Iframe in RoboHelp 8

Iframe feature worked in preview, but PDF didn't show up in output after generating.

First of all, is it just this one project that has a problem compiling? Can you compile one of the tutorial projects? If so I think this may require a bit of dectective work to see what is causing the issue. Take a copy of your project. Now delete half the topics and see if it compiles. If it does, add some more content and compile again. If it doesn't compile, compile the other half. As a result of these actions (and by repeating) you'll be able to narrow down what the issue is.
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Similar Messages

IFrames in RoboHelp

My group is looking into embedding IFrames into topics in RoboHelp, in order to single-source certain content that would otherwise have to be duplicated in multiple manuals; the same basic idea as using a snippet, except this approach doesn't require that the shared content all be in the same project. This seems to work fine with the compiled project, but the problem is we also need to be able to convert our RoboHelp projects to Word, then to PDF for printing. Unfortunately, Word doesn't seem to recognize the IFrame, or to pull in the content from the URL referenced in the IFrame, I'm not sure which. The result is that the content within the IFrame that displays just fine in RoboHelp simply disappears when the project is converted to Word; no error messages, or anything - it just isn't there anymore. Anyone have any insights on why this happens, or any suggested workarounds? BTW, we're using RoboHelp HTML 7. Our output format is FlashHelp, but I don't think this has anything to do with the problem.

Hi there
I can easily see why IFRAME content isn't included in the Word document. Especially if the IFRAME is pointing to content that isn't part of the project proper.
About the only workaround I can think of is to copy the topic that appears in the IFRAME to the actual project before you create your Word/PDF output. You could condition them out for other builds.
One other thing I would really stress and encourage you should do is to report this as a need to Adobe. I'm not sure which version of RoboHelp you are using, but RoboHelp HTML 8 introduces a feature called the Resource Manager. What seriously needs to happen is to have the ability to store topics in common locations and have the Resource Manager as a means to keep them synchronized. (Link to the Wish Form is in my sig) It's my opinion that Adobe simply isn't understanding how helpful something like this could be.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 moments from now - $24.95!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcererStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

Robohelp displays twice in IE 9 when used in an iFrame

I am building an application for a client who needs to be able to control access to their Robohelp content. I am doing this by displaying the Robohelp content inside of an iframe in another page (ASP.NET). The problem is the entire Robohelp frameset appears twice. The first time it is all stylized right and the second time, it looks like some of the styles didn't apply. It is really wierd and very frustrating. It doesn't do this in Firefox or Chrome -- just IE. Anybody have any idea how to fix this?
Thanks

Can we take it that the help opens correctly if run standalone and the issue is only when the developers but it in an iFrame?
If so, then it's an issue with their work. I don't mean that in an unhelpful way, it's simply it's an issue outside of what we can help with in these forums, unless someone with a developer background is looking in.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Importing PDF into IFrame crashes RH8?

I'm using RH8 and producing WebHelp. I'm trying to use the new IFrame feature to display a PDF in my webhelp output, but get an Adobe Acrobat error, followed by a RH crash.
Here's what happening:
From RH8 topic, insert IFrame and browse to a one-page PDF.
Click View Selected Item to preview topic. The PDF appears as expected (and it's way cool).
Generate the WebHelp.
View the topic in the Webhelp using IE8. The PDF does not appear--just an empty rectangle.
Go back to RH8 and try to preview the same topic. This time the system hangs with the Adobe Acrobat error: "Initialization of the font server module failed."
Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and shut down non-responsive Robohelp.
Repeat several times with the same results, realize I'm crazy, and post this message here.
Any ideas?

Hi Rick,
Thanks for instructions. I didn't realize you could do that and, in theory, that works like a charm, but I'm still having issues. Here's what I just tried:
Added a new page to the TOC and linked to the PDF in the baggage files directly. I was still unable to view the PDF in the generated output (nothing happened when I clicked the page in the TOC), but RH8 didn't crash and I didn't see the Adobe error message.
Inserted a hyperlink in the topic and linked to the PDF file. This time I got the "Initialization of the font server module failed error", followed by a dialog saying "There is a problem with Adobe Acrobat/Reader. Please exit Adobe Acrobat/Reader and try again." But there was no specific instance of Adobe Reader running, just Robohelp. After wating a couple of minutes, RH8 stopped working altogether.
Created a brand new project in RH8 (Since the other was migrated from RH7) with one topic that contained a hyperlink to a PDF. I could see the PDF in preview mode, but the project froze when I generated the WebHelp output
Since I just installed RH 8, I suspect that what I'm seeing is more of a problem with how Acrobat and Robohelp are interacting. I had Acrobat 8 Professional installed before installing Robohelp 8. Could that be it? If so, what's the best way to recover?
Thanks!

How can I insert a link to a YouTube video in RoboHelp?

