Robohelp server or desktop

hi there,
We have to write help files for our various products.
What are the major difference in server and desktop version.
Precisely, i am looking for anwers of :
1. can we create independent (does not look for robohelp
server to get data) executable files (.exe, .htm) so that we can
link it to our application software.
2. if we buy RoboHelp Desktop, then what are we MISSING...if
we buy robohelp server
thanks for your expert knowledge sharing in advance.
regards,
Rohit Kumar
Decision Support Specialist.
Toronto Rehab Institute
Toronto
[email protected]

While many of the RoboHelp Server administrative tasks can be performed from the browser-based Web Admin app, certain basic configuration tasks require Configuration Manager. That app is strictly accessed from the server itself. Most folks set up a Windows Remote Desktop Connection to the server desktop and use it that way. Of course this requires getting permissions and access to the server from your desktop.
Is this what you mean?
John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Consultant
Evergreen, Colorado
www.showmethedemo.com

Similar Messages

Robohelp Server 7.0 vs Robohelp Desktop version

hi there,
We have to write help files for our various products.
What are the major difference in server and desktop version.
Precisely, i am looking for anwers of :
1. can we create independent (does not look for robohelp
server to get data) executable files (.exe, .htm) so that we can
link it to our application software.
2. if we buy RoboHelp Desktop, then what are we MISSING...if
we buy robohelp server
thanks for your expert knowledge sharing in advance.
regards,
Rohit Kumar
Decision Support Specialist.
Toronto Rehab Institute
Toronto
[email protected]

Hi Rohit.
RoboHelp 7 client (or desktop) is the tool used to produce
the help documentation output files. It allows numerous output
types to be generated, one of which is Webhelp Pro. Webhelp is
designed to be located on a server, website or intranet. Webhelp
Pro is a version of Webhelp designed specifically for the RoboHelp
7 Server product.
RoboHelp 7 Server takes Webhelp Pro output and publishes it
to a server. It's main advantages are that it allows you to produce
reports of the usage of the help to identify its usefulness. It
also allows you to include standalone files and make them
searchable to the user. This includes PDFs, HTM and MS Office files
but not .EXE files. To be honest I can't see what could usefully be
included in a .EXE file that would be useful to a user of the help.
So in summary, you need a copy of RoboHep 7 to produce your
help output (Webhelp Pro) and a copy of RoboHep 7 Server to publish
the help to the Server and get the usage/search capabilities. If
you don't want these capabilities you can do without RoboHelp 7
Server and still publish Webhelp output to a server.
BTW I'd remove your email address from your post if I was
you. If you don't you'll be offered all sorts of additional
(non-RH) advice involving parts of your anatomy, world peace and
financial well being.

Is RoboHelp Server the solution for us?

Hi all,
I'm trying to figure out whether RH Server is the solution for us. I've seen a few similar posts in the forums, but none that really answer my specific questions. I'm hoping for feedback from someone with experience in RH Server, who is perhaps in a similar situation to us.
We are a software development company, creating desktop software for PCs. We have three main applications, and approximately 20,000 users. I am the company's (only) Tech Writer.
Currently I provide documentation (user guides) to our clients in the form of the good ol' CHM file. I develop these in RH8. Each of our applications is bundled with an installed CHM file which users access by pressing F1. I'm sure you're all familiar with this process. Our users run our software on their own systems, completely independent of us - there's no connection to us whatsoever. However, they all have Internet access, as it's a requirement for them to be able to use certain functionality within our applications. Hold that thought.
I also write Knowledge Base Articles in MS Word, as PDFs, which users access via our web site. Internal to our organisation, I provide KBAs and other such material for our Technical Support staff. These aren't available/accessible to the public. I write these in Word because they need to be sent around to a team of reviewers from time-to-time, and whilstI'm the only person with RH installed, everyone has Word.
What I'm hoping to achieve with RH Server is this:
Do away with the old CHM files that our users have. They're just awful. I'm hoping that in future, when our users press F1 from within our applications, they will be taken to a corresponding page on a web site or AIR page similar to what the Adobe Help looks like when we access it from RoboHelp. Forgive my ignorance if I've used incorrect terminology. That way they'll always be reading the latest Help content, live, online, instead of what I wrote last time we sent a product update out. I imagine our programmers will have to edit the functionality behind the action of our users pressing F1 in our applications. Has anyone done this? Are there any issues we should be aware of? What happens if our users don't currently have Internet access, for example - is it possible to call a local version of the Help instead, if this is detected? Has anyone done this with a similar number of users to us? We could well have 100s of users trying to access the system simultaneously.
Gather feedback from users. From what I understand, we'll be able to use RH Server to see which Help topic/content is being viewed, and also receive feedback from users. Can anyone give me feedback on their experiences with this? Any tips/hints/issues I need to be aware of? Is it possible for us to determine which users accessed which content? Remember, the idea is that users should be able to access this content by pressing F1 - I don't want them to have to sign in every time they need to access our Help system - it should be seamless to them. So, I'm wondering how it would be possible to track user usage without making them sign in. This is important to us because some of our content is region-specific, and it would be handy to know if users from those regions are actually accessing the Help content that relates to them.
Host our internal documentation on the same server as our public documentation. Is it possible to host all of our internal, private documentation on the same RH Server, making it available to our Tech Support team (and other internal teams) only? I imagine we could do this by password-protecting it, but I want to ensure that the public don't even know it exists. ...and our Tech Support people would not be impressed with having to sign in every time they wanted to access their Knowledge Base. Any tips here regarding locking down / restricting access to content?
A quick note about collaboration:
Currently, although the Help menus are developed in RH, the KBAs and other PDF documents are written in MS Word. I send them around to a team of reviewers who add their comments/edits and send them back to me. From what I understand, this is something I can do with RH10 - export PDFs and send them around for review, combining the results later, at which time I give them a final review before publishing. Have I understood this correctly? Does RH Server play a part in this process? Can I use RH Server's feedback capabilities as a mechanism for my review team to make edits/comments? I guess I'm trying to get an understanding of how sophisticated the RH Server feedback system is. If I can use RH Server to have the team read/review documents, it'll save me having to manage a bunch of Word documents that I email them. It'll also minimise the chance that a redundant document gets distributed by mistake - something that can occur because people use their locally-saved documents I emailed them earlier, instead of the finals.
Thank you.

Hi, symmetricalMan
Let's see if I can tackle some of these "inline". There are a lot of moving parts to your system (you're a busy guy!)
I only have time for a few of these. Perhaps Colum McAndrew and others will chime it with their experiences.
>>they will be taken to a corresponding page on a web site or AIR page similar to what the Adobe Help looks like when we access it from RoboHelp.
It would be WebHelp Pro in the scenario you mention (not AIR Help).
By "taken to a corresponding page" you are referring to Context Sensitive Help which RoboHelp Server does support (including your F1 scenario).
>>What happens if our users don't currently have Internet access, for example - is it possible to call a local version of the Help instead, if this is detected?
Hmm. You could either package a plain WebHelp (not Pro) output and distribute for access on a share drive. The detection thing would be up to your developers. Come to think of it, AIR Help does have a potential alternative here which might be worth looking into. Obviously, there would be two systems to maintain. I'm not up to date on it, but you'll find info here in the online help: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/robohelp/robohtml/WS81F63111-6ACF-4a02-B2B2-461FEBFA8093.html
>>.we'll be able to use RH Server to see which Help topic/content is being viewed, and also receive feedback from users.
Actually, the "feedback" is anonymous (no names are collected.) You can however, create "Areas" and analyze the traffic on topics according to sub-sets of your users.
The feedback is not direct from the users. In other words, RoboHelp Server (at least for now) does not support Commenting (as AIR Help does). So Feedback Reports are derived from the end-users "surfing" your site and collecting their search terms verbatim to get an idea of what they are searching for in order to improve your content.
>>So, I'm wondering how it would be possible to track user usage without making them sign in.
RH Server Sites do not have to be "Protected" by authentication. It is your choice. You can have some sites (called Areas) that are authenticated and some sites that are not authenticated, all on the same RH Server. RoboHelp Server uses a database and can authenticate users (by setting up protected "Areas".) However, my networking knowledge is limited and you would have to ask someone else about "persistent logins" etc.
>>content is region-specific, and it would be handy to know if users from those regions are actually accessing the Help content that relates to them.
Yes, you can do this. This is where RoboHelp Server can be used to create "Areas" for different content to be delivered to different audiences.
>>Is it possible to host all of our internal, private documentation on the same RH Server,
Yes you can. However the Tech Support sign in scenario question would have to be answered by someone else. It's hard to know from where I sit.
>>RH10 - export PDFs and send them around for review, combining the results later, at which time I give them a final review before publishing
Yes, this workflow would seem to work for you. However, RoboHelp Server plays no role in this review one way or the other. There are many alternatives for sharing the PDF which is described in the documentation.
See #6 on this page:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/robohelp/robohtml/WS1b49059a33f77726-2db1c75912bc47baaf8-7ffb. html
You should also download the Adobe RoboHelp Server Reviewer's Guide which also has videos embedded.
http://www.adobe.com/support/documentation/en/robohelp/9/AdobeRoboHelpServer9_ReviewersGui de.pdf
Hope this helps
John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor
Evergreen, Colorado
www.showmethedemo.com
Twitter: @hypertexas

