Help viewer slow, unresponsive

Just wondering if there is any way to speed up the Help viewer in OS X? When I launch it, it takes forever to give me control and searching is slow as well. (Plus it has that annoying behavior of always sitting on top of the screen.) Has anyone figured out how to get this disaster under control?

Similar Messages

Help Viewer is unresponsive and hogs CPU

There seems to be a problem with the Help Viewer application. During normal computer use when I try to open Help Viewer the application window will appear without any contents i.e, the window appears but does not have any contents from a help library. I can select a library from the Library menu at the top of the screen but it takes a very long time for the contents of the help library I have selected to load in the window. When I select a link in the window or enter text and press "return" key the application will not respond.
A side-effect of trying to run Help Viewer like this is that the application hogs the CPU, this usually results in me having to "Force Quit" the application in order to get my computer back to a usable state.
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3) 933Mhz G4, 640mb RAM, Airport

I don't know if this will help, but in Onyx
there is an option in the Maintenance tab - Reset Help Viewer.

Ever since my iphoto library crashed (ran out of space without warning) my mcbook pro has been slow, unresponsive, freezes in sleep mode and won't restart... please help.

Hi everyone
Ever since my iphoto library crashed (ran out of space without warning) my mcbook pro has been slow, unresponsive, freezes in sleep mode and won't restart...
I've since backed everything up on an external hard drive, removed the corrupt library, even reinstalled the operating software and there is now hardly anything on the hard drive, it still runs painfully slow. If I close the lid which puts it in sleep mode, it either doesn't go into sleep mode but instead the battery just gets drained and I find it completely empty of power (it won't start again unless plugged in), or it goes into sleep mode but just freezes when I try to reopen.
In iphoto (reinstalled) but even other applications it is painfully slow, not like a mac at all!
I am trying to go to genius bar with it but thinking maybe someone in this forum can help...
Many thanks
Andre

Have you tried SMC and PRAM resets?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1379
Ciao.

Why is Help Viewer unusably slow?

This has *always* been true of Help Viewer in OS X, although in some versions, it was usable. In Lion, I find help unusably slow again.
Is there anything that can be done?

I solved the problem by deleting Help Viewer cache files, according to these directions. It's not fast, but at least it's usable, and now each app displays its main help page in it.

Slow, Unresponsive, Spinning Wheel - Help!!!!!!!!!!

I am running Snow Leopard on a iMac 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 3GB RAM.
Just over a week ago my machine started being extremely slow, unresponsive and displaying the spinning wheel. At times it won't restart, it gets stuck either on the blue screen or the logo screen.
At first I tried repairing disk and disk permission, but this didn't help.
Next, I tried a clean install of Snow Leopard and restored my full backup from Time Machine. However, the problems persisted. I even tried repeating this a few times.
Then I tried, clean install with restoring the full backup and the machine seemed to be working with stalling, hanging, spinning wheel, etc...
But then I started doing fresh installs of my applications and restore some important files from Time Machine and the problems have returned.
This morning the machine would become unresponsive and it would take at 5-10 minutes for the spinning wheel to disappear and then as soon as I suggest using an application the wheel would return. Eventually, I restarted the machine, but it sticks on the logo screen and still now I can only start in safe mode.
I do not fully understand the information in Activity Monitor but I cannot see anything obvious, although, WindowServer and kernel_task appears to use a lot of CPU/Memory at times.
Can anyone help?

Only one DVD came with the computer
System discs come in pairs. Disc #1 is the install disc which includes AHT. Disc #2 is the bundled software - restore disc.
You need to let Apple know that you are missing a system disc. You will need to provide Apple the computer serial number in order to get the correct one - US (800) 767-2775. If you're not in the US, you may need to go through the regional Apple Store that serves your location to find the contact number. Here's a list of links to all of those -
http://store.apple.com/Catalog/US/Images/intlstoreroutingpage.html
Drop-in DVD
Never heard of those. What is a "drop-in?"

Help viewer is not helping

I have an intel mac notebook and it works great -- except for the help viewer which has gone from very slow in responding to not responding at all. I followed all the tips for resetting the viewer (deleting help p lists, etc.) and that will fix it temporarily. But everytime I restart my computer, I have to delete those same files again to get the help viewer working. I finally went to console.log and this is the message it is displaying but I need help in translating it. Please Help! I'm an ex-windows user and this is my first mac and I'm really dependant on the mac help.
2006-05-13 09:55:55.217 Help Viewer[272] * -[NSBundle load]: Error loading code /Users/annatsao-abellera/Library/InputManagers/Smart Crash Reports/Smart Crash Reports.bundle/Contents/MacOS/Smart Crash Reports for bundle /Users/annatsao-abellera/Library/InputManagers/Smart Crash Reports/Smart Crash Reports.bundle, error code 2 (link edit error code 0, error number 0 ())
2006-05-13 09:55:55.427 Help Viewer[272] * NSRunLoop ignoring exception '* End of archive encountered prematurely at 400' that raised during posting of delayed perform with target 37bda0 and selector '_setupTOC'

Just in case, here's Dr.Smokes Help Viewer Tips.
It also wouldn't hurt to try using Disk Utility to repair your startup disk (hard drive) as shown in his Resolving Disk, Permission, and Cache Corruption.
You might have a little directory corruption and it's suggested in the Help Viewer Tips.
Cheers!
DALE
Message was edited by: Dale Weisshaar

Help viewer is sooo slooowwww

why is help viewer so painfully slow? if I search for an item in help viewer I can almost go out to dinner across town before I get any results served. It also starts up really slow. It's worse from some apps than others, but it's never snappy. this is really annoying because I'm now using an application that doesn't have a very comprehensive user guide and I need to go to the help file to get a good deal of information.

If you are using Airport in your network, or to stream music to your stereo, try turning off Airport, and then see how the Help Viewer works...
Mine hangs for some reason (I believe) because it thinks it's going to get an update from the Airport which it sees as 'on'. When I need Help, I turn the Airport off, and Help works great.
Bob

Help Viewer MIA

I just installed the OS X 10.9.4 Combo update, and now the help viewer is gone. I can see the search window, but once I type in a word, the thing just disappears. The application is there, in the Coreservices folder in the System library. But something is clearly not working. Any ideas re- how I can get it back to functionality?

Sometimes just closing and reopening the Help window will clear up the problem. If it doesn't, log out or restart the computer and try again. Otherwise, you may need to delete the Help cache.
Back up all data.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
~/Library/Caches/com.apple.helpd
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu.* A Finder window should open with a folder selected. Move the selected folder to the Trash. Log out, log back in, and test. Help pages will be slow to load at first.
If that doesn't work, the problem may be caused by network conditions. It may go away by itself, though I can't say how long you should wait.
A persistent failure to load help data has been reported as an issue with satellite networks. Test on a different network, if possible. I've also seen at least one report that Photo Stream in iCloud can mysteriously interfere with Help. I'm not sure whether that's true, but try disabling Photo Stream, if applicable.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combinationcommand-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Is there any hope for Help Viewer?

I have read through as many discussions about Help Viewer problems as I can find, and still, help in Finder doesn't work. I have tried all of Dr. Smoke's suggestions and many others to no avail. Help Viewer still ends up going back to a blank screen, links that don't work, and the search just keeps searching.
All of the suggestions I have tried fix Help Viewer temporarily, but it has always gone back to its same old broken self.
If anyone out there can REALLY help, I would REALLY appreciate it.
Thank you!

