Handing off a RoboHelp 8 HTML project to a client

I'm wrapping up a RoboHelp 8 HTML project for a client. I am copying the files to a shared drive, a
nd another person will be copying the files to his PC to maintain the help after I'm gone. Is there any d
anger of corruption of files, or are there any special steps we need to take? I need an answer by tomorrow morning.
Thanks so much.
Mendonite

Hi there
As long as they copy the files from the shared drive to their PC, things should be fine.
If you have concerns, you might also want to zip the project(s) and place the zip(s) among the files too. Just in case.
Personally, I'd keep copies of the zips as well. That way if things go south and they call you, you can save the day by providing the zip to them.
Cheers... Rick
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Unhandled Win32 in RH8 RoboHelp HTML Project

When I Launch RoboHelp HTML Project File I get an unhandled exception win32 and the app closes. I saw thread posts for this in RH6 a couple years ago but I can't find anything for RH8.
Any thoughts?
-Tom

Hi Tom
Please take a moment and become familiar with the Before You Post topic. I just deleted a cross posted thread where you asked for help with the same issue in a different forum category.
Cheers... Rick

Trouble incorporating Captivate movies into RoboHelp HTML projects

This is for RH 7 HTML.
I have been trying for quite a while now to add some Captivate tutorial-type videos to my help projects. I have recently been able to do this, however, the video additons greatly increased the size of my help file (it went from probably 7 or 8 MB up to 29 MB).
Here's how I added the movies.
Created a new topic just for the multimedia movie
Inserted the video (which was saved as an .SWF - Flash - file, since this is what the help file instructs you to do) and added it to the new topic
Created a link to this new topic in the topic from which I wanted to launch the video and chose to have the video open in a new window
Saved everything and tested it out to make sure the video would run when called
The video runs OK, though it is a little on the large side and is still a bit blurry/fuzzy. I've also had to provide special instructions to any users who wish to view the videos (maximize the RH display window, make sure the resolution on the monitor is set to at least 1024 x 768, choose to allow blocked content if prompted, etc) So, the main questions I have are,
What's the best way to add these videos to a help file without having the file size go through the roof and so they'll still display properly (clear and legible)?
Is there a smaller, more compressed format that can be used that will still allow for a clear display?
Should I embed the videos in the actual help file or place them somewhere else and link to them externally?
I would greatly appreciate any insight, advice, and expertise in this area, since my manager is a huge proponent of having these videos incorporated into the help files.
Thanks very much in advance for any guidance you can provide.
Sincerely,
Dave

Hi Dave
Hopefully Willam won't mind my chiming in here.
When you publish a project from Captivate as SWF, you also have an option to allow Captivate to create an HTML page for you. In fact, the option is typically enabled by default and you have to specifically disable it. At that point Captivate warns you that the movie may not display correctly if you do this.
So if you want the HTML page all set up, you just leave that option selected in Captivate. Then in RoboHelp, you import both the Captivate created HTML page as well as any files such as SWF or FLV you need.
Hopefully this helps... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
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Trouble Linking TOC Paragraph Styles from a Word 2010 Document to a RoboHelp HTML Project

I apologize if this question has been answered elsewhere. I did my best to search the forums and the web, but I haven't seen anything that helps resolve the issue I'm having yet. I am new to RoboHelp 9. I am using Word 2010 and Windows 7.
I am working on creating a WebHelp that is linked to a Word 2010 document. For the most part, I have had no trouble with the linked document, but something seems to be wrong with the styles and formatting for the TOC paragraph styles that I created in the Word document: the formatting does not apply to the topics in RoboHelp. All of the other paragraph styles (Heading 1-4, Body Text, etc.) are working perfectly. The problem seems to apply ony to text using the paragraph styles TOC 1-4.
The TOC in the Word document looks like this:
The topic containing that TOC in the RoboHelp project looks like this:
In the Word document, the entries for 1. Introduction, 2. Punctuation, and 3. Numbers are all all set to the paragraph style TOC 1. The entries for Purpose, Audiance and Applicability, Scope and Other References, etc. are all set to the paragraph style TOC 2. Both of these paragraph styles contain formatting for font and indentations, and they also appear in the RoboHelp project's .CSS file as WD_TOC 1 and WD_TOC 2.
The problem, as far as I can tell, is that the TOC 1, TOC 2, and TOC 3 styles do not appear to be applied to the text in the topic.
I could resolve the issue by highlighting the text I'd like to apply the style to and applying the appropriate style using the Styles and Formatting pod, but then every time I update the Word document, the text would revert.
Does anyone have any suggestions?
Please let me know if anything is unclear or if I need to provide additional information.
Thank you!
Rachel

Thanks for your response, Peter. I do understand that what I'm trying to do is not standard--and probably not best practice for WebHelp. I am following instructions to make the WebHelp function like the website we are using as a model, which features a TOC for each chapter as a separate page. So I understand that what I'm doing is essentially pounding a square peg into a round hole, but it seems like it should work as long as RoboHelp can pick up the right paragraph styles.
I can eliminate the page numbers pretty easily by choosing to use hyperlinks instead of page numbers in web output (this is an option in Word 2010), but the Hyperlink style is a character style that overlays the paragraph styles TOC 1, TOC 2, etc and suppresses page numbers. While the Hyperlink character style translates with no problem to RoboHelp, those underlying paragraph styles are still not linking up quite right. For the sake of trying to simplify things and address the real problem, I temporarily removed the hyperlinks (thereby including the page numbers) in order to straighten things out. Thank you for pointing out the apparent oversight, though!
What's confusing about the problem is that WD_TOC 1 and WD_TOC 2 are already defined--they just aren't being applied. I can apply them manually, but as soon as I do, the status indicator in the Project Manager pod changes to the yellow triangle with an exclamation point (), indicating that the project is out of sync. As soon as I update the topics, those TOCs revert to having no paragraph styles at all. Does that make sense?
Thanks again for your help!

RH8 RoboHelp HTML published as web help TOC format

Is there any way to manually tweak the TOC formatting in a published set of sub docs that were generated from the root books of a RoboHelp HTML project?
Original project had Install Guide, Admin Guide, etc. which are now published separately. Problems: all files for all books are in each published help system. Browse sequences contain all topics. TOC format got 'lost' so tab names rather than icons are used for ...TOC, Index, Glossary, etc. even though Icons are in the projects. Individual projects open with one book, which must be expanded. No colors in TOC, and uses a different (and noticeably larger) font from the topic.
Since this one-off was done to an unknown version of the content, I'd be better off mucking with the cshdat and wh files than the content of the topics.

...just now revisiting the project that precipitated the original request. I have additional info and a request:
The separate help documents had been published without resetting the browse sequence. As it is today, (because browse sequences were not updated), many hyperlinks jump out of the published books and over to an earlier build that has a single TOC (same IIS server, but completely different path).
I learned that a RH HTML project can have multiple TOCs. So, my new question: is it possible for three TOCs to keep thier own browse sequences and access one common set of published HTM topics? How would that be engineered? I don't quite know how to manage hyperlinks that reference topics in one of the other books. I don't want to inherit the wrong browse sequences.
The alternative is to generate help from the 4 different TOCs into 4 different folders, which is a lot of replication. Like Siamese twins, there's a lot of cross sharing built into the original project, so in most cases, the "see also" relationships would give each separately published book 100% access to all the topics, but from a limited TOC.

RoboHelp HTML v7

Hi,
Could anyone explain the exact significance of selecting the
options Check for deleted files/Republish All while generating a
help file. The help to RoboHelp just mentions that Republish All
should not be used while merging projects.
Thank you
anu

Hi there
I'll be happy to fill in the missing detail for the options
you mentioned.
These pertain to the process of Publishing your WebHelp. And
that process is vastly different than Generating. But so so many
users confuse the two.
You have a RoboHelp HTML project consisting of Source files.
Perhaps they are in the following location:
C:\Projects\MyProject
You Generate WebHelp and that process modifies each of the
Source files. They end up in the Output location. Assuming the path
I listed earlier, that location would be:
C:\Projects\MyProject|!SSL!\WebHelp
Now the Publish process comes into play. The Publish process
copies the files from the WebHelp output folder to another
location. Perhaps a server. So here is what those options do.
Normally, the first time you publish, each file is copied
from the Output Folder to the Server. As each file is copied, it is
logged in a file that tracks dates, times, file name, etc. The
first time you publish, ALL files are copied.
Subsequent publishes then only copy across the files it
senses have been changed. So as it is copying, each file is
compared to the list. Is it newer? No. Don't copy. So the first
publish process may copy perhaps 1500 files. But the second time
you publish, maybe only 20 files are actually copied, as those are
the only ones that changed.
Republish all says to ignore the list and just copy ALL the
files again. You may wish to choose this if perhaps your IT folks
advised you a server crashed and suggested checking all your links
to ensure they are all working after they restored from a backup.
Fuhgeddaboudit! Don't waste time checking links. Just republish all
and you will know you are good to go.
Check for Deleted files doesn't do what you may think it
does. You might see that and think that if you deleted a folder of
files from your project, RoboHelp will also clean those files off
the server. Nope The key thing to remember with this is that The
publishing process will never ever delete files off the server. If
you need files removed, you will need to do that manually.
So what does it do? It slows the publishing process down. If
that option is enabled, not only does the process check to see if
the files are newer and need to be copied, it also checks the
server to ensure the files still exist! If one has gone missing, it
will be copied over. Even if it's not newer.
Hopefully that helps... Rick