RoboHelp Server 7 Help System Errors

Whenever I publish my RH 7 Help project to server, I check
the RoboHelp Server Web Administrator for errors. I always get Help
System Error "Requested file cannot be found" for a file called
bsscfp.txt. To my knowledge, this is a control file generated
during the publishing process. If this is the case why is an error
being generated for a file I have no control over? Also, I find the
Troubleshooting section of RoboHelp Server Web Administrator to be
rather useless in correcting issues. Is there any reference
documentation that explains some of the cryptic error messages that
appear in the Server Web Administrator screen?

Hi, ouque and welcome to the forum.
Just to clarify your setup. When you say "Project pane" are
you referring to the Configuration Manager on the server itself.
Or, are you referring to something you are seeing from the RoboHelp
authoring client app's Server Administration pane?
If you have access to the actual server desktop and view the
Configuration Manager, sometimes on a new installation, you can do
a "refresh" and the project will show up.
A few more questions:
Have you tried accessing the website and does the project
come up in the web browser?
On what kind of web server did you install RHS7? Windows
2003, etc.?
Is Microsoft Indexing Services turned on?
Apparently you were able to successfully publish your project
to the server so there is "communication" between your desktop and
the server I gather.
A few more details and we'll try to help.
Thanx,
john

RoboHelp Server 7 Projects Not Displaying

After installing a trial version of RoboHelp Server 7 and
publishing a WebHelpPro help system to RHS7server, the project does
not display in the Project pane of RHS7. Does anyone have any idea
why the project does not display in the Project pane?

Hi, ouque and welcome to the forum.
Just to clarify your setup. When you say "Project pane" are
you referring to the Configuration Manager on the server itself.
Or, are you referring to something you are seeing from the RoboHelp
authoring client app's Server Administration pane?
If you have access to the actual server desktop and view the
Configuration Manager, sometimes on a new installation, you can do
a "refresh" and the project will show up.
A few more questions:
Have you tried accessing the website and does the project
come up in the web browser?
On what kind of web server did you install RHS7? Windows
2003, etc.?
Is Microsoft Indexing Services turned on?
Apparently you were able to successfully publish your project
to the server so there is "communication" between your desktop and
the server I gather.
A few more details and we'll try to help.
Thanx,
john

How do i connect to exchange server remote desktop

Hi, hope someone can point me in the right direction.
I have recently purchased a macbook pro and wish to
connect to our office server which is a windows exchange server (remote desktop).
Which steps do I need to take.
Many Thanks,
Rob K.

