RoboHelp HTML slow

I am working on a RoboHelp project using v7. The output is
quite fast when I access the Webhelp from my local folder. But when
I place it in the central repository and access it from that
sharepoint, it takes 5 to 6 seconds to open each topic. The
performance is very slow. The project contains only a few image
files.
Can anyone tell me the reason why it is slow and how I can
solve this issue?
Thank you
anu

Thank you for your suggestion. I tried that option but I
didn't find much of a difference. May be I need to check with the
Help Desk here to find out if others have problems accessing files
from the server.
Thank you.
anu

Similar Messages

Very slow Word file import on RoboHelp HTML 8

Hello,
I am currently using RoboHelp HTML 8.0.2 on Vista 64-bit and when I import Word files (both .doc and .docx) it takes a really long time to complete (10-15 minutes for a 200pg/50topic/10MB Word file). Is this normal? At the end of the process it says "Updating Word file..." on the progress bar, and hangs up here for ~10 minutes. What exactly happens during this stage?
The Word file has a bunch of pictures and equations in it, was made using Word 2007, and is a pretty normal file otherwise.
Let me know if you guys need more information.
Andy

That is a pretty big document but it does still seem quite a time. You don't say what happens if you import smaller docs into a test project. Is the doc local?
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

RoboHelp HTML v. Word

I have recently been tasked with building a "just in time"
resource for a call center. I will need to develop three
independent projects for the resource, two of which are for
different platforms that we conduct business on and the third will
be a general company guide/glossary. I want to merge the three
projects so all 40 people that will use the resource have access to
all three sets of information from one location.
I have a choice of RH HTML v9 and RH v 5.X to build the
projects with. I am new to RH in general and don't really know
which version would be best for this task. Any suggestions?

Hi Phil
Personally, I would respectfully disagree with that
observation.
My viewpoint is that if you learn the Word way first, it
becomes more difficult to transition to the HTML version. Whereas
if you only learn the HTML version, the process is simpler. I speak
from the view of one that came from the Word version. I began using
RoboHelp back in 1992 and all that existed was the Word version. It
took me a while to grow accustomed to using RoboHelp HTML.
Then again, maybe I'm just a slow learner.
Cheers all... Rick

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

RoboHelp HTML - Updating URL's

Hi,
I have inherited a number of Robohelp HTML Ver 8 projects for which I need to update links. The links (mainly documents) have been relocated to a new location but the file names remain the same. Is there a way of editing the the path property of the URL have it it updated across the project.
Currently I am using the show link option - edit link - but it's slow.
thanks
wowronin

Hi WoWronin and welcome to the RH community.
I am assuming that these files are external to your RH project and you are just linking to them? If so, you could use a find and replace utility to update the link. Just make sure that your RH project is not open and take a backup before changing anything. Two favourites among the forum users are FAR and BkReplacEm. You can read about and download them from here.
Read the RoboColum(n).

Can't create new projects in RoboHelp HTML 7

When I try to create a new projects in RoboHelp HTML 7, the
Projects Type field is blank on the New tab of hte New Project
dialog box. I just bought this product after using the trial
version for 30 days. I can open the projects I created before but
can't create new projects. Help! I need it now!

OK, this problem is solved -- the problem was RoboSource
Control 3.1. I realized that I had installed RoboSource Control 3.1
during my Trial install (the option to install it is checked by
default). By re-running the Trial download (thank God I saved it) I
was able to uninstall RoboSource Control 3.1. (I could not
uninstall it using the Tech Comm Suite installer or the Add/Remove
function in the Windows Control Panel)
Then I ran the Tech Comm Suite install and reinstalled
RoboHelp 7 (without installing RoboSource Control 3.1).
Now RoboHelp 7 HTML works again. Note that only the HTML
version was screwed up -- the Word version ran OK, I just don't
need it.
Finally, I just want to say, Adobe Tech Support *SUCKS*.
After spending a half hour on my initial call on Sept. 26th, "Ken"
directed me to the Adobe Support web page and told me to enter my
problem myself -- thanks for nothing, Ken. He promised a 24 hour
turn around, which did not happen.
When I called back on Sept. 29th, I wasted another hour with
Natasha and Sam, who had me run CSClean, which wiped out my
registry entries for Acrobat and Photoshop, forcing a reinstall of
those products. Of course, that did not help me at all.
Adobe, please stop outsourcing your Tech Support to India --
those guys know nothing!
The replies to this issue on the "Customer Support Portal"
have been slow, indifferent and unhelpful. Shame on them!
I'm posting this fix to this problem on this Forum, so the
next poor slob may be able to fix their problem themselves as I
did, 'cause Tech Support sure won't help!

Is RoboHelp HTML 7 incompatible with Lotus Notes?

Has anyone noticed incompatibility between Lotus Notes mail
v6.1 and RoboHelp HTML v7.0? I've had LN installed for the lifetime
of this computer, ~3 yrs, and have worked with RH 7.0 for ~2 mns.
Just this week, I've had three instances of LN not opening after I
managed to crash RH. Rebooting worked the first time: the 2nd time,
I had to re-install LN; the 3rd time, rebooting worked.

Until Notes.6, I always suspected something was going on
between the two.
For many months, I haven't had any RH crashes I could blame
on LN.
If LN is doing any automatic stuff, try turning it off. Or,
as a test, close LN before you launch RH. Any crashes after that?
Automatic stuff means checking for new mail, alterting you
when new mail arrives, Calendar reminders, and so on.
I know, that's what LN is for, but you might find something
that always eluded me. For example, I turned off the new mail alert
long ago, but I can't prove a link.
Good luck.
Harvey
P.S. I should mention that sometimes I have LN and RH running
at the same time on one machine, but mostly I run them on separate
PCs. Still, I can't prove a link.

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.

RoboHELP HTML Freezes Different Ways

Using Windows XP and RoboHELP HTML 6.0:
If I start RoboHELP HTML from the START > Programs menu,
it freezes almost instantly and requires END TASK.
If I double-click a previously created .xpj file in Windows
Explorer view, then RH HTML starts up and I can work in the project
file... but if I try to IMPORT a file into the project file
list/topics, then the application freezes again. I'm only trying to
import an HTML file that was originally created with RoboHELP for
another project.
Why does RH freeze up??

Did this by chance happen to start after you had used a dual
monitor configuration? Folks around here are probably thinking I
believe that's the cause of every problem, but in some cases, we
have found that disappearing dialogs and "freezes" are actually
caused by going from dual monitors to one monitor, and dialogs are
appearing off-screen (which then makes RH look like it's inactive
and not working).
One experiment you can try with either "freeze" that you've
listed is to hit the Esc key and see if RH livens up again. If
there is a dialog open, Esc closes it and returns you to RH.
Just a thought,
Ben

Glossary in a RoboHelp HTML .chm not showing content on Win7

I created a RoboHelp HTML .chm with a Glossary using RoboHelp6.
My users with Windows 7 computers are unable to install and register the HHActiveX.DLL file and see the Glossary content. They are using the suggested procedure for WinXp but it does not work for Win 7.
My users with WinXP are able to install the DLL and see the content under the Glossary Tab.
My question is; what is the proper method for installing and registering the HHActiveX.DLL file on a Win7 machine?
Or is there a different file needed on Win 7 to make the Glossary content visible?
Note they can see the Glossary Tab but the content is blank.
Here is the procedure that works on WinXP:
1. Copy/save the attached HHActiveX.DLL file to the root of C:
To manually register HHActiveX.DLL: You can provide these instructions to your end users if you are distributing HHActiveX.DLL with your Help system.
Click the Windows Start button, then select Run.
In Open, type the following:
regsvr32 <path> hhactivex.dll (specify the path of the HHActiveX.DLL)
If the HHActiveX.DLL file is stored on the root of C: then I believe the command to type would be “regsvr32 C:hhactivex.dll”
Click OK.
Note: These instructions may require admin logon to complete.
Thanks for any guidance.
Bob

Please check the thread
http://forums.adobe.com/message/3479695#3479695

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 Search Pane Max results controls

RoboHelp HTML 9 with WebHelp as output...
I have a two part question. By default when our users do a search in compile dhelp, they see 10 search results per page. Is there a place in my RoboHelp interface where I can change that to larger number? I have found a line of code in a *.js file where it looks like I could manually change it, but would prefer not to have to do it that route in case that causes unintended hiccups elsewhere.
var nMaxResult = 10 ;
Second part of my question is related to statement in release notes/new features notes for RoboHelp 9 that state users can control the max search results per page on-the-fly as they use the Search pane. This feature only applies to WebHelp or WebHelp Pro and my output is WebHelp. I can see a line of code for that feature in the whfform.htm file but nothing shows up like that in the Search pane within compiled help. Is this a bug or is there a control somewhere in RoboHelp project settings that allows me to enable that option for users? The last 2 lines below would seem to control this area. The Search pane items referenced in first 4 lines do show up ok in my Search pane.
gsTitle = "Type in the word(s) to search for:";
gsTitle = "Type in the word(s) to search for:";
gsHiliteSearchTitle = "Highlight search results";
gsHiliteSearchTitle = "Highlight search results";
gsMaxSearchTitle = "Search results per page" ;
gsMaxSearchTitle = "Search results per page";
Thanks for any insight you can provide,
KF

I know this is an old topic, but I was trying to figure this out myself today and finally found it. In case others have been looking for this, it's in in this file:
whform.js
find this variable:
var gnMaxRslt = 10;
and then change the 10 to the number you want.
If you do that in the generated help, the number will change in the Search pane, but it will still display only 10 results. To get it to actually display more than 10 results, I had to edit the RoboHelp file, not the generated help. I made a copy of C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe RoboHelp 10\RoboHTML\WebHelp5Ext\template_stock\whform.js before I edited it. (Right-click the file, click Copy, then right-click in the folder and click Paste. Edit the one that doesn't say Copy in the filename. Then if you want to back it out, delete the one you edited and remove Copy from the original.) If you have your project open in RoboHelp, close it, then reopen it so it can "grab" the new info.
This ought to be in the WebHelp Setting dialog box on the Search pane.
--Karla--

Importing MS Word into RoboHelp HTML / TOC Creation/ CHM output?

Hello,
I am a newbie to RoboHelp 8 and am trying out the Adobe Technical Communication Suite 2.5, and have a Windows 7 (64 Bit) OS.
At the moment, I have a single 40 page word document (MS Word 2010) that I would like to bring into RoboHelp 8.
With that said, I create a blank project, and then import the document. But, when I try to generate and view a help file, I am not seeing the table of contents. I have even done the AUTO TOC and verify that the links correspond to sections and sub-sections etc. - but still no TOC.
In addition, for some reason it brought in each of my figures twice, so that I have two figure 1s, two figure twos and so on.
Finally, it gave me an error message and was complaining about WidgetMax:
"Compilation failed while compiling http:\www.widgetmax.com."
I am not sure what that is about either.
Okay, one more question. Is there an easy way to break up all the sections/sub-sections into unique topics before or during inport into RoboHTML? It seems that RH 8 really needs to have multiple topics versus one long topic, containing what was formerly a MS Word document. What is the best approach to making that happen?
Overall, I am looking for a nice automated system, whereby I can take developer created documents (from protected MS Word templates) and bring them into RoboHelp HTML (version 8). Hopefully, I will not have to break apart the entire MS Word document first, before bringing it into RH 8.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions from a newbie.
-J

Hi there
My own guess is that you created a project using one of the supplied templates. Specifically, the Application Help template. This template already has a CHM window defined that contains a link to the WidgetMax.com site. When a link to a web site is defined in a CHM window, the compiler will squawk about it because it cannot resolve the link to a local HTML page. So you may safely ignore the message.
As for importing the Word content, you have some decisions to make. How do you want to edit the content after you get it into RoboHelp?
After you import you will abandon Word and make any changes to the documentation only using RoboHelp HTML.
You will continue to maintain the Word document using Microsoft Word and you will want to update RoboHelp HTML to reflect the changes
Depending on the avenue you wish to take, you will have different options for splitting the Word content into individual topics. Once we know which option you wish to use we can offer more guidance.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
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RoboHelp HTML 9.0.2.271 crashes when opening .htm files

Hello. I'm using RoboHelp HTML 9.0.2.271. When opening a certain RH project (I have three that I access regularly), the project opens fine, but when I try to open any of the topic files, RH hangs/crashes. I can perform any other tasks in the project (generating, publishing, updating the browse sequence, etc.), but I can't open any .htm files. In trying to fix this problem, I have:
Updated from 9.0 to first 9.0.1 then 9.0.2
Renamed the .cpd file
Imported one of the topics in the crashing project to a project that isn't crashing
Updating and renaming the .cpd file didn't work and importing the topic into a healthy project allowed the topic to open (so the topic doesn't seem corrupt).

Also using 9.0.2.271, I had exactly the same problem: open project, double-click a topic in the Topic List pane... crash.
However, immediately after opening the project I had Windows 7's blue 'busy' doughnut symbol constantly flashing under the mouse pointer. This is described (for RH8) in Peter Grainge's description on his excellent website (RoboHelp > Opening RoboHelp Projects). The same topic mentions the .hhp file, so I checked the contents of mine...
At the very end, in the [MERGE FILES] section, it listed two other .chm files; one which was supposed to be there, and one which was not (Dummy.chm). I had merged Dummy.chm only during the early testing stages of my project, and had long since removed all references to it from my project. I have no idea why it was still listed in the .hhp file.
I deleted the reference to Dummy.chm from the .hhp file and regenerated the project... and Dummy.chm reappeared in the .hhp file! After deep-searching my project files using NotePad++, one remaining reference to Dummy.chm was also listed in the .xpj file:
<file>
<name>Dummy.chm</name>
<comments></comments>
</file>
So I manually removed those lines and saved the .xpj using NotePad++, reopened the project using RoboHelp, and regenerated. The rogue reference to Dummy.chm is now gone. I have opened, saved, and closed the project several times and it now seems to be reliable.
Probable cause of bug: I had recently performed a cleanup of my project folder and deleted Dummy.chm, but unknown to me I suspect RoboHelp was still looking for it when opening the project, hence the permanent 'busy' doughnut and the crash when trying to do anything else, like opening a topic.

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 slow

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