How can I insert a link to a YouTube video in a RoboHelp CHM topic or in a WebHelp topic. On YouTube, I can select Share \ Embedded and get this HTML:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/hz1egoBSukE?list=PLAAC40DA8171E6038" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
But when I generate the project, I get the msg, This program cannot display the webpage.

Or just paste the embed code from Youtube in the topic (using HTML view)
Greet,
Willam

Display of PDF Files in iFrames

Hi,
I am using iFrames to supplement the original content of my HTML file with additional PDF material and have problems with the display of these iFrames within the CHM file. I am using RoboHelp HTML 10.
Basically I created topics with text and a single iFrame per topic. These iFrames are intended to display handouts that we use for our training courses directly in the help system.
Topic preview display as expected, i.e. with the PDF content actually embeded in the topic as desired. The problem I have is that these topics display differently once the CHM has been generated. On opening the topic, the PDF content displays in a separate Adobe Reader window, while the frame remains empty.
Are there ways to get PDF things displayed as I wish in the iFrames ? Your kind help would be much appreciated.
Thanks and Regards,
Stephane

Hi,
I am using iFrames to supplement the original content of my HTML file with additional PDF material and have problems with the display of these iFrames within the CHM file. I am using RoboHelp HTML 10.
Basically I created topics with text and a single iFrame per topic. These iFrames are intended to display handouts that we use for our training courses directly in the help system.
Topic preview display as expected, i.e. with the PDF content actually embeded in the topic as desired. The problem I have is that these topics display differently once the CHM has been generated. On opening the topic, the PDF content displays in a separate Adobe Reader window, while the frame remains empty.
Are there ways to get PDF things displayed as I wish in the iFrames ? Your kind help would be much appreciated.
Thanks and Regards,
Stephane

Generated html does not open in firefox/safari when embed in an iframe

Hello,
I have been meddling with robohelp for a few weeks now. I can generate a html site from a Framemaker book fine. This is embed in an <iframe> to integrate it into our website. It works correctly on chrome. However on firefox/safari all I get is ' ï»¿ '. On viewing the source, it becomes apparent that this wierd bunch of characters appears before the <html>. I looked into the actual html generated and I see this tag <feff> prefixed before <html> in every file. Naturally, I went ahead and removed it and the page now loads correctly on firefox/safari. However, the bullets are all messed up. I read a post somewhere which said <feff> contains some information about css classes.
I use Technical Comm Suite-3.5(full version). The webhelp html is generated using the publish functionality from framemaker using a saved *.isf settings file.
So how do I fix this? Any suggestions are welcome.
Thanks

The "weird bunch of characters" is known as the BOM (Byte Order Mark). The problem is on the server.
I saw the same thing when first using RoboHelp 8 and this is what I was advised by the company hosting my site.
"I would therefore conclude that the solution to this problem (on Linux systems running Apache) is to add the AddDefaultCharset utf-8 directive to either the Apache config or the site .htaccess file. The advantage of the latter is that it only affects individual sites. The default Apache character set is taken from the locale file on Linux and defaults to iso-8859-1. It is the conflict between the Apache header with iso-8859-1 and the page character set of utf-8 that obviously causes Firefox a problem."
In a forum post Chrissy_Tissy added
My machine is Windows, but this fix still worked - some notes about making the fix visible:
1. Do the fix itself (httpd.conf: AddDefaultCharset utf-8).
2. Restart the box to apply the fix.
3. Once the box is restarted, clear your cache in FireFox to make sure you don't continue to see the cached file.
Once all this is done you will see the output content as expected.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Viewing Camtasia SWF output in Robohelp 10

Is it possible to view SWF videos created using Camtasia in Robohelp 10?
I imported the video files into my Baggage folder but the video is still not viewable, even after publishing the project. I assume this has something to do with the additional files Camtasia generates?
I've seen earlier posts indicating that Camtasia created flash videos didn't work in previous versions of Robohelp. I'm hoping this isn't the case anymore. If anyone knows of a way to make it work, I'd appreciate the help.

Okay, I've sorted making it work. Here are the notes.
First, it's worth noting that while a SWF is in the mix of Camtasia created files, it's not the main file. It's just a supporting file among many others. The main file appears to be a file with .mp4 as the file extension. (I said that because with video content, the extension is really more of a container or wrapper than anything else. So other than knowing it's got an extension of .mp4, you really don't know for certain what's inside.)
So with Camtasia output, it's not as simple as just clicking Insert > Multimedia/Demo.
What I did to make it all work was to inspect the HTML page Camtasia created and copy the iframe code from the Camtasia page to the topic page where I was inserting the video. Then I had to create some folders in my RoboHelp project that matched the folders Camtasia created. After that, I added the files from the Camtasia folders to the new RoboHelp folders as baggage files. Once I did that things seemed to work just fine.
Alternatively, you may omit the steps of copying the iframe code from the Camtasia file and simply import the Camtasia HTML file and link to it so it opens as any other topic would and completely fill the topic pane.
Hope this helps... Rick

RoboHelp 8: can't display TOC content using Chrome

I just converted from X5 to RH 8. I can open a single Web page in Chrome, but when I click on any of the buttons (Contents, Index, Search, Glossary), they do not work and displaying nothing. I've scoured the boards and found Peter's 103 snippet (http://www.grainge.org/pages/snippets/snippets.htm) and applied it to no effect. What am I missing??? Thanks.

