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

Similar Messages

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

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

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

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
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 moments from now - $24.95!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcererStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

RoboHelp 8 for Word not installed with RoboHelp HTML?

My workplace just upgraded from RoboHelp Office 5x to RoboHelp 8. Come to find out, *all* that was installed was RoboHelp 8 HTML. The RoboHelp 8 for Word part of the application was not installed.
The department responsible for software installations says that they don't have the RoboHelp 8 Word program--that it didn't come with the RoboHelp download. They are insisting that it's not available, and will probably have to be purchased separately.
Has anyone else installed a volume license from a download?
If so, were the HTML and Word portions of the program both available?
Did both parts of the application install (HTML and Word)?
If one installer was used, was the the RoboHelp 8 for Word portion missing? (I.e., is this a bug?) Or did you get the whole thing?
If more than one installer was used, were the components downloaded in separate installation files? (Could someone have missed an installation file, in other words?)
FYI, please, I don't need all the advantages and reasons why I should use HTML Help or WebHelp instead. I work for a government agency, and need to just generate WinHelp to replace an existing Help file, not make everyone change a whole bunch of stuff to use WebHelp or a CHM file. I need WinHelp output from Word. And, one more thing: I do not have administrator access on my PC either.
Feedback, experiences, and suggestions welcome. Thanks in advance for your help!
Di

The licence you bought was for RoboHelp Office which includes both the RoboHelp for Word and RoboHelp HTML applications. Each of these three has it's own installation file so I suspect that they have installed just the RoboHelp HTML application. They should have the details for the RoboHelp for Word application, or better still the RoboHelp Office application which gives you the options of what to install according to your needs.
The RoboColum(n)
@robocolumn
Colum McAndrew

Pagination issues in Word output from RoboHelp HTML 8

Hi All,
We're generating a Word document from our online help (RoboHelp HTML 8) with MS Word 2003 installed. The page numbers inserted automatically are wrong in that it's skipping numbers. For example, in scrolling down through the document, the page number after 95 is 97. Sections of the doc are paginated correctly, but then we come to a few pages where it skips a number in assigning page numbers. Some of our users have MS Word 2003 and others have 2007, but the pagination issue is occurring in both versions of Word. (BTW, I'm developing WebHelp Pro on Windows XP.)
Today when I clicked in the Word TOC and pressed F9 to regenerate, it corrected some of the pagination problems but not all (go figure).
Is there a patch I need to download or anything?
Thank you!
Mendonite

Do the unnumbered pages have any content? This is ringing a vague bell and it was a Word issue related to blank pages.
Have you actually printed the document?
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
Follow me @petergrainge

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

Mapping Styles from Word 2010 to RoboHelp HTML 10

Hello all,
I have created customized styles for myself and my team to use for authoring content, which I then import to RoboHelp, as I am the only individual who understands RoboHelp and HTML/CSS. I created a corresponding CSS style sheet in RoboHelp to correspond with the names of the Word styles. When I go to import the files in RoboHelp, I am running in to an issue with paragraph tags and heading tags.
When I import a file from a Word document, I have not found a way to map a tag that is parsed from a Word document to an <h> tag, as heading tags do not appear as a selectable item in the Conversion Settings window when importing Word files. I would be able to keep the formatting if I left the headings as tags; however, it is my understanding that RoboHelp 10 search relies heavily on the heading tags for weighting search results. I have about 400 topics, and search is used heavily by those using my documentation. I would prefer to keep the <h> tags in place in the RoboHelp files and retain the search functionality, if at all possible, while finding an easier import option from Word files.
At this point, I have to manually change the HTML for each tag to match the correct heading style. While Find and Replace works well for this, I would prefer to have a seamless import from Word (which bloats an HTML file horrendously, I know) by mapping from one style to the next. Has anyone found a way to map a tag to an <h> tag so that the search functionality does not suffer? Or am I just approaching this the wrong way?

You are correct in your assumption that I am referring to paragraph styles when speaking of tags. The paragraph styles come over as tags, and I was just thinking of my style sheet. Sorry for the confusion.
Speaking of my workflow, I'm attempting to map the styles for one topic at a time when importing a new Word file. I set up a test project to test out my style sheet, as I am upgrading from RoboHelp 7 right now. .I need to get one document to map correctly to save the settings for future imports.
From the Import window, I click the Edit... button in the Word Document section. After RoboHelp scans the Word file, a list of all the styles from the Word document display. When I attempt to select from the available styles I want to map to from my RoboHelp style sheet, I don't have the option to select the heading styles I created in my RoboHelp CSS file. Does this provide you enough information to give you context on how I am attempting to map the styles?
I found this article that leads me to belive that RoboHelp does not support mapping to a customized heading style from a CSS file. I realize that this is around the printed output, but it states the following:
If custom heading styles aren’t named in the format Heading <number>, they are not treated as headings.
If it doesn't work going from HTML to printed output, I'm guessing that there is not support going from Word to HTML. Am I wrong in this assumption? Do I just need to alter my style sheet to only use the standard <h> tags to fix this issue?

Problems importing a Word doc into Robohelp HTML

I have a 116-page Word document with 13 chapters. When I
import this document into Robohelp HTML as a winhelp output file,
only two topics are created, rather than 13. On the Conversion
Options window, I select to have new topics created by Word style
"Heading 1" which are my chapter titles. Why doesn't Robohelp
create the topics, and what should I change to faciliate that?
Also, why don't my numbered lists from Word stay numbered in
Robohelp? Is there a way to automate numbered lists?

Thanks for your reply.
When I insert .gif files JDeveloper ends with a message saying "Process exited with exit code 0". I then go and check in the database and I find the image added to the table.
With a word doc, JDeveloper does not give that message. No message at all regarding what the status of the process is. And the document is not added to the database. No error messages too. Could this be an issue with Oracle?

Converting RoboHelp for Word to RoboHelp HTML (v8)

I have a RoboHelp for Word (started at v6, converted to v7, and now at v8) project that I want to convert to a RoboHelp HTML v8 project.
The RoboHelp for Word V8 looks good, works great and builds good looking WebHelp and MS Html Help finished outputs! But, I can't seem to figure out how to embed Captivate App Demos (SWF) into the project. Another post in these forums indicated that this is easy with RoboHelp HTML; and after some testing, indeed it is! Great.
Now - the question is, how do I get my existing (looks good, feels great) RoboHelp for Word V8 project imported into RoboHelp HTML V8?
I made a copy of my RHWord project directory (so as not to screw anything up) and then opened RHHTML and chose to import an existing HPJ project. When asked whether to keep the project file XPJ or go to HHP, I chose HHP.
During the conversion, I get lots of "images not valid; invalid chars" on GIF files that RHWord has no problem with. It will not display nor publish these GIF files. Actually, it does display some of the GIFs in the RHHTML dev env, but then doesn't publish them!
Also, during the conversion, it asks if you want a single CSS for each file or one CSS based on one of the WORD docs from the RHWord project. The default was the former, so I chose it. After the conversion, many of the topics have CSS data that appears at the top (e.g. long list of font names) that end up getting published also. So why did this happen?
Also, after the conversion, many of the topics have non-displayable characters that do not show up in the RHWord version; source or published version.
So - my question is, how do I correctly go from a RHWord project that seems to edit and publish just fine to a RHHTML project cleanly?
I have tried to be as detailed as possible on each of these issues, but if more is required, let me know.
Thanks much for your assistance,
Jeff
Message was edited by: jonestech

The original post included a complaint:
"After the conversion, many of the topics have CSS data that appears at the top (e.g. long list of font names) that end up getting published also"
I didn't spot an answer to this part of the problem. I may have missed it
I see this also in importig a RH8 WinHelp project for conversion to WebHelp. It's no big deal to just delete the font list in projects that have just a single original Word doc, but I have a number of projects that each contain hundreds of Word docs, and the font list is inserted tt the top of each converted htm file.
So I am motivated to find a solution...
Any ideas RH troops???

RoboHelp 7 for Word versus RoboHelp 7 HTML

RoboHelp 7 for Word versus RoboHelp 7 HTML
Can someone explain very simply when and why you use one but
not the other? I'm a little confused. We have RoboHelp 7 Server
installed and I think using RoboHelp 7 is the way to go, and I know
the server does allow to track usage, frequently viewed, etc. I
guess I just don't understand the purpose of RoboHelp 7 for Word -
what it is used for and it's capabilities when compared to HTML.
I have tons of pages of process documentation created from
Word. I need to make these available online thru RoboHelp, so am
just looking at different ways to distribute and explore all my
options. We're currently experiencing difficulties in publishing
RoboHelp HTML projects to the server.
Thanks!

Hi hughbetcha
If your output is going to be HTML based (and if you have
RoboHelp Server, it will be) then I would recommend RoboHelp HTML
hands down.
You might find the article linked below to be of value for
this:
Click
here and read
Cheers... Rick

Why Pick RoboHelp for Word vs RoboHelp HTML?

