FM8 with RoboHelp 7 -- Straightforward way to generate as Web Help?

I'm an experienced FrameMaker user who hasn't used any
version of RoboHelp for a while. I'm currently trying to use
RoboHelp 7 generate a structured FrameMaker book OR the book's
individually selected .fm or .mif files as an HTML-based help
system with a properly hierarchical TOC.
What a mess! I've tried reading the help, browsing the Web,
and searching this forum and am very surprised I can't find any
straightforward discussion of how to do this.
First, RoboHELP 7 seems not to want to create a sensible TOC.
I've tried using a variety of options such as Convert FrameMaker
TOC, mapping styles, and so on. The result is a chaotic dogs
breakfast that seems to do strange things with the TOC hierarchy.
The RoboHELP help system seems to suggest that the way to remedy
the problem is to manually edit the TOC after each gen of the
project!
Second, RoboHelp seems to not process non-breaking spaces
contained in the FrameMaker source files properly, particularly if
those non-breaking spaces are contained in variables...(?)
So, is there any straightforward way to generate a FrameMaker
book or an individually selected set of book files as a coherent
system with a TOC that *doesn't* require extensive manual
post-generation fiddling?
Moreover, is it just me? I'm normally good with tools, but
must confess I'm decidedly dis-impressed with RoboHelp 7's
inability to ingest a FrameMaker book or .fm files and product
somewhat usable output straightaway...
Cheers & thanks,
Riley

Hi Riley,
My experience with FM 8 and RH 7 is the same; however, I
fixed the TOC problem.
It's very important how the FM TOC file looks like. You
cannot use inline bold or character specific styles applied to the
paragraph styles used to create your TOC. When you import the TOC
file you should not do anything with it ... just let RH generate
the output based on the TOC. IOW, it's VERY important that you
prepare your FM files before using RH. They're certainly not a
match made in heaven!
The only problem I have these days is to successfully
recreate a numbered list with proper indentation. RH does not map
these things automatically in any sensible way (at least not as far
as I know). For now it seems I'm stuck with ordered lists that show
the number as part of the paragraph which is not good as it's poor
typography.
So, basically RH 7's integration with FM 8 has some serious
usability issues ... :)
Best of luck,
Jon

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Helpful and Handy Links
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Helpful and Handy Links
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FM8 with RoboHelp 7 -- Straightforward way to generate as Web Help?

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