Robohelp vs Webworks

Hi All,
I am the lone writer at a startup and I need to pick the
online help tool. I showed my manager Webworks (she has no
documentation background) and she thought it was very cool. Since
then I have gone to the STC conference and learned that Weboworks
is more of a book conversion tool and Robohelp provides the
capability to structure modular files that allow users to choose
their own navigation paths, browse, etc.
I want to describe the differences in a way that she can
understand and visualize. Can anyone provide input that is more
detailed and more basic than what appears in marketing materials?
I would greatly appreciate any feedback. Thank you.

Hi lit101,
You may want to post your message on the HATT Yahoo Group
forum as this is where technical authors hang out and compare
tools. You are more likely to come across someone who has used both
tools in anger, that's all.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HATT
Kind Regards
Craig

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Map.xml and context-sensitive help question

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For the 'main portal page' bit - maybe the developer wants to know the Start Page of the project, rather than the Default Topic? I'm not very familiar with CSH and webhelp, so I'm uncertain of the details the developer needs, but I wouldn't think you'd have to change anything as long as they have all the necessary details.
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Robohelp 6, Framemaker and WebWorks integration?

I'm responsible for technical documentation at my company.
Yesterday I received an email about Robohelp 6, and decided to
check it out.
I've used Robohelp before and quite liked it. It's very
useful if you have an existing documentation base in Microsoft
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So, I'm a little disappointed to notice that Robohelp 6
really can't be used practically with Framemaker. Sure, I can
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It also forces me to keep two sets of documents (you can't generate
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considering that the same company makes both applications.
Evidently RH6 isn't even able to use Framemaker to translate
documents on the fly the way that a third-party application like
WebWorks is able to do.
Seriously, I can't even say that the products are poorly
integrated, because they're evidently not integrated in any way.
This wouldn't be so bad if Frame 7.2 included the decent
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or was even compatible with that version! But it's not. You
can't use Frame 7.2 with WebWorks. You're stuck with using
ePublisher, which isn't even close to an acceptable replacement as
it's a huge downgrade from the previous bundled app.
So, another online help solution is a dire necessity here,
and Adobe, despite owning both the Robohelp and Framemaker, is
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which really escapes me. The one FAQ entry on the subject is beyond
vague and noncommittal and smacks of a half-answer designed to
"stop the technical writers whining about this".
Additionally, considering that Adobe itself is still to this
day bundling Quadralay products with Framemaker, wouldn't it be the
logically expected thing for Robohelp to be able to import WebWorks
and ePublisher projects, at least in part? Yet I don't see any way
in which this can be done.
Robohelp 6 is not a cheap product. At a grand a seat, it
costs more than Photoshop, despite being a much simpler product
(certainly in technical terms). I'd LOVE to be able to recommend
that my company buy a few licenses, but this is really not
something that I can do at this time, nor do I foresee a time when
I'll be able to do so unfortunately.
What can I, as a senior technical writer, expect Adobe to do
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Hi, tonyemond and welcome to the pond
You may not be aware, but Adobe only recently (within the
last year or so) acquired RoboHelp in the Macromedia deal. I can
understand your frustration and many of the issues you raise are
being addressed in the next version of RoboHelp which is being
developed as we "speak". In fact, it is so far along that you are
invited to join the Adobe RoboHelp pre-release (beta) program for
the next version.
You can find details here.
Adobe
Technical Communications Blog
I got to attend the sneak peek sessions at STC in Minneapolis
last month where Adobe showed many new features. As you may know,
there is a new version of Framemaker in beta as well (and Adobe
Captivate, too!). So, it takes a while to integrate these
leap-frogging targets. The wait will be rewarded however.
Enjoy!
john

Issue with the import of hyperlinks from FM to Robohelp

Hi,
I am trying to produce online help (WebHelp) using RoboHelp 9 based on FrameMaker files (FM8). Previously I was working with WebWorks ePublisher (which was way easier to use since there wasn't much to customize...). I'm linking (not importing) the book to the RH project.
Now I'm having trouble with the following points:
1. Table of contents: the TOC imported from FM to RH does not work properly, some sections should be converted into a book, but are ignored by RH, so I had to create a TOC manually. If everyone know where this can come from, please help me . Of course, I checked the styles, and the TOC in FM perfectly reflects the title levels...
2. Hypertext links: this is the biggest issue. I have around 3000 pages, so I can't recreate each hyperlink manually.. In FM, I use the "Hypertext" marker and then I put "openlink myfile.fm:firstpage", which works perfectly fine in the PDF output. However, in RH, the marker is totally ignored, and there is no hyperlink in the output file. I checked the source code of the htm file, but there is absolutely nothing that suggests a link (no <a href="...">).
I tried to update the project, and tried other markers like URL myfile.fm, but it did change anything...
Also, I tried generating the online help directly using FM10 (trial version of the TCS, until I can confirm that it is worth it), but the TOC in the online help didn't correspond to the one in FM, so I gave up and used RH to create the TOC manually...
Thanks in advance for your help.
PS.: I'm not a native English speaker, so sorry if the language is a little messy...