Anyone able to help ?
I used to be abale to access my company email when the URL for webmail was "email.COMPANY.co.uk" but recently it was changed to "webmail.COMPANY.co.uk" and now my iphone cannot verify my account.
Any ideas ?
I have the following info (selected pieces removed for privacy.
Mailbox owner: XXXXX
User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 7.0; Windows NT 6.1; Trident/5.0; SLCC2; .NET CLR 2.0.50727; .NET CLR 3.5.30729; .NET CLR 3.0.30729; Media Center PC 6.0; .NET4.0C; chromeframe/18.0.1025.58)
The required version of Silverlight is installed: Yes
Required version of Silverlight: 2.0.31005.0
Outlook Web App experience: Premium
User language: English (United Kingdom)
User time zone: (UTC) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
Exchange mailbox address:XXXX
Host address: https://webmail.COMPANY.co.uk/owa
Version: 14.2.247.5
Host name: webmail.COMPANY.co.uk
S/MIME control: not installed
Exchange Client Access server name: XXXX
Exchange Client Access server .NET Framework version: 2.0.50727.5446
Client Access server operating system version: Microsoft Windows NT 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1
Client Access server operating system language: en-US
Client Access server version: 14.2.247.0
Client Access server language: en-US
Client Access server time zone: (UTC) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
Client Access server platform: 64bit
Mailbox server name: XXXX.XXXX.local
Mailbox server Microsoft Exchange version: 14.2.247.0
Other Microsoft Exchange server roles currently installed on the Client Access server: Hub Transport
Authentication type associated with this Outlook Web App session: Kerberos
Public logon: Yes
Internal POP setting:
     Server name: XXXX.XXXX.local
     Port: 995
     Encryption method: SSL
Internal IMAP setting:
     Server name: XXXX.XXXX.local
     Port: 993
     Encryption method: SSL
Custom Forms: loaded
Segmentation settings: fffffffeefc3ffff
Restricted functionality settings: fffffffeefc3ffff

Can I use RoboSource without buying RoboHelp Server?

I work for a University that has just purchased a new
database system (Advance for the Web) from SunGard Higher Ed. The
system came with on-line documentation written in RoboHelp that we
can edit to suit the needs of our institution. We could have edited
the individual HTML topics (about 1,300 of them total) without
RoboHelp, but instead we opted to purchase RoboHelp 7 in order to
have the entire pre-existing help project. I am the sole editor of
this project.
I would like to be able to use the RoboSource application in
order to track changes that I make to the pre-existing help topics,
but when I tried to add version control to my project, it prompted
me to create a connection to a database. Our database lives on a
remote server that is password protected. I tried to make the
connection, but I received the following error message: "No
connection could be made because the target machine actively
refused it." The RoboSource on-line documentation describes how to
create a database, but I don't need a new database because ours
already exists... I just can't connect to it via the RoboSource
application. That's my first problem.
The second problem: Even if there is a way to circumvent the
"remote server database issue" and create a "Help" database on my
local machine, I can't figure out how I would DO that. The
RoboSource on-line documentation says the following: "Unlike in
previous versions, creating a database for RoboSource Control 3.1
is not done within the RoboSource Control Explorer, but within a
stand-alone application - the RoboSource Server Configuration
Utility.” Does this mean that I need the RoboHelp Server, or
is there a RoboSource Server, too? Do I HAVE to have one (or both)
of these products in order to use version control?
Please help me. I'm not a technical person, but the people
who I work with who ARE technical people don't understand what I
need to do, either.

@ Gravenstein
Thanks for your response.
>>...We are using three clients and one server. We have
installed the server component together with the client component
on a local PC. That's why I don't know whether the server component
needs a licence key or not. But it should not have to.
I haven't described it correct. We are using 3 clients to
work with. One of these clients has also the server installed. So
the database is not on a server machine but on a local PC. Now we
want to get the database away from the local PC to a server
machine. That's why I wonder if the installation of RSC Server on a
server asks for a licence key?!?
>>...This server doesn't need the robohelp environment
to edit topics, it only needs the server component. This should be
possible to install without asking for a licence key.
>> That is correct. At least that's the way it works
with RH6.
What do you mean with "that's the way it works with RH6"? How
about RH7? Does it work similar? I hope so, because we want to
upgrade and to move the database from the local PC to our server
machine after the upgrade.
By the way, does it function to copy the old database from
the local (server) PC to the server machine and after changing the
clients settings to work with the new server they could use the old
database in the new folder of the server machine again? Or do we
have to write the projects from every client to the new server
machine manually to work with the version control after changing
the server? I'm asking this because I don't know what is stored in
the database. If the folder name of the database is stored in the
database, it doesn't work any longer if it is moved to another
folder!?