Getting started with RoboHelp. Everyone in our office knows
how to write in Word. Are there big advantages or disadvantages to
choosing to use RH Word vs RH HTML to work in? I want to avoid
kicking myself two months down the road.

Welcome to our community, WJohanRadGuy
I suppose I would counter that with:
Why drive a truck when you can drive a car?
Here's what I mean. Think of the output you are planning on
creating. Most of the output today falls into the HTML category.
Assuming that's the case for you, you would be well advised to use
a tool designed for working with HTML. So just as I wouldn't use my
car to haul plywood when a truck is more suited to the job, I would
opt for RoboHelp HTML over RoboHelp for Word.
I know it's seductive. Most everyone thinks they know how to
use Word. But if you are creating any type of HTML output, you will
likely find yourself hamstrung with making things behave as you
want using RoboHelp for Word where they are easy to accomplish
using RoboHelp HTML.
Also consider that the RoboHelp for Word user base is
shrinking daily as more folks move away from it (because it is the
only RoboHelp product that creates WinHelp systems) and toward
RoboHelp HTML. Vista prompted much of that exodus when Microsoft
announced WinHelp would no longer be supported in Vista. Yet it
lives on and I digress.
Hopefully I've not muddied the waters here.
Cheers... Rick

"RoboHelp for Word" vs "RoboHelp HTML"

Hi all,
I note there are two flavors for RoboHelp (wrt also working
with Word + importing + exporting):
- RoboHelp for Word
- RoboHelp HTML
Questions:
1. Am I right that it seems you can do everything with
RoboHelp HTML that you can do with RoboHelp for Word?
2. If not (1, above), what are the relative advantages and
disadvantages of each for starting a new RoboHelp project?
3. Is there a reason for ever trying to change application
for an existing RoboHelp project, and would there be expected any
particular conversion problems?
Tia,
- avi

Welcome to our community, Avi
I see you posted the question here as well as the TechShoret
list. I further see you have at least one reply over on TechShoret.
Here are my thoughts. Yes, you can do most of what RoboHelp
for Word can do using RoboHelp HTML. I say "Most" here because
there are a couple of things you can't do. You can't easily create
a .HLP file using RoboHelp HTML. RoboHelp HTML doesn't offer tabs
like you can use with RoboHelp for Word.
Now I realize that may sound a bit as if I'm saying that
RoboHelp for Word is superior to RoboHelp HTML. I'm not. As with
anything in life, there are trade offs and things to consider. In
this case, I would say you should consider the output type.
Most everything is moving away from WinHelp (.HLP files) and
toward an HTML based format. I noted the TechShoret reply mentioned
that with RoboHelp for Word, everything is stored in a single Word
file, vs having multiple HTML files with RoboHelp HTML. While this
is true, I would say that if your output is going to be HTML based,
you should seriously consider using an editor that was designed
from the ground up to support HTML. Let's face it. Anything HTML
coming from Word is a kludge, as Word was designed for print. There
are also some things that will constantly frustrate you if you
elect to use RoboHelp for Word and are creating HTML output.
So while it may seem an attractive option to use, I'd suggest
avoiding RoboHelp for Word and going with RoboHelp HTML.
Sincerely... Rick

What is new in RoboHelp 8 for Word ?

Did Adobe make any fixes or add any new stuff to the RH for Word with the version 8?
The only features they describe where RH for Word is mentioned on the Feature page was how to NOT install it by default.
Any one using this that used past versions see differences?

Hi there
Colum is a teensy bit misleading in his reply. Certainly he is spot on with most of it, but the bit about WinHelp not being supported out of the box on Vista is technically incorrect.
What is technically correct is that 32 bit WinHelp is not directly supported. The first time you attempt to run a 32 bit WinHelp file you are prompted to download the 32 bit WinHelp display engine. But support out of the box is there for 16 bit WinHelp with no download needed.
princess betty wrote:
I do generate a chm file for my own local use only because of the search highlight feature (this feature is not available in WebHelp output without using ctrl+f on each page)...
What version are you using? Search highlighting in WebHelp was introduced in version 7.
princess betty wrote:
...It is also easy to use because the Word knowledge lowers the learning curve. To abandon it would be sad....
The interface for RoboHelp HTML is easier to use than Word. The biggest hurdle many face is the loss of Tab Stops. You really would do yourself a favor if you tried RoboHelp HTML. It too is a very nice (and mature) product.
princess betty wrote:
I do use RoboHtml for some smaller help systems, but those are mostly help systems that contain less than 50 pages. To maintain my afore mentioned WebHelp system using RoboHtml would, unfortunately, very much decrease my productivity....
I'd say it depends greatly on how you structured your content. I never noticed that I had any sort of productivity loss as a result of switching. Sure, you have multiple documents with many topics in each document. In the RoboHelp HTML world each topic is an HTML page. But you knew that already. What I'm guessing may be news for you is that you may organize HTML pages into folders.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7 or 8 within the day - $24.95!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcerStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