Hi,
Thanks for your answers.
I tried generating the help using FM10 then File > Publish, but the TOC and the hyperlinks aren't working any better. I also tried converting the book into FM10 format, then linking it to a RH9 project, but the results were the same.
The titles which are ignored in RH have the same styles as the titles which are not ignored, only their names are different, and the ignored titles are numbered.
Also, these titles corresponds to a file in FM (which contains a small chapter TOC), and the file is totally ignored as well.
Does anyone create links between files of a same book? I also tried using FM10 then RH9, but the results are the same as well
Thanks in advance.

FM file with PDFincludes not converted in Robohelp

Win7, 64bit, FM 9.0.2, RH 8.0.2.208
I have some thousand pages of FrameMaker files that include lots of PDF graphics (in ancored frames, by reference).
When importing and converting the whole thing into Robohelp, the PDF graphics do NOT seem to get properly converted from PDF to JPG; all I get is a jpg of the correct size, but all white and no information in it.
The docs say that any content of an anchored frame gets converted into the desired web graphics format like jpp - and of course my PDF imports are referenced into anchored frames.
The files need to remain PDFs in the FrameMaker application for printing purposes, and they are too may to introduce conditional formats for web or print.
What's wrong? Is there any Robohelp tweak I am not aware of, or does Robohelp stumble on converting PDFs into JPGs? (WebWorks does this.)
Greetings

Hi Scott,
Thanks for your reply.
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Cross-References Broken In RoboHelp 10 Output

We are using FrameMaker 11 to author our documentation. We have some cross-reference links that do not work when the FrameMaker book is imported into RoboHelp. Upon import, the href information is not included in the link in the HTML code. The text looks like a link, however. When the help is generated, the text is not a link. The following is an example of a non-functioning link:
see <a>Link</a>.</p>
Here is an example of a cross-reference that is functioning correctly:
<a href="#XREF_90399_Heading_Text">Link</a>
There are no errors in FrameMaker. The cross-reference is updating correctly in FrameMaker. In addition, when a PDF is made form the same book, the cross-reference works in the PDF.
Troubleshooting steps I have taken:
I have tried going to MIF and back for both the source and target documents.
I have recreated the cross-reference and marker.
I have tried linking to a heading cross-reference marker, as well as a manually create cross-reference marker.
I have renamed the file.
I have renamed the marker.
I have used different cross-reference formats.
I recreated the file by copying all the text to Notepad and pasting the text back into a fresh FrameMaker file.
None of the steps I have attempted have corrected the issue for the cross-reference I focused my troubleshooting on. I hope that someone can point me in the right direction to correct this issue.

I have been trying everything I can think of to move the files around to resolve the issue. 35 characters is very disappointing. Is this for the file and cross reference or the whole file path? I am not sure how you are going to be able to link from one Framemaker file to another, including a cross-reference name (especially when you can use heading for the cross-reference name) with a limitation like this. We also have a large library with many directories. We utilize single sourcing, so some files are in completely other directories from the file that is cross-referencing to it. From what you are telling me, it sounds like we no longer have the ability to use cross-references from one file to another in our library structure. Are you saying that all cross references basically need to be in the same file to allow cross references to work properly in RoboHelp? We moved from a WebWorks solution and we never had any issues with our links.
What I don't understand is the marker is in the destination file in the converted RoboHelp files, but the link is completely missing the <a href="#XREF_name ofmarker"> code in the cross-reference link. When I go in and manually link the cross-reference in RoboHelp, it works. This seems like a bug. I think having a 35 character limit on a filepath, filename, and cross-reference name is not going to work for anyone that has any sort of complex directory structure with multiple authors, sharing content and since it isn't a limitation of HTML, I don't see why this functions this way. Manually linking isn’t a reasonable option for us. We have a publishing system that publishes all of our output. We have hundreds of files that are generated automatically.