Hi Jordan. Hopefully I can offer a solution for this which bugged me enough to really try to resolve it, and have now done so, at least for me.
First the essentials.
System Setup: Powermac G4 Dual 1GHz MDD. 1GB. MacOS 10.4.3
Issue: Loading Mac Helper from the Finder will result in a blank screen after the first launch. On first launch you will be able to click one or two links then it will not work and search will not function [issues may vary but blank screen always]
This problem occurred with earlier versions of Tiger. I have since done a clean install. Tried replacing the Help Viewer app from the Install disk and also the MacHelp.help document too, but it did not help. I even tried the same items from other disks just to check for corrupt files but still no change. Trashing the prefs does not seem to make any difference, nor the same with the cache folder but it can resolve other issues, just not this particular one.
NOTE Before others try this fix I strongly suggest you try the solutions suggested by Apple and those on the very good XLab web site. Here are a few related articles:
XLab. The most comprehensive guide to the Help issues.Check out the 'Help Viewer displays a blank window.' link.
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/helpviewer.html
Apple. From the source. Not quite the same symptoms but offers Help advice on
'Mac OS X 10.2, 10.3: Mac Help Viewer unexpectedly quits'
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107013
Solution:
1. Go to User > Library > Caches > com.apple.helpui [note: you need to launch Help Viewer at least once so that this folder is created]
2. Delete ALL files/ folders in the com.apple.helpui folder, if any.
3. Create a new folder inside com.apple.helpui and name it 'Mac Help' [the same as that created automatically by Help Viewer, case sensitive].
4. Select the new folder and use Command + I to see the folder 'Info'. First
label it red [to aid further diagnostics] and then change ALL the permissions at the bottom to *Read only* [click Details to see the options, not just 'You can'. Include Read only for 'Owner', 'Group' & 'Others'. You will need Admin access for this]. Close the Info panel.
5. Launch Mac Help from the Finder menu bar. If it was blank before, the Help Viewer screen should show the Mac Help homepage again. Try several links and search and Index. They should all work, and quicker now. Quit and relaunch. This time the Help Viewer works now and no blank screen. The issue with Mac Help is fixed ( but be aware that any other Help folders created could well cause the same issue, so check for these if it still happens and read on for details of how to deal with this other part of the issue)
*BUT*
Although this resolves the Mac Help issue, AS SOON AS OTHER MAC APPLICATION HELP's ARE LAUNCHED, IT IS MOST LIKELY THE ISSUE WILL RETURN!, hence the labeling of the Help folders red, to track newly created Help folders (i.e. Mail Help, Safari Help etc). If these are launched this automatically creates help folders in com.apple.helpui for them and they also cause the blank screen problem.
So, the best thing is to create Help folders in the same way that you did for Mac Help, for ALL Mac applications to avoid having to do it incrementally as and when you use another Mac application Help [or if you do a search it may well create folders anyhow]. These are the Help folders I have created, with the red label and 'Read only' permissions:
Activity Monitor Help
Address Book Help
AirPort Help
AppleScript Help
Automator Help
Bluetooth Help
Calculator Help
Chess Help
Console Help
Dictionary Help
Directory Access Help
Disk Utility Help
DVD Player Help
Font Book Help
Grapher Help
iCal Help
iChat Help
Image Capture Help
Mac Help
Mail Help
ODBC Administrator Help
Preview Help
QuickTime Player Help
Safari Help
Script Editor Help
Sherlock Help
Stickies Help
System Profiler Help
Terminal Help
TextEdit Help
There are probably more but these are the ones I could find fairly easily. If they are labeled red then it is easy to see if any others appear and cause the issue. Once I have done this I make a backup copy of these folders with the permissions set and archive it for use as and when I need to replace them.
Result: For me and my setup this has resulted in my being able to use Help normally without the blank screen issue for nearly two weeks now since I spent a lot of time looking at this issue. In fact I find Help works a lot faster and suffers fewer delays. Because this only requires amendments to file permissions, in a folder which is automatically replaced if deleted anyhow, I feel it is a safe and easy enough for most users to do if they have this problem.
I hope this offers a solution to other users with the same issue and who have tried the other suggestions (Including Dr. Smoke's and from Apple etc) but still have problems with the blank screen.