Preventing Listener's hand-off

Scenario:
Oracle 10.2.0.4 RAC server.
Certain clients (running Oracle 10.1.0.4 SE) connect via a self rolled NAT load balancing firewall (long story - bottom line is that there is no real better way given the complex networking infrastructure these specific clients run in).
If the client is for example from subnet a.b.c, it will be "redirected" (IP packet header rewritten using NAT) to a specific RAC node.
Problem description:
This is working fine (for some years now) - but the specific Oracle client (on subnet a.b.c) needs to know which RAC node it is being redirected to. It needs to specify the SID of that RAC instance in the TNS connection string. Why? Using the SID forces the listener on that node to accept the client's connection without handing it off to another listener and another instance on another node.
And this is a problem ito high availability. That specific node may not always be available (and we can auto configure the NAT firewall to send traffic from subnet a.b.c to a different node all together).
Ideally we want to use the SERVICE_NAME instead, but without any form of Oracle listener load balancing, fail over or being handed off to another instance.
If the client connects to a listener using SERVICE_NAME "foo", we want the Listener to accept that (as "foo" is a registered service by the local instance). We do not want the listener to arbitrarily select another RAC node instance (also servicing "foo") and redirect the client's connection there.
However, does not matter how the TNS is configured with SERVICE_NAME (and explicitly disabling load balancing and so on). the listener mostly will hand off the connection to another listener - and the client will then throw a "+ORA-12545: Connect failed because target host or object does not exist+" as it is unable to reach the IP supplied by the listener.
Trust that I explained this well enough... bottom line is that we want to tell the listener, via a SERVICE_NAME connection string, not to hand the connection over to another listener. Simple as that. But despite trying a number of config setting and hunting through the Oracle Network ref guide, it does not seem to be simple at all...
Any ideas, comments and suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks.

Toni Lazarin wrote:
Did you try setting the DIRECT_HANDOFF_TTC_<listenername>=OFF in the listener.ora ?Thanks. Tried it, did not make any difference.
It is also not listed as a parameter in Oracle® Database Net Services Reference guide. Which made me wonder if is is still supported with 10.2.
I had a look on Metalink (using direct hand-off as search criteria) and run into utterly useless note 90707.1 - Connecting to Database Through a Network Address Translator (NAT). Which describes the exact issue I have, but does not provide any tangible solutions or references on how to solve it in my case. There is a reference to another note (dealing with firewalls) which mentions in passing "+In dedicated server mode, Unix natively implements TCP/IP sharing, so there should be no problem with connectivity+". Now if we assume that direct handoff is by default on for Unix/Linux, then the problem I have is with the Listener load balancing and causing a redirect when the client wants no load balancing at all. Thus it would seem to be a RAC listener specific problem.
Using CMAN is not an option. Do not want to introduce even more s/w layers for the connectivity tier - besides, the NAT firewall works just fine and does exactly what we want it to do. Now if only the RAC listeners will play ball and not send redirect hand offs to the client when using a service name to connect.
Any ideas on how to tell a listener not to load balance an incoming client connection and simply service and connect/hand-off that connection as the client states?

Has anyone heard of RoboHelp HTML v10 "magically" deleting itself and all project files?