FrameMaker - CMS - RoboHelp

Hello, hoping someone can answer this one for me. I am using TCS v3.
We create documents using Structured FM, which are currently imported into RoboHelp, but we would like to move toward linking the files in the near future. Currently, we are looking into using a CMS like Alfresco with FrameMaker. I have been unable to find a way to link the files that are checked out via the CMS into FrameMaker with RoboHelp. What I would like to do is as follows: Create Structured Frame file and upload into CMS for editing / reviewing by multiple authors, link this file into RoboHelp, have any changes made to the file after check out / check in using CMS be reflected in the linked RoboHelp file.
Is anyone aware of a way to do this outside of having to pull the files off the CMS to link them in RoboHelp, then copy them out of the CMS each time they are changed? I am looking into using Alfresco, but am definitely open to other CMS if they can accomplish what I need to do.

By CMS, do you mean what software should you use to produce your electronic output from Fm?
In Fm12, you can do the lion's share of formats directly from the app, including Responsive HTML5. The process is analogous to what you're currently doing with Rh, so if you already have that set up, you will have a few admin advantages to maintaining that workflow.
Other options exist like:
mif2go (as Arnis mentioned)
webworks
import each time into Flare
and each have their own issues with setup, maintenance, and workflow. Having already invested in s/w and setup, I doubt you'd be happier by reinventing the wheel.

How To Use RoboHelp 7 Self-paced Book

I have been asked to create RoboHelp HTML and RoboHelp Word
projects for networking software. The topics are done in MS Word. I
have always used FrameMaker and Webworks for online help but these
are not an option since the topics source files have to stay in
Word. Can anyone recommend a useful self-paced book that can get me
started with RoboHelp 7? I'm a quick learner with desktop tools and
need useful guidelines to figure out my way as I learn. Any pointer
is helpful. Thank you.

Click
here for
one option.

RoboHelp for FrameMaker and FrameMaker 8

I still use the legendary, yet discontinued and unsupported, "RoboHelp for FrameMaker". However, when I installed my new Tech Comm Suite and FM 8. RoboHelp for FrameMaker would not work with FM 8. I know this is a long shot, but does anyone know a workaround to get the defunct RoboHelp for FrameMaker to work with FrameMaker 8? Please do not suggest using RoboHelp to convert the files. That engine is terrible. Also, RoboHelp for FrameMaker, four years later, is still better than mif2go and ePublisher by Webworks.

Mark,
I meant RH for FrameMaker, and ..
"... RH for FM uses skins, it creates a web help system with a collapsible/expandable TOC, integrated client-side search engine, a better interface for mapping of styles and including or excluding conditional text, and it publishes to a web server. There are many other features."
You can easily substitute RH for FM with ePublisher and add quite a bit more. Since ePublisher to a great extend relies on XML there are so many other cool things you can do.
I am NOT saying it is easier, just that I like it more, and that it supports all of FM's features (incl. 8). The jobs I'm doing at the moment in ePublsher cannot yet be made by RH for FM. (Also I'm integrating both FM and Word and some xMetal XML output into the same help system!
But again it's a matter of opinion. And what you need to accomplish
In a recent seminar by RJ Jacquez from Adobe he admitted that the Tech Com Suite (and RH for FM) was an entry to the market and that they had some way to go yet for RH to 'compete' with ePublisher.
On the price side I quite agree. WebWorks has some pretty steep prices. Which at the same are completely and utterly impossible to understand. I have been given threee different prices for the same solution! Just to mention.
keep smiling
thomas

RoboHelp vs ePublisher

Looking at either of these tools. I like RoboHelp, use it a lot, can't seem to find a lot of information (especially cost) when it comes to ePublisher. Last time I used this was when it was WebWorks for Word and FrameMaker.
What is the good, the bad and the ugly of each tool?

Hi MEP63 and welcome to the RH community.
You may be better placed to look at the HAT Matrix which you can use to compare products. As far as what is good or bad about RH, persoanally I've found it to be an excellent product for over 10 years and is my HAT of choice. Is it right for you? That depends. The best way to answer this is to download trials of the products and test away with some existing and new projects.
Read the RoboColum(n).

Adobe Technical Communications Suite - Importing Framemaker Files into Robohelp

We have just started using the Adobe Technical Communications
Suite to import our Framemaker files into Robohelp. (We have about
a year’s experience of taking Framemaker files into Web Works
Publisher, with good results so we were hoping for a similar
experience with Robohelp).
Please can you help us with the following two problems:
1. Importing FM files into Robohelp has posed some immediate
table formatting problems. We imported the FM files by reference
according to the instructions but cannot format the tables, ie.
Colors etc.
2. Can you also tell us if there is a way to set up our
graphics in Framemaker to import into Robohelp without first having
to run them through a batch file scenario to change the size for
online help. Also, can you explain why the imported graphics are
being put into separate folders in Robohelp – is there a
system option where we can stop this from occurring.
We are a little frustrated because we are long-time users of
Robohelp and Framemaker and are finding some of the new features of
TCS are not as helpful as we first thought. I am sending these
questions after spending several hours going through the Robohelp
Help and the Adobe website and not finding the answers.
Thanks for your help,
Asra S.