The Cause & Other Notes
Having been frustrated with this issue for several months now I spent some time trying to find the cause. It clearly does not effect everyone, and others have found the suggested fixes, such as trashing the com.apple.helpui cache folder and relevant preference files, have worked for them. It makes it a more complicated problem to identify. It appears perhaps to be related to your type/ speed of connection from the computer to the Apple help servers where the cache folders and files and downloaded from. This seems likely from error messages. It also appears that, for whatever reason, some of those files being automatically created when Help Viewer is launched are the actual problem. In order to explain why I think that, if you have this issue then you should get the exact same repeatable test which led me to find the solution.
Do this:
1. Firstly navigate to > Library > Caches > com.apple.helpui and trash this folder. Then before proceeding launch the following apps to help diagnose and follow what is happening:
a. Console [so you can watch for error message in console.log window]
b. Activity Monitor [to watch internet traffic during launch and browsing the Help Viewer]
c. Leave the FInder window so you can watch what happens.
2. Launch Mac Help from the Finder menu bar. It should launch and show the home page on the screen. Immediately you will see a new com.apple.helpui folder being created. Navigate into this so you can watch what is being placed in the newly created com.apple.helpui folder.
3. Now click on any of the Help links on the right (not the link to the apple web site). Immediately (slower if dialup and not already connected) you should see traffic over the network as the computer connects to the Apple help servers. Then, in the com.apple.helpui folder you will see a new folder called 'Mac Help'. Also some other numbered (0-15) cache folders which are not of interest right now. And on quit a file called 'TOCCache.plist' which does not effect things. Soon you should see an error in the Console console.log window something like this:
"2005-11-19 01:57:45.585 Help Viewer[1313] Exception raised during posting of notification. Ignored. exception: * End of archive encountered prematurely at 400"
I am not sure exactly why this is but it appears to be related to some sort of timeout and failure to fully download some items.
4. Now try to click on any link or Index. For me, nothing happens and I get only more error messages like:
"2005-11-19 02:02:21.190 Help Viewer[1313] Uncaught exception - * End of archive encountered prematurely at 400
2005-11-19 02:02:21.190 Help Viewer[1313] * Attempt to remove unrecognized exception handler 0xbfffdce0"
The only option is to quit out.
5. Immediately relaunch Mac Help. If it is like me then it will now be a blank screen accompanied by the following my critical error message:
"2005-11-19 02:03:33.543 Help Viewer[1319] * NSRunLoop ignoring exception '* End of archive encountered prematurely at 400' that raised during posting of delayed perform with target 375df0 and selector '_setupTOC'"
Now, everytime I quit a launch Mac Help it is the same error and blank screen.
This seemed to me to point towards an issue within the com.apple.helpui folder because when it is trashed Help Viewer will launch one time then stop.
So I went through each folder (I had a number of Help folders the first time) and tried moving it out of the folder, rather like testing for bad prefs in OS8.
Eventually I tracked the offending file/s down to this:
User > Library > Caches > com.apple.helpui > Mac Help > Contents > Resources > English.lproj > pgs > pgs.helpindex
As soon as this file is created then it all stops. Trash this file and relaunch and the homepage appears again until it appears and once again the problem reappears. This is totally repeatable for me.
Once I had isolated the problem file I tried various solutions to resolve it. The first was to replace it with the same file which is already in the System within the MacHelp.help documentation here (the system Library, not the User path)
Library > Documentation > Help > MacHelp.help
Copy MacHelp.help and then use Command + I and 'Show Package Contents' to navigate to:
MacHelp.help > Contents > Resources > English.lproj > pgs > pgs.helpindex
(right at the bottom of the pgs folder with hundreds of .html files)
I then replaced the existing pgs.helpindex with this one. It is different at it has an earlier Created date of 16/03/2005 (my vary), the one in the cache folder is Created 20/10/2005 (may vary?)