RoboHelp Server 8/Active Directory

Hi again,
After moving my install of RoboHelp Server from our Windows Server 2008 R2 server to an older Windows Server 2003 Web Edition box, I was able to get RoboHelp Server talking to SQL Server 2008 through ODBC. Now on to the next problem. I've been trying to configure LDAP authentication against Active Directory, which I can see from a post from NSC_Gillis last August, it looks like there's a problem here.
My setup now consists of:
RoboHelp Server 8 installed on Windows Server 2003 Web Edition with Tomcat 6.0.26 and JRE 1.6.20.
The relevant config section from my <context_name>_server.properties file:
#To use LDAP authentication , uncomment the following...
authtype = ldap
ldapURL = ldap://<subdomain>.<domain>.com:389
usersearchbase = DC=<subdomain>,DC=<domain>,DC=com
rolesearchbase = DC=<subdomain>,DC=<domain>,DC=com
useridkey = uid
rolename = cn
rolesearch = member
DefAdminUid = <UidOfAdmin>
DefAdminPwd =
This yields one of ththe following two results when attempting to subsequently log in to the Web Administrator interface:
Error in LDAP authentication.
javax.naming.AuthenticationException: [LDAP: error code 49 - 80090308: LdapErr: DSID-0C0903A9, comment: AcceptSecurityContext error, data 52e, v1db0
Error in LDAP authentication.
javax.naming.AuthenticationException: [LDAP: error code 49 - 80090308: LdapErr: DSID-0C0903AA, comment: AcceptSecurityContext error, data 325, v1772
Both of these errors indicate that when RoboHelp Server is attempting ldap_bind(), that it is doing so with bad credentials. When it comes to Active Directory, these credentials have to be in the form of a valid User Principal Name (UPN) and a password, which given the configuration data above, we're never able to provide one. And since I've been able to configure Tomcat itself to use a JNDI Realm for authentication successfully against the same said Active Directory, I have to assume RoboHelp Server is attempting to do an anonoymous ldap_bind() which just won't work with Active Directory.
If someone can provide some guidance at this point, I'd be grateful.
I admit, for a product that is released only for use on the Windows platform, to include LDAP functionality, but then break it so it won't work with Active Directory, or at least to provide little to no guidance/documentation on how to get it to work, seems patience testing at the least.
If we cannot get this resolved, we will be forced to review our future use of the RoboHelp/RoboHelp Server products as a whole.
Thanks,
Scott

Hi Scott,
RoboHelp Server doesn't do an anoymouse LDAP bind. It uses the ldap user id and password provided in the properties file. Please note that for RoboHelp Server configured with LDAP, "DefAdminUid" property in robohelp_server.properties should be set to a valid LDAP user principal and "DefAdminPwd" property should be set to LDAP password of that user principal.
Regards
Tulika.

How complicated is it to implement Robohelp Server for multiple authors?

I am presently the lone techical writer in my company and I use Robohelp HTML V8 to generate WebHelp for our software. The RH software has been upgraded from an original V5 Robohelp full license, to a V7 upgrade and then a V8 upgrade.
I am investigating the use of Robohelp Server to open the possibility of adding another author, and would like to know how complicated it is. Do we still need to buy two seat licenses for Robohelp V9 as well as Robohelp Server V9, or are they included with the Server license? Also, are there any concerns for upgrading V8 project to V9?
If this information is already covered somewhere in the forums, please feel free to point me in that direction. I have not been able to find it myself. Thanks in advance!

Hi Sheryl
Indeed what you likely want is some form of source control. And certainly, splitting the project up and making different folks "captain of their own ship", is one way to roll.
But it sounds like you may have either misunderstood or had the RoboSource control misconfigured. With any source control system, the way it usually works is by storing all the content on the server in the source control database. But for each client connecting to the database, you establish what is called a "Working Folder". And that is usually on each local PC. When you check files out, they are copied to the working folder. So you work locally, but the application handles copying them back and forth to and from the server as you work. That way, you shouldn't be seeing performance issues.
Cheers... Rick
Helpful and Handy Links
RoboHelp Wish Form/Bug Reporting Form
Begin learning RoboHelp HTML 7, 8 or 9 within the day!
Adobe Certified RoboHelp HTML Training
SorcerStone Blog
RoboHelp eBooks

Robohelp Server Reports - No Data with Webhelp Pro Output

We recently installed Robohelp Server and while the admin client recognizes our published project, the searched term reports return 'no data found'. Is there additional configuration that needs to take place?
Thanks!