I have purchased the Technical Communications Suite and am
working with it now. I am finding several short comings in the
product – 60% great product and 40% not so great. I have been
using FrameMaker and RoboHelp for about 11 years and also I am a
Webworks (ePublisher) user. I was expecting (at a minimum) to have
the same functionality as ePublisher in TCS - ePublisher works
seamlessly with FrameMaker. Quadralay worked with me the first
month to answer my questions to ensure I was pleased with the
product - and welcomed/appreciated my feedback. In some cases they
provided me with scripts to accommodate my needs. I am finding on
message boards and forums that a lot of users as very disappointed
with your product so far. Are there any plans on
improving/enhancing the product to accommodate our basic requests?
The standard answer we get concerning graphics and tables is
to use conditional text. This is not single-sourcing and is a
horrible recommended work-around – a hack if you will. We use
conditional text to handle differences in program functionality. I
understand there is some set up required when you create a new
project in RoboHelp, but after that I would like to run the Batch
File process to simply generate my newly updated FM files to online
help. How efficient is that? VERY!
I have provided a list of the basic missing
functionality/oversights that would greatly improve the product and
satisfy a lot of your current users. Some of these issues may be
user misunderstanding and in that case I seek guidance on what
I’m doing wrong. Take the other issues into consideration
because these are not just my issues, but a TON of your users.
Hopefully you are user focused and are as concerned as we are.
Please welcome this feedback as a way to improve the product.
- No Breadcrumbs supported with MS HTML Help - supported in
your other outputs and is available in ePublisher, so it must be
possible.
- Table formats are not configurable – why? Sometimes
the converted table format from FM isn’t 100%.
- Imported file structure (folder for each chapter) totally
hoses my fix to poor graphic rendering. Currently I use a batch
file to run a Photoshop macro/action on my graphic source files to
reduce the file size by 50% and sharpen. I replace the graphics
with my graphics and they look marvelous in online help. I copy my
source graphics back into my “graphics folder” imported
into FM at 260 dpi for my printed docs. Can we have the option on
the structure for imported FM files to put them all into one
folder?
- Text entered into the Auto numbering field is not converted
when importing by reference. It is when just doing a straight
import. This is used for standardizing my inserted tables with
pre-populated column titles– Troubleshooting, If/Then, etc.
- Too many CSS issues. It would be nice to have one main
template that we can sync to when the master template is changed.
- Can’t specify a default template to apply to all FM
files when imported.
- My output .chm file is not picking up my Project Settings.
It will not display Favorites, My Window Size, it’s not
showing the TOC.
- Cross-references – sometimes they work and sometimes
they don’t.
- Markers – we use markers for glossary terms and the
character tagging carries forward throughout the rest of the
sentence.
I started testing the product four days ago and these are the
major issues that are keeping me from moving forward with my
overall plan to move to structured FM. I’m now between a rock
and a hard place because now my department does not have the
software to do their job. Do I go to management and tell them that
I made the wrong decision in my tool selection? I choose your TCS
over the updated Quadralay ePublisher that works with FM8…
Maybe they went up on their price because the knew their former
users would come back and be willing to pay the increased price for
their software that generates online help with just a click of a
button.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for your help
in advance. Please direct these concerns to those in charge of
enhancing the product (Product Evangelist). A reply and technical
support is greatly appreciated.
Director of Technical Publications - Horizon Software
International, LLC
Nikki Bridwell

RoboHelp for Frame

Hi everyone.
I am using RoboHelp for Frame - yeah, yeah, and have been
tasked to build a parent help system with child help systems. The
product my company builds is actually a suite of products
individually sold and packaged - and launched through a web portal.
My engineers want to be able offer help through the portal in the
same modular fashion, so if a customer buys product 1 and 2 - they
get help for 1 and 2 and not 1,2,3,and 4.
I have used RoboHelp X5 and built a similiar system using a
merged help project approach. Can this be done with RH for Frame? I
don't think the functionality is there. I can import the source
files and even import a Webworks project - but not RH. Does anyone
know if this is possible? Is there a work around?
Any help, references to somewhere I can read something -
anything would be appreciated because I'm guessing Adobe doesn't
offer support for this obsolete product.
Thank you.
Denice

Have you investigated the User Defined HTML tag option displayed below?
-Matt
Matt R. Sullivan
co-author Publishing Fundamentals: Unstructured FrameMaker 11

Frame 8 & Webworks 2003 Compatible?