This allowed Help Viewer to launch correctly, but after a short time and re-launch it returned to the blank screen. Examining the file showed it was being overwritten by the later downloaded version, the one causing the problem. This led me to change the permissions to 'Read only' to prevent it being overwritten and after this the Help Viewer worked normally on relaunches.
I also changed and altered the permissions on the pgs/pgs2.helpindex folder in the same directory as the pgs folder as it seemed to also cause a problem.
So, finally I resolved the problem, with no error messages, the Help Viewer loading correctly and a working Help. However, I noticed that after a while the blank screen came back. Knowing the pgs.helpindex was OK it seemed likely that other .helpindex files in other Help folders created in the com.apple.helpui folder. This proved the case because, on trashing the new Help folder, it launched again. Swapping the downloaded .helpindex in say, Mail Help, and changing the permissions fixed it, until another Apple application Help folder was created and it re-occurred. The problem does not occur with all the Mac application Helps, but with some (notably for me, Mail Help, Safari Help and some others).
Finally I found that rather than digging into the apps contents I could get the same fix and also quicker Help browsing by simply creating the actual Help folders as described above and ensuring the .helpindex (or other folders/ files like idx) was not created.
From nearly two weeks trials it so far appears to completely resolve this issue.
Just be aware of any new Help folders/ files being created.
The are a few other observations:
1. I tried just altering the permissions on the actual com.apple.helpui folder to 'Read only' but whilst it allowed the Help Viewer to open fine, it broke links within the application Help windows.
2. I have not tried many Helps on other non Apple applications. I find that Toast help triggers error messages:
"2005-11-19 02:27:02.229 Help Viewer[1340] -[IdxSearchController openIndices:] caught a VTWIN exception. Bad index file is /Applications/Toast 7 Titanium/Toast Titanium.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/Toast Help/Toast Help idx
It is not possible to change the 'Toast Help idx' as it is an exec file. The errors do not seem to break Help Viewer. I had similar error messages from Quicktime Help when it loaded. I suspect that the Toast help is broken for similar reasons as mac Help b (it works for links to installed pages but not external ones). But it could be from the alterations to the Help folders. Either way at least Help works.
3. It is possible to get most .helpindex files from the relevant application contents but just using the Help folders is a quicker solution.
4. I can't help feel that the difference between those that have or do not have these issues is a slower connection, i.e. non-broadband. I have a 64k ISDN connection through a router which is pretty much 'always on' with solid 7KB speeds, but it seems this is insufficient for Help to work properly. I read elsewhere that connection speed appears to be an issue and Help is sensitive to this. It would be interesting to know what type of connection people with the issue have. I also have a hardware firewall in the router which may be a factor but it does not stop any other normal traffic and allows the files through anyhow. It has been in place for 6 years and with no issues. Just wanted to note it.
5. Certainly for my situation, it appears that the files being downloaded from the Apple help servers are actually causing the problem at my end. I can't explain why or how other than the tests explained above are repeatable and that using the same file but from the System file resolves the problem. It remains unclear why a slower connection would lead to files downloading which affect some people but not others? It may be something totally different of course but the error messages in Console do seem to point towards this.
6. I imagine the reason why the files and folders are downloaded are to ensure that they are kept up to date, as the pgs.helpindex for instance is a later creation date. However I do not seem to have any problems browsing or looking at topics, especially with the 'Include product Support Searches' option selected in the Help View menu. It means that there is extra traffic but gives a wider range of responses from Apple. Perhaps it is better to deselect this option if you have a slow dialup connection?
Summary
I hope that this solution can help others with this issue and perhaps other related problems. There is no way of me testing it further and I do not know how others who seemingly do not have a problem can check this. I just know it resolved it for me. I am no expert but a long time Mac user who is used to simple and elegant functionality, not the ongoing saga of the current Help, and wanted the thing just to 'work'.
Good luck
Simon