We have an off-site contractor that swears RoboHelp HTML "magically" deleted itself and all project files. I've never heard of this and wondered if anyone else had. It sounds kinda fishy to me, but I've seen some strange things from RH, so thought I'd ask around first.
Thanks-

Hi all-
No, no source control in play that I know of. It appears we have gotten few answers to questions. The problems began when it was reported that they could not copy the project files to a flash drive. I personally have never had an issue with this task. Then, it was reported that the project had gotten deleted by RH. The resolution after-the-fact is that the contractor spent 1+/- week recreating the project (60-70 topics) from the published content.
I'm surprised that as a contractor they didn't know to come here and ask questions or find tools available to reverse engineer from the published content, but I suppose not everyone knows of the goldmine that lives here. I'd never heard of an uninstall removing project files, but I know there are a million ways it could have been configured and never say never, right?
Thanks for the quick replies - you guys ROCK!
Leah Eaton Vance
Senior Technical Writer
Technical and Business Communication Adjunct Professor, Austin Community College
Austin STC, Past President

Can't create or open a project in Robohelp HTML 8

Hi,
I just installed RoboHelp HTML 8.0.0.203 trial on Windows XP (SP3). It's the first RoboHelp
version I've installed on this computer.
No error occured during installation the program starts normally.
1. When I try to create a new empty project the program only creates the folder with
following files and folders:
!SkinSubFolder!
Adobe AIR.ssl
default.css
FlashHelp Pro.ssl
FlashHelp.ssl
Microsoft HTML Help.ssl
testproject.cpd
testproject.glo
testproject.hpr
testproject.ppf
testproject.syn
WebHelp Pro.ssl
WebHelp.ssl
At the moment when the new project file should open nothing happens not even an error
message.
2. When I try to open the sample project file CCC.xpj an error prompt tells me that the
opening of the project was aborted or CCC.cpd couldn't be loaded.
3. When I try to import a PDF (File>New>Project>Import>PDF) an "unexpected error" occures
during conversion.
I already reinstalled RoboHelp and I have administrator rights, but still the same problem.
P.S. I had the same problem on another system with the Robohelp 7 trial some months ago.
But RoboHelp X5 works fine on a third system, I consider an upgrade if the problem can be solved.

Well I tested to install RoboHelp 8 on my machine at home where the RoboHelp 7 trial didn’t work. At first with Comodo Firewall Pro enabled and it blocked the two attempts of Windows Installer to access the internet. ->Creating a project still doesn’t work.
Then I uninstalled Robohelp 8 and disabled the firewall. Installed Robohelp 8 again and tried to create a project but it still doesn’t work.
Also I installed Robohelp 8 on different machines at home (XP, Vista Business, 7 Professional) all running with Zonalarm Firewall and it worked.
But installing a new OS is no option for the company especially when everything else works fine.
Before I opened this thread I googled some time for this problem but couldn’t find anything. This is weird because I’ve installed it on two systems which have noting in common besides both run XP.

Converting RoboHelp 7 HTML Project to RoboHelp 9 for Word Project?

Due to complications in localization, I've been asked to evaluate authoring in doc files instead of HTMs, since the tool we use for localization (Across Server) seems to work better (or so we're told) with doc files.
I've only authored in RoboHelp HTML with a CHM output for the last several years, so I'm unfamiliar with RH for Word. But I have used Doc-to-Help many years ago, so I'm somewhat familiar with the implications of using doc files.
How would I go about doing this conversion? Is there some utility that does this, or is the best way to export to a printed output and then import that output into a new project?
I'm also going to evaluate this using RH 9 since I'm considering upgrading from RH 7. I only have Word 2003.
Thanks in advance,
Jared

RoboHelp for Word has only had minimal changes for the last two versions. Take a hint. Also enhancements to RoboHelp HTML outputs have not been mirrored.
I suggest you do some work in RoboHelp for Word and see how much you enjoy it.
As for conversion, open RoboHelp for Word and see the import options. Your idea seems to be the way to go, if you really really have to.
Oh, one more thing, you will not get much help in the RoboHelp for Word forum because there is hardly any user to user support.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

How can I convert a Flare project to RoboHelp HTML 10?

In my company, we work in RoboHelp HTML 10. We aquired a company that uses Flare for their online help project, and now it falls to me to convert it to RoboHelp. I searched online and found the converter on the Show Me The Demo site, but the download button doesn't do anything.
Is that converter posted anywhere else? Or is there another method of converting from Flare to RoboHelp? Any help would be appreciated.