Hello, I have been working with Frame 7.1 and Webworks publisher 2003 for quite some time. I am in the process of moving to Adobe Tech Comm Suite (Frame/Robohelp). However, because of time contstaints, i would like to be able to continue to generate my help using Webworks until I am ready to do so in Robohelp. The version of FM in the Tech Comm Suite only allows saving back to version 8.0. Does anyone know if FM 8.0 is compatible with WebWorks Publisher 2003?

Actually, your take on it is only partly accurate.
You can only SaveAs from 9 to 8 in .fm format.
However, you can also SaveAs from 9 to 7 MIF, the ASCII interchange format, which will open natively in FM 7. If you use that path, you should be OK.

Open project was canceled or RoboHelp was unable to load database

I have Robohelp 2002r2 and am creating Robohelp HTML help.
The project was ok yesterday but today when I try to open it I get
the error message "Open project was canceled or RoboHelp was unable
to load database". I tried the solutions in the knowledgebase
(rb_3245) but still no luck. I can't even create a new project
either or I get the same message. Anybody know what to
do????

Welcome to the forum.
The message is usually easily dealt with. I haven't checked
the article as you didn't include a link but I'm guessing it
involved deleting a couple of files and then using the HHP file to
open the project.
What is more worrying is that you cannot create a new
project.
Have you tried opening one of the supplied sample files?
Are your projects stored locally and not on a network?
Have IT given you a new profile to log on with?
Has anything else changed in your environment?

RoboHelp Setup Problem

Okay, i just dished out $1000 for this thing and can't even
create an HTML project. The sample projects won't even open and
i've confirmed they exist.
Details:
installed RoboHelp 6. When i run RoboHelp HTML, and try to
open one of the sample projects, i get the following dialog:
Open project was cancelled or the application was unable to
load database for :
"C:\program files\adobe\robohelp
6.0\RoboHTML\Samples\ApplicationHelp\applicationhelp.cpd"
I navigate to the path above and confirm the path is correct
and the applicationhelp.cpd exists. So i press OK at the dialog,
and just try to create my own project. It only gets worse.
I perform the following steps:
1-In RoboHelp HTML, go to File/New/Project.
2- the "New Project" dialog opens
3-select WebHelp and click OK.
4-the "New Project Wizard" dialog opens
5-I enter a title and select a path "C"\RoboHelp6\Project1"
6-I click "Finish". The New Project Wizard closes and returns
me back to the "New Project" dialog.
7-(hmmm...must have done something wrong i think)
8-In the New Project dialog, i click OK.
9-I'm now taken back to the "New Project Wizard" dialog.
10-i repeat the same steps - entering Project1 as and
C:\RoboHelp6\Project1 as the path
11-i click Finish and get error:
Unable to creat enw project. Specified folder is not empty.
12-My only option to leave the "New Project" dialog box is to
click Cancel
13-i click cancel
14-i look in the folder and have the following files:
!SkinSubFolder!
HtmlHelp.css
project1.cpd
project1.hpr
project1.syn
default.css
MS_Help.css
project1.glo
project1.ppf
w95help.css
Where's the project file? When i go to open a new project and
select the directory no .xpj or mgj files are listed!!! Anybody
know what i'm doing wrong?
BTW: i uninstalled and re-installed the product 4 times now.
Still can create an HTML project.
PLEASE HELP!!!!

Just to clarify, these forums are mostly supported by other
RoboHelp users rather than Adobe employees. The Community Expert is
simply a recognition by Adobe of the work I do in these forums, I
am not employed by them. I mention this as you ask Adobe not to
require you to wipe your hard disk. Actually you will need to wipe
the entire network to fix this one. OK, I'm lying.
It does sound like X5 has left something behind and that does
sometimes happen. First uninstall RH6. I am not sure what effect
installing it on a virtual machine will have had so fingers crossed
there. (Uninstall both instances though). Then go to my site and
see the instructions there for Installing. They cover some extra
steps that are sometimes needed. Try those which involve some
registry edits so usual warnings about backing up etc.
After you have done that, reinstall RH6 and then everything
should be OK.
Let us know how that goes.

Robohelp vs Webworks

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