Adobe Help View

I've installed Help Viewer in Elements 8 and it defaults to Adobe.com. I would like it to default to Local Help.
Also can anyone explain why Adobe.com is so slow when accessing it for Help in the Viewer. It's not unusual for it to take minutes to respond.

I can't say that I find it unusually slow, but in any case go here:
http://www.adobe.com/support/photoshopelements/
and click the link for the part of PSE you want the help file for (editor or organizer) and you'll see a link to a downloadable pdf at the top of the page.

Cf# file, lost help viewer, & mouse tracking speed very fast...

Yes really ! - I do believe it all happened at once.
No recent system changes/updates/hacks - OS has latest updates - all worked splendidly...until:
put the mac to sleep, back 1/2 hr later & changed mouse batteries - woke it up & mouse speed is superfast,help viewer wasn't working & files starting with cf# keep appearing momentarily in ~/library/preferences/ . the format seems to be cf#xxxxx - a different one each time
maybe the file thing is nothing to do with it? - but would be interested in what it is.
Help viewer fixed by trashing cache & plists - now fine
Mouse speed can be slowed to a crawl using sys prefs-mouse & keyboard-tracking speed but just one step up from that; it's superfast again. The speed does increase even more if the slider is moved higher.
So Question - finally! - is this lot related in any way?
what's the cf#7zgE1 file about?
what other files might compromise the mouse tracking speed ( I have no mouse-enhancing software )
Thankyou

re: cf#xxxx files, you wrote:"I'd love to, but they appear/disappear in an instant - took 7 attempts with grab to get a shot that included one. Nothing in console, no startup/login items at all."The information macjack provided in the link you cited isn't particularly relevant. All that document describes is the Mac OS X facilities for creating and managing preferences files, part of Core Foundation Framework. It doesn't explain the cf#xxxx files, it merely discusses preferences from a programmer's perspective.
Since the appearance of these, and their mention on the Discussions, is a relatively new phenomenon, I'd be more inclined to suspect they are the side effect of some third-party application you may have installed recently, e.g. some bit of new shareware, a widget, etc. Such an app may be temporarily writing and removing those files, but the fact that they begin with "cf" may have been a developer's choice. The file names don't even correspond to the standard for preferences files. Just because they're in the Preferences folder does not make them preferences.
I don't see them on my system. You'll have to monitor apps you launch, running widgets, third-party menu extras, etc. to see if the creation of the files begins after some such process is launched.
If they show up, as you noted, with just Mail and Safari running (assuming you did not open Dashboard, which results in all widgets being launched), then they could be the result of either an Internet plug-in or a Mail plug-in you might have installed.
Good luck!
Dr. Smoke
Author: Troubleshooting Mac® OS X

Not able to view the content in Microsoft help viewer (MS VS 2012)

Hello Team,
I'm Rahul from Daimler-Chrysler, Bangalore location. I’m the IT Engineer for Daimler-Chrysler.
We tried many settings in IE but still not able to resolved. So i need more expert help.
My customer having one issue-
# User is not able to view the content in Microsoft help viewer (MS VS 2012), below is the error: Its opening in HTML Format.
So please help me. Contact no- +91-9972004298. and personal id:- [email protected]/[email protected]
I call you to Microsoft customer care they advice me to ASK Question. Please help me, I'm waiting for your reply.
Thanks,
Rahul B. Patil.
+919972004298.

Hi Sri,
it looks that your HANA instance has been created before we enabled the web-based development workbench. Some privileges are missing, we can't migration those existing instances.
Nevertheless you can ignore the error above. You can see all the content inside your instance "smstest1".
If you want to get rid of the cosmetic issue. You might delete this instance and create a new one.
Best regards
Xu

Help viewer does not work after update to 10.4.4

Since updating to 10.4.4 my Help viewer does not work, and all of the troubleshooting fixes suggested in other threads have not had any success in resolving this. I've noted that when I go to Users>Library>Documentation>Help there is no mac.help file - can someone tell me if that means that I've lost the file altogether and need to reinstall it? I get to the first screen of the viewer, but the links from there don't work. Thanks for any help that you can provide!

Thanks for your suggestion. I downloaded OnyX and ran the cleaning function. After restarting, I opened Help and once again the first screen appeared fine. But again most of the links did not work, though those under the "What's New" heading did work. I might add that I had previously tried a variety of suggestions posted in another thread, which included deleting from the caches folder in Home>Library several files such as com.apple.helpui and help.plist in the Preferences folder. (As noted in my previous post this evening, I also created another user but that also did not have any effect.) Any other ideas? Thanks

How to use Help View 2 in standalone Winform app similar to VS Package Help2 from DTE2

Hello,
We are successfully obtaining a DTE2 object and then the Help2 object to connect our context id names with triggering the Help Viewer 2 in a VS package but can’t seem to do the same outside of VS.
Here’s a sample of how we handle getting it okay from the VS package code:
dte2 = Package.GetGlobalService(typeof(DTE)) as DTE2;
help2 = (Help2) dte2.GetObject("Help2");
Then we can set out context id like this:
helpId = “MYFORMCONTEXTIDHERE”;
help2.DisplayTopicFromF1Keyword(helpId);
Within VS this works fine for our package. However, the winform app version can’t get the DTE2 object as no instance of VS is running. For instance, an example like this:
dte2 = (DTE2)System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.GetActiveObject("VisualStudio.DTE.11.0");
won’t work as there’s no VS instance.
Given all this…and us not wanting to use the older CHM HelpProvider winforms approach, is there any way we can achieve what the package version is doing in a pure Winforms application?
Thanks,
Michael

Hi Michael,
Thank you for posting in the MSDN forum.
Based on your description, I’m afraid that it is not the correct forum for this issue, since this forum is to discuss:
Visual Studio WPF/SL Designer, Visual Studio Guidance Automation Toolkit, Developer Documentation and Help System, and Visual Studio Editor.
To help you find more useful information or find the correct forum for this issue, would you mind letting us know more information about it?
It is the WinForm developing issue, am I right?
You said that you use the DTE 2 object, is it related to the VS extension?
>> However, the winform app version can’t get the DTE2 object as no instance of VS is running. For instance, an example like this:
dte2 = (DTE2)System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.GetActiveObject("VisualStudio.DTE.11.0");
won’t work as there’s no VS instance.
I did some research about it, the following case and document shared some information about the “Get References to the DTE and DTE2 Objects”, it seems that it also shares some information about “Get an instance of the currently running
Visual Studio IDE” like the code here:
// Get an instance of the currently running Visual Studio IDE.
EnvDTE80.DTE2 dte2;
dte2 = (EnvDTE80.DTE2)System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.
GetActiveObject("VisualStudio.DTE.11.0");
Reference:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/vstudio/68shb4dw(v=vs.110).aspx
Another case:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/21986644/use-addin-project-in-another-application
If still no help, I might not have the correct detailed answer you need, but I might lead you into the right direction to solve your problem.
If it is the WinForm developing issue, you could select the correct forum here:
https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/windows/en-US/home?forum=winformsdesigner%2Cwinforms%2Cwinformsdatacontrols&filter=alltypes&sort=lastpostdesc
If it is related to the VS extension, maybe this forum would be better for you:
https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/home?forum=vsx
If I have misunderstood this issue, please feel free to let me know, I will help you find the correct forum for this issue as soon as possible.
Best Regards,
Jack
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How to create a help view for a customized error message

Hi all,
Can you guide me how to create a help view for a customized error message, we need to put some suggestions in it so that user can can resolve this issue with this guide. ( the short text is too short to describe all situations via TC:SE91)
Thanks very much!
Bruce, Wen

Hi Bruce,
Could you brief your concerns again.
Why don't you maintain long text in message class for long description.
Regards,
Ranjith N

Help viewer slow, unresponsive

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