Help file fails to generate RoboHelp 7 and Word 2003

Hello, I am back again with a new struggle. I am creating a WinHelp4 file for an older application using Word 2003 and Robohelp 7. There are several different results regardless of whether I make updates, corrections, add jumps, change Topic IDs or do nothing when I click on generate:
1. sometimes it generates and works perfectly, just not very often, usually between 8 and 805am ET.
2. sometime it will generate an error: Failed to compile
3. another error: filename.rtf does not exist, but it is there in the folder
4. generates a Warning, but I don't know what the warning is as it does not show it
5. generates a blank Help with only a single glossary definition
6. not enough memory ( 1 gb is available)
7. corrupted file, rerun and it works...sometimes
I have:
1. Started over
2. Rebooted
3. Uninstalled and reinstalled RoboHelp 7 and all updates
4. Tried adding one item (jump, new topic, changed topic, updates to TOC, renamed anything) at a time and then generated file
5. Create an html from Word...I know silly but it worked some of the time.
I feel like there must be a setting error I missing or something hidden that I need to remove. There is something or a very big bug! I can't find anything and RoboHelp 7, Word 2003 and creating Winhelp4 files have been fine the last 2 months...now...not so fine.
Please help! I am so close to finished!
Thanks,
and if this isn't enough, I cannot generate a print to PDF either, but used to!

I wish I could try on a different PC. This is a government facility and that is not an option. There are only 2 of us who have RH and I think the other person may have left last week...what luck!
As far as anything else running, that is possible....I may try disconnecting the network and see if it will work...that should check it, right?
Background resources are very probable as their are virus scanners and who knows what else...my rights are very limited, no Admin rights to the machine.
It just amazes me that it has worked and now at the very final stage and updates it will not. I am in early when it usually works, 745a ET and it failed. These are the error messages and I usually get this type:
Warning - HC4004: datcap.rtf is not an RTF (Rich Text Format) file.
Warning - HC4009: The Topic ID "Data_Capture_Operations" specified in the Project files as the Default Topic does not exist.
What is odd, is they are both there and have worked consistently up until this recent failure....cannot complile.
I know this is long, but here is the notpad error:
Starting compilation...
WinHelp preprocessor 7.01.002
Compiling C:\Documents and Settings\jkmalone1\My Documents\My RoboHelp Projects\CRS On Line Help Individual\DATCAP\!SSL!\WinHelp_4\DATCAP.hlp ...
Preparing to create WinHelp...
Clearing output folder...
Filtering out conditional text...
Processing DATCAP.rtf...
Processing DATCAP.rtf...
Removing watermarks...
Processing DATCAP.rtf...
Collecting Topics' Information...
Processing DATCAP.rtf...
Removing broken jumps...
Finished preparing in 4 sec(s)
Generating WinHelp system...Microsoft (R) Help Compiler
HCRTF 4.03.0002
Copyright (c) Microsoft Corp 1990 - 1995. All rights reserved.
Datcap.hpj
HC4004: Warning:
datcap.rtf is not an RTF (Rich Text Format) file.
HC4009: Warning:
The Topic ID "Data_Capture_Operations" specified in the Project files as the Default Topic does not exist.
3 Topics
0 Jumps
0 Keywords
0 Bitmaps
Created C:\DOCUME~1\jkmalone1\Local Settings\Temp\RHTemp12\Datcap.hlp, 13,205 bytes
Compile time: 0 minutes, 0 seconds
0 notes, 2 warnings
Finished compiling WinHelp in 6 sec(s)
Compilation complete.
WinHelp (WinHelp 4) was built successfully:
C:\Documents and Settings\jkmalone1\My Documents\My RoboHelp Proj
There has to be something causing this...it ran quickly this am but failed with the above Warning errors. The file is not successful although it built a sort of Help...one definition of one word....and nothing else.
Suggestions:
Thank you for taking an interest...this has me so puzzled.

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--

RoboHelp HTML v. Word

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