Okay, I have a fix (thanks to Tulika at Adobe) for those of you who are interested.
I understand you are using Chrome 5 to view RH 8 output. Chrome 5 has a strict security policy for html pages viewed locally (from disk and not from some web server) because of which iframes in RH 8 output fail to load. If you publish the same output to any web server and view it in Chrome from there, it will work just fine for you.
To enable local viewing of your output, you will have to disable this extra security check in chrome. You can do that by launching Chrome.exe with "--allow-file-access-from-files" option. Kindly ensure that you close all open Chrome instances and then launch Chrome with this option.
You can find more details about this security issue in Chrome at this link : http://blog.chromium.org/2008/12/security-in-depth-local-web-pages.html
Here's what I did to implement this fix and locally (and correctly) view my help in Chrome:
Create a NEW Chrome shortcut on the desktop and rename it to RH Chrome (or some such indicator).
Right-click the new Chrome icon and choose Properties.
Add the "--allow-file-access-from-files" text to the end of the path displaying in Target, as shown in the below image. Make sure you leave a space between the original string and the tag you are adding to the end of it.
Click OK to save.
If you have any Chrome instances open, close them.
To test, launch an instance of Chrome using the shortcut you created.
Go to your file system and right-click any .html file in your RoboHelp WebHelp directory and choose Open with and then Google Chrome. Please note that I had to add Chrome as an "Open with" option. Because you have your customized instance of Chrome already opened, Help will auto-launch using that instance. I'm sure there's a better way to auto-launch this from RoboHelp itself, but this was a quick and dirty test just to make sure it was working.

RoboHelp air help application does not show pdf files

Hello everyone,
I hope this is the right place to post my problem.
I am developing an air help application and I want to embedd some pdf files. I tried two different ways yet:
1. A direct link to the pdf file (which is located in the project folder)
2. An iframe
In the topic preview both ways are working fine. But when I generate the application, it just shows a black page, where the pdf content should be.
Thanks for your help.
Holger

Welcome to the forum.
It is the right place to ask but it will not be the answer you want.
Only links to HTML and Microsoft Office files are supported. Although it will not help you short term, the more people who report a bug or request a feature, the more likely it is to be actioned. Please follow this link.
http://www.Adobe.com/cfusion/mmform/index.cfm?name=wishform&product=38
Please take a look at the sticky topic Before You Post as often answers depend on the version of RoboHelp being used.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Unable to view local HTML content from "Help Content Only" SSL iFrame

Hi
Can anyone confirm whether it is possible to view local HTML files within an iFrame when generating Help Content Only SSL content which is also locally deployed?
I have had no problem viewing local html files from within an iFrame with a locally viewed Browser-Based Help project but despite trying a number of variations on the syntax, I simply cannot obtain the same result from a Help Content Only SSL that is then incorporated within a merged help system. I can however create hyperlinks to view local content using the following syntax (file:/C:\folderName\fileName.html - the only drawback for local preview is that you must right-click and select "open in new tab"). Essentially, I am trying to eliminate the requirement to have to right-click and open in new tab to view local html files.
The project I am working on is deployed both locally and remotely and this whole process is necessary for emergency management and business continuity purposes.
I hope my explanation isn't too convoluted and would be glad to clarify it further if required. I would appreciate any assistance!