Hi folks, sorry for the glitch in the download for the Flare to Robohelp Project Converter. I have been traveling and teaching and did not notice this post.
Until I fix the link, please email me using the address in my Profile and I will send it via an email attachment right away.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
John
John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor
Evergreen, Colorado
www.showmethedemo.com

RoboHelp HTML 9 Webhelp Layouts include all (unnecessary) project files

I am currently using RoboHelp HTML 9 on Windows 7 Pro. I have administrative rights on the computer.
My current project contains over 30 different webhelp layouts with 30 different TOCs that are all based on the different functions in a web-based application for a client. The project also includes over 30 different print layouts based on the same TOCs. I use build conditions to specify what I want to appear in the webhelp and print layouts. My project is organized into basically three main folders that represent Tasks, References and Concepts (as close to DITA as I can get this client). Each of these main folders has a subfolder named after a function and it contains the topics and screen captures that relate to that specific function task, function reference or function concept.
I created each webhelp layout in the SSL pod based on the specific TOC that was created for the function. In the WebHelp settings, I specified the TOC in the Content section along with enabling the "exclude unreferenced topics from output" and "exclude unreferenced baggage files from the output" options. In the Navigation section, I selected the appropriate skin that I customized along with enabling Contents and Search options with adding the About box.
With these settings my problem is that ever single webhelp layout includes all of the files in the three main folders, even when they are not referenced in the TOC. This has caused my outputs to explode in size because of the unnecessary folders filled with files (topics and graphics). How can I compile the webhelp layouts so they only output the files referenced in the TOCs and not every single file in the the three main project folders?
Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated because my client is not local and I have to send these files to them over the internet.
Thanks in Advance!

"Exclude unreferenced topics from output" starts by excluding topics that are not in the TOC etc. However if a topic in the TOC has a link to a topic that is not in the TOC, the linked topic will also be included to avoid a broken link. It also daisy chains so that if the second topic has further links, that too gets included.
The idea behind this option was that people wanted TOC only outputs but Adobe chose to implement it in this way. I can see why but I take the view that if that results in broken links, that is the author's responsibility. If you agree, then please follow this link and ask for true TOC based authoring.
http://www.Adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform&product=38
Meantime you will, as Amebr points out, need to create build tags and expressions. There is a page on my site that covers that.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

RoboHelp HTML Version 10 - Navigation panel not displaying in published project

We are generating a WebHelp project in RoboHelp HTML Version 10 and the navigation panel (TOC, Search, etc.) is no longer visible in the index file (viewed locally) and it's only visible by clicking "Show" when viewed in a web server. This issue is occurring with Internet Explorer 11 and Google Chrome Version 39.0.2171.99 m. I also tried to view the index files of previously generated projects and am experiencing the same issue (this did not occur before). Is this a known issue? It appears that there a few other discussions posted recently experiencing similar issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Nikki

Hi there
Sorry, but I'm a bit confused. What you are describing sounds like perfectly normal behavior.
Can you share a link where this is happening? Not so we can click it, but so we can see what the link looks like.
If you want a topic to open with the surrounding navigation (TOC, Index, Search, Glossary) you need to click the Show link, then look at what's in the Address bar. Copy that link and you should have what you need.
Cheers... Rick

RoboHelp HTML Version 8 multiple skins in merged projects?

Hello,
Is it possible to brand different pages in a merged help project w/ different skins, or do you have to use only one skin for the entire project?
Thank you,
-Jerod

Welcome to our community
Skins are used to control the look and feel of the output created by Projects. That means all topics and not individual topics.
You could use CSS to control the way specific pages appear if you like. Perhaps that will help to differentiate them?
Cheers... Rick
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Opening RoboHelp HTML ver. 9.0 Projects - Out of memory error

I have just updated to Technical Communication Suite 3 which includes RoboHelp HTML 9. I have installed all of the latest updates as of 6/20/2011. I am running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit OS, 6GB RAM. Note that I still have RoboHelp HTML 7 installed on the machine.
I can use all of the Technical Communication Suite applications (e.g., FrameMaker 10, PhotoShop CS5, etc) except RoboHelp 9.0. When I attempt to open any project (including the sample projects listed on the Starter screen, I receive the error:
"Unable to open the file c:\users\myname\Document\My RoboHelp Projects\Adobe RoboHelp 9\myprojectfolder\myprojectname\$rhvariable$.htm. Out of memory starting the editor services."
Please let me know if anyone has encountered this error and has resolved it.
Thanks!
Andrea

Hi Jeff,
I am getting this error message.

Handing off a RoboHelp 8 HTML project to a client

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