Hi, snorshd and welcome to the forums.
Be sure you read this Blog post announcing a new "Update" patch to RoboHelp Server 9.
https://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2014/03/robohelp-server-update-9-0-1-is-here.html
This article also links to the update documentation found here:
http://helpx.adobe.com/robohelp/kb/robohelp-server-update-901.html
Also, make sure your admin follows all the steps in the install/config online help topics:starting here;
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/RoboHelp/9.0/RoboEngine/WS5b3ccc516d4fbf351e63e3d11c0aaa9fd7-8 000.html
See if that helps.
Thanks
John Daigle
Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor
Evergreen, Colorado
www.showmethedemo.com

Can't Publish from Robohelp HTML 7 to Robohelp server 8

Please help. I have looked everywhere for answers. Here is my problem.
Environment
I have a windows XP machine with robohelp html 7 and the 7.0.3 patch installed. I am testing the trial version of robohelp server 8 for 30 days. The installation of the robohelp server 8 application when ok. I think. I am able to login as admin in the robohelp server web adminstrator application and also able to go the main page (http://mvrobohelp:8080/robohelp/). The congratulations! screen appears.
Problem
When I published the webhelp pro project from the workstation, it does its thing and end with the message that said "successfully published to "Bankway Headquarters". I go to the robohelp 8 server and login as admin and I do not see the project "Bankway Headquarters" in the projects screen under the general area. It looks like the robohelp server does not finish publishing the project.
Client PC messages
Finished applying Template in 6 sec(s)
Finished compiling WebHelp Pro in 378 sec(s)
Successfully published to "Bankway Headquarters".
Thanks for any help in advance

Hi Jose,
We have been using RH7 client to publish to RS8 server for about 2 months now. We have a master project/subproject setup and we too have been unable to get the Web Administration tool to allow us to see our projects by using the "View Project" button. They are listed under projects, but do not display correctly. Also, we are unable to see our complete master project with all of the embedded subprojects using the URL that Adobe supplies (e.g., http://<server>:<port>/robohelp/server). The Adobe response to this was that there was something wrong with our publishing mechanism (whatever that means!).
However, the good news is that we can view our projects just fine by using this path instead: http://<server>:<port>/robohelp/robo/server/general/projects/<master project>/<master project start page.htm>
Now, we are not using any of the context or area stuff so this works. We were also told that in bypassing the default method, we would be unable to get the usage statistics (e.g., frequently asked questions, etc). However, we have not experienced this. We are able to collect the metrics and access the reports using the Web Administration tool.
I'm not sure if this will satisfy your requirements, but for us, that was the only way to get to our project to view the complete master/subproject setup. Let me know if you figure out a different solution. I'd be very interested in doing this the "right way" if we can get it to work.
-Kristen

Robohelp Server - URL Invoke with Topic Id/Map Id

Hi All,
A Webhelp Pro project is deployed to the Robohelp Server.
I would like to know. invoking the Robohelp server for contextive sensitive help using Topic Id or Map Id.
The reason being, the Robohelp is being created for an already existing application for which internal Page Indentifers exists. These page identifiers are used as Map Id/Topic Id in Robohelp. So it would be easy to invoke a CSH with Mapid.
Thanks,
sdesab.

Hi,
Thank you for looking into this.
Let me reframe my question,
If the Map File looks like this,
#define MainPage_H
2
#define PointMainPage_H
3
Instead of calling the CSH on Robohelp Server as below,
http://localhost:8080/robohelp/server?prj=HumanResources&area=general& wnd=CSHWindow&ctxid=2
I would like to call the CSH as below
http://localhost:8080/robohelp/server?prj=HumanResources&area=general& wnd=CSHWindow&ctxid=MainPage_H
The reason being the Alias name(MainPage_H) is the Page Identifier in my existing application, the same being used as the Alias in Robohelp.
Please let me know if my approach is incorrect or cannot be done this way.
Please suggest me or point me the right way of doing it.
Thanks,
sdesab.

Upgrading from RoboEngine 3.1 to RoboHelp Server 9

Old-time user, new ID. My company recently upgraded from RoboHelp 4 to RoboHelp 9. (Yes, we're slow about some things.) I was recently asked to upgrade our WebHelp Pro output, which had been posted to an old RoboEngine 3.1 server. Of course, the new RoboHelp 9 output does not play well with RE 3.1, and I got a "RoboHelp Engine server is not available" message when I attempted to upgrade the output. After doing a little research, I discovered that this lack of backward compatibility began with RoboHelp 7.
Fortunately, I made backups of my old WebHelp Pro output, and our users can still access the Help files. But I've been tasked with researching the upgrade path from our old version to the new one. So here's what I'd like to know:
Is buying RoboHelp Server 9 sufficient?
Is the process of publishing the Help files to the server reasonably similar?
The server that hosts RE 3.1 is a Windows 2000 machine. Will I be able to run RH Server 9 on it?
Will I need to provide new URLs for the Help links inside our Internet-based software after the upgrade, or will the old links, which use the format http://machine.org/roboapi.asp?project=ProjectName, still work?
Thanks in advance for your help. Nice to see that Rick, Colum, and Peter are still firing the big guns around here. I feel strangely reassured, as if everything will work out just fine
Chet

Welcome back Chet. I nearly typed the obligatory "Welcome to the RH forums" greeting when I saw your single post but that doesn't seem right here
The issue here is that the underlying RoboHelp and RoboHelp Server code was completely rewritten in Java. Personally I'm surprised you managed to get RH9 output running on RE 3.1 at all. It just goes to show what a error tolerant application it is.
You'd be far better off upgrading both the client and the server applications. I think you'll be surprised at just how easy RHServer is to install and use these days. No more fiddling with permissions. As for publishing, you still have a WebHelp Pro SSL in RH9. It does have some additional options and the UI of the RH Server application will have changed also. There is a lot of new functionality. You may find that the URL for the help is different though. There is an excellent guide that is worth reading called the RoboHelp Server Reviewers Guide. You can find it here and it will answer a lot of your questions.
One thing you may want to consider is migrating the data from RE3.1 to RHServer 9. The new app has a migration tool that can migrate from an earlier release. However I am not sure if it could cope with data from RE3.1. You could try, and it is doesn't get the data into the new database with SQL.
Colum

Problems setting up Tomcat with RoboHelp Server V8

Hi,
My Systems Administrator is trying to set up RoboHelp Server version 8 for me. he has been following the Adobe Installation guide and has got as far as page 10 where it tells him to install and configure IIS and TomCat, at this point he says he does not understand what he should be doing. He has not installed TomCat before and it is telling him to configure the tomcat directory and although he has tried using what it says it comes up with an error the directory does not exist.
He is using:
Windows 2008 Server Standard
IIS 7.0
TomCat 6.0.20
SQL Server 2008 express SP1 - this is the latest version the adobe instructions says RooHelp Server works with SQL Server 2008 but does not mention express not sure if that could be a problem?
MS Report Viewer 2008 SP1
Java V6 Update 12
He says the installation guide talks about a directory with Win32 in it which does not appear on his machine its a 64 bit machine.
Please can someone give me some instructions on how to set up the TomCat part - I have looked but the troubleshooting that adobe has does not seem to be for Windows 2008 only Vista and XP and even then it says nothing about setting up TomCat
Thanks in advance
Erika

Erika
Not an area I can help with but try this post. http://forums.adobe.com/thread/204737?tstart=0
Also look through the forum. There are some detailed posts on this.
Finally take a look at http://notcolin.wordpress.com. There are some relevant blogs there.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips

Search external files on RoboHelp Server

With the RoboHelp Server (previously called the RoboEngine)
installed on a server, you can add external files to your WebHelp
or FlashHelp project and have the Search tab also search the
contents of those files (PDF, DOC, XLS, PPT, and HTML). All you
have to do is create an HTTP or FTP link to the external files and
the RoboHelp Server will scan them and add them to the search
index.

Hi, rune1io
From what I understand, the (PPT, DOC, XLS, TXT, and PDF)
files would have to be included in the project, either in baggage
files or placed in the root of your project folder on the server.
Here is a snip from the online help regarding this:
<snip>
Enhanced indexing support for Search
In RoboHelp Server 8, for all the WebHelp Pro and FlashHelp
Pro projects, you can search for any topics and baggage files (PPT,
DOC, XLS, TXT, and PDF) included in a project. You can also add a
reference to these files in a topic, and the baggage files are
displayed in the search results.
For server-side indexing, you can copy the required baggage
files to the project folder. The RoboHelp server reads these files
and re-creates the index at the time of scheduled scanning. Also,
if you do not include these baggage files in the project, the
server still indexes them, provided they exist in the project
folder.
</snip>
So it seems that a link to an external file via HTTP or FTP
would not be indexed. I will try to seek further clarification on
this, but that's the way I read it.
Thanx,
john

Robohelp server or desktop

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