Merged WebHelp Pro projects in RH8 - CSH options not working

Question

Hi -
We are trying to upgrade from RH7 to RH8. Currently, we have several context-sensitive WebHelp Pro projects that are merged on the RH7 Pro server. To accomplish this, we simply select the "merge projects" check box in the Admin tool. (Nothing is done in the RoboHelp client w/respect to merging as must be performed with non-Pro projects.)
The master project is master by virtue of being listed first in the Web Administrator. The order of the remaining projects defines their order in the merged Help TOC. The master project specifies two named custom windows and a custom skin. In the WebHelp Pro options for the child projects, we set Skin = Default and Default Window = None.
The Help implementation is context-sensitive using map IDs. Some have the older context strings, defined in their respective projects' .ppf file. All works as expected in RH7. When a map ID is called from one of our applications, the individual Help topic inherits the master project's custom window and skin. The topic with the specified map ID or context string appears in the right-hand pane of the custom frameset. The TOC lists the topics of all merged projects. We used the RoboHelp-supplied RoboHelp_CSH.js in the design of the Help system. The call looks like this:
<a
href="javascript:RH_ShowHelp(0,'http://<ServerURL>/roboapi.asp>MyHelpWindow',HH_HELP_CONTEXT,'5108')">Help</a>
We don't specify a project name and the server is happy (still resolves the map ID). For RH8, we have set things up identically on the server. However, the 'child' projects are not inheriting the 'look' (window/skin) defined in the master project. Either that, or the map IDs are not resolving. We also have a single-pane window defined in the master project for Help pop-ups, which now insists on appearing with the other custom window's frameset (button bar, TOC, and topic pane). We have changed nothing, other than importing the RH7 projects into the RH8 client. The server's "merge" check box is selected. The call to Help for RH8 needed to change and so far looks like this:
<a href=http://<serverURL>/<context>/server?area=Area_51&ctxid=5108&wnd=MyHelpWindow>Help</a>
Note that we haven't tackled using the Robohelp_CSH.js file that is packaged with RH8 yet. First things first, i.e. make sure server is running correctly and we have devined the new parameter syntax correctly. The question is, what needs to change for our Help application to work in RH8? The link specified above displays the correct HTML frameset, but the topic pane is empty/blank. If we leave out wnd=MyHelpWindow, we get the correct topic, but it apears in the user's default browser window, with no TOC. Also, if we target the single-pane window I mentioned above, it appears in the expected size and location defined in the master project, but it is multi-paned (again, with a blank topic pane).
Here is one observation. We did find that in the RH7 Web Admin, selecting the master project and clicking View Project shows the master's default topic in the custom frameset. Doing the same for some child projects, they display their default topic in a plain window (no frameset). In RH8, many child projects would display the default RoboHelp frameset and a 404 error in the topic pane. By carefully investigating the child projects' NewWindow settings, we've found that RH8 is particularly sensitive if those settings are anything other than having 'One Pane' and 'Use Default Browser Settings' selected.
Does anyone know why this is still not working? Any help appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi RoboHobo,
Unfortunately my previous post got a little messed up. I wanted to point you to link http://forums.adobe.com/message/2220336#2220336 , but somehow the url for that hyperlink was set incorrectly and it pointed to another post of mine.
Anyways I hope this one gets posted properly. The workaround I was talking about is this(just a copy paste from my other post) :
The page that you get has javascript code to open a popup window to launch page containing context sensitive help. If you view source of the page you get for CSH link, you will find it has javascript code like :
<script language="JavaScript" src="/robohelp/robo//server/resource/window.js"></script>
<script language="JavaScript">
//function Main()
        var cWnd = new CWindow();
        cWnd.m_bUseProp = 1;
        cWnd.m_strFrameName = 'DHW_TestCSH|RHS_CSH';
        cWnd.m_strURL  = '/robohelp/server?%26mgr%3Dagm%26agt%3Dwsm%26wnd%3DTestCSH%7CRHS_CSH%26tpc%3D%2 Frobohelp%2Frobo%2Fserver%2Fgeneral%2Fprojects%2FTestCSH%2FTopic1.htm%26ctxid%3D 2%26project%3DTestCSH';
        SetRect( cWnd, 5, 5, 90, 90, 0, 0, 0, 0 );
        SetProperty( cWnd, 1, 1, 0, 1, 1, 1, 1 );
        Execute( cWnd );
</script>
May be you have popup blocker enabled in your browser and that’s why popup window containing the help doesn’t open up.
The reason its launched in a separate browser window is so that CSH window properties specified in help layout can be applied on the new window.
If you have to do away with the popup window and want the page to open directly by entering the URL, then there is a workaround, but in that case your CSH window won’t have the properties specified in Webhelp Pro window used while publishing Webhelp Pro to RoboHelp Server 8.
The workaround is as follows:
1) Backup <RHS8_Install>/WEB-INF/SysWebPrjLst/wnd_ie_iframe.asp and <RHS8_Install>/WEB-INF/SysWebPrjLst/wnd_ns_window.asp
2) Stop Tomcat service
3) Edit <RHS8_Install>/WEB-INF/SysWebPrjLst/wnd_ie_iframe.asp and <RHS8_Install>/WEB-INF/SysWebPrjLst/wnd_ns_window.asp and copy following text in these files:
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Refresh" content="0; url=<%=strWorkspaceURL%>">
</head>
<body>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">The help page you are looking for can be found at <a href="<%=strWorkspaceURL%>">here</a>.</font>
</body>
</html>
4) Delete all files in <RHS8_Install>/robo/server/resource
5) Start tomcat service again
Now the CSH url should take you directly to the help page you are looking for.
Regards
Tulika.