cons of the Word RTF format:

File extension:	.rtf
Format:	One RTF file, graphics in external files if used
Platforms:	Actually platform-independent but optimized for MS Word
Typical use:	Print manuals distributed in electronic form, has now been generally replaced by PDF
Table of contents:	Yes, but very limited (page number references without links at the beginning of the document)
Keyword index:	Yes, but very limited (page number references without links at the end of the document)
Full text search:	Yes (with MS Word or other program supporting RTF files)
Context sensitive help:	No
Popups:	No support for popups. Popup links are displayed as plain text.
Multimedia:	No multimedia support.
Printable by user:	Yes (with MS Word or other programs supporting RTF files)
Pros:	Can be viewed, searched and printed with MS Word and other programs that support the RTF format.
Cons:	Limited formatting options, many Help & Manual features not supported, large files, graphics are in external files.
Other information:	All the topics not included in your TOC are excluded from RTF output. This is by design because RTF is treated as a print format. By definition, there is no place in print-style documents for topics that are not included in the TOC, which are only designed to be accessed with hyperlinks. If you want to include information from topics not included in your TOC you need to use Help & Manual's conditional output features to make alternative content for the RTF version. Hyperlinks are supported in MS Word RTF files.