Hi John
I appreciate you and Peter obtaining this information from Adobe and I appreciate your continuing patience in trying to understand what I am doing.
I will start from the beginning and hopefully clarify my process when deploying my application locally (my remote process differs somewhat but is not germane to this discussion). Obviously this will contain some repetition from previous posts but I hope it helps...
The project itself integrates content created from Adobe RoboHelp with content created within Adobe Dreamweaver
First, I should mention that I am using RoboHelp 8 as I don't believe I have addressed which version I am using. There's nothing particularly unusual about the project itself.
Utilizing Dreamweaver I have created a self-contained HTML-only (no server-side functionality) website which is placed at the root level of the C: drive
Within the RoboHelp project I create a hyperlink to access the local HTML files from the RoboHelp topic pages. The process I use to do so is from within the HTML view of the specific topic page and I use the following file path: "file:/C:\folderName\fileName.html". The only end-user requirement is that they must right-click and select "open in new tab", otherwise the link does not work. Please note, this is ONLY required for accessing the local HTML files.
I output my RoboHelp project using the Adobe Air SSL, with the output type set to "Help Only Content" which creates the .rha files. I utilize multiple .rha files within my project as each .rha file constitutes a module specific to an individual municipality (in my particular instance)
I use the Help Viewer Wizard from the RoboHelp "Toolbox" pod to create what I refer to as the "shell" .air file. Once the "shell" .air file created from the Help Viewer Wizard is installed, it creates a shortcut on my desktop.
I place an XML .helpcfg file within the directory on C:Program Files where my "shell" .air file has been installed to reference each .rha module which must be placed at the root level of the C: drive in order to be properly referenced by the .helpcfg file
By double-clicking on the desktop shortcut created in Step 6 it opens the "shell" module which, in turn, loads in each individual .rha file which can be accessed individually from the drop-down menu in the top-right corner
Why do I do it this way?? My organization severely restricts admin privileges on our workstations. We have one IT person / several hundred officers so I needed to create a system where the only time we need IT assistance is in the initial installation of the "shell" .air file created from the Help Viewer Wizard and placement of the .helpcfg file within the C: Programs folder. Once this is done, because the .rha files are on the C: drive, I can swap these out and update as necessary (we currently have an annual renewal cycle) and we require no further IT intervention. The local system I have just described has hyperlinks to the online browser-based help so that users can also access it and see any content updates made throughout the course of the school year
Having said all that, based on the model I have just described, I have been trying to create iFrames from within my RoboHelp 8 topic pages (placed on my C: drive) to access the local HTML Dreamweaver site (also on my C: drive). The problem I have been having is that the resultant iFrames display only a blank white page and I have tried a number of variations on the syntax of the file path without success.
The process I have been using to create the iFrame is as follows:
In Design view, select Insert >> HTML >> iFrame
In the iFrame dialog box, provide a name for the iFrame and then navigate to the local file on my C: drive level Dreamweaver HTML-only website that I want to link to.
Click "Apply" and from the resulting dialog box states that "This action will create an external link to the help system... Do you want to continue?", I click "Yes"
The resultant file path is "../../../../../folderName/fileName.html" which obviously won't work but I have created the iFrame and now I switch over to HTML view and insert the file path that I have been using for the hyperlinks ("file:/C:\folderName\fileName.html"). I also modify the width to 100% and the height to 1000 px
The user is not being directed to a different domain. So, if as Adobe states, that iFrames are "supported in local AIR Help (.rha) as well" then I don't know why it will not work for me. Again, this is the file path that allows me to create a hyperlink which will access my local Dreamweaver HTML files: "file:/C:\folderName\fileName.html" so if that syntax works for a hyperlink, why will it not work for the iFrame?
The videos I referenced are also contained within the local Dreamweaver HTML site
My usage of the term "merged help" may have been unclear and hopefully steps 1-8 outline what I am doing
Again, I am very grateful to all who have joined this discussion to try to help me! I think it should be manifestly evident by now that I am self-taught and basically that's the only excuse I can offer in my defense for my poor articulation. Not too many years ago I wanted nothing whatsoever to do with computers!

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.

Project Error: Open project was canceled or RoboHelp was unable to load database

Hi,
I checked an HTMLHelp project out of SourceOff Site (SOS),
then attempted to open it locally with RoboHelp 5 when I got the
error message: "Open project was cancelled or RoboHelp was unable
to load database."
I found the TechNote for this error message (rb_3245) which
said to delete the .xpj and .cpd files, then right-click the HHP
file and click Edit to open the project. This worked fine for
opening the project, however the Primary Layout Source defaulted to
WebHelp. I reset the Primary Layout Source to HTMLHelp which caused
all of the graphics in the project to not display. I fixed this
issue, compiled the Help, and all appeared to be fixed. I checked
the project back into SOS to back it up. This morning, I checked it
out of SOS and tried to open the project locally again, only to get
the same error. I closed the project, undid the check-out, and
asked another writer to check-out the project then open it locally
to see if he got the same error. He did not get the error.
I am not sure what could be wrong on my computer that is
causing this error. I had no problems opening and using this
project until yesterday and I made no file name or path changes to
the project. Any ideas on what may be wrong?

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?

Error messages: Robohelp 9 - RHFrameStyleMappings.apj and .cpd files

I am updating an old Robohelp file to version 9 and I received the following warning messages.
Error in reading RHFrameStyleMappings.apj file
Open project was cancelled or the application was unable to load database for - Custom Casualty.cpd

Hi there
Depending on how old you are updating from, you may need to take the following step.
If you aren't using Frame, try this. Create a new blank project in a different folder. This should create a new and empty RHFrameStyleMappings.apj file. Then copy the file to your project where it's posting the error.
Now open the upgraded project and see if all is well.
Cheers... Rick

Iframe in RoboHelp 8

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