Using RoboHelp 7 CHM Output on a Server

CHM output from RoboHelp 7 (6, . . .), as well as any
application that produced CHM, will not load on a network device.
This is a known issue confirmed by Adobe. When Microsoft
Security Update 896358 was installed to address remote code
execution, chm files located on a server will not work load.
Typically, a single "Page Cannot Be Displayed" message appears when
you attempt to open the CHM.
My employer wishes to use the compiled output on SharePoint
and is asking me why we cannot. : - (
The only fix I've found, beyond downloading the file locally,
is to hack the registry.
Does anyone have a fix or suggestion?

Hi again Joe
As for books, all there is to the best of my knowledge is
Kevin Siegel's "Skills and Drills" book. It's intended to help you
learn RoboHelp with no instructor present and no help from anyone
else. It is the guide that many of us RoboHelp instructors use as
an outline. (Of course we add lots of additional value by offering
what the book doesn't cover) If you go looking on Amazon, beware
that a "RoboHelp 7 for Dummies" book also exists. But it is
severely outdated. This is because RoboHelp 7 was the "new" version
back in 1998! (Yeah, Adobe didn't conform to the logical standard.
If they had, version 7 would have been version 14. Version 7 is
logically version 15.)
Not sure what to advise about the .CHM issue other than to
ask if you have used the Single Source Layouts folder and tried
double-clicking the layout. That action tells RoboHelp to generate
the output. If you try that, what do you see? Do you see a dialog
with a button labeled "View Result"? If so, what happens when you
click it?
Cheers... Rick

Similar Messages

Using Skins for CHM output

I don't suppose that there is any possibility that Adobe has
programmed (or hinted that they might possibly consider
programming) RoboHelp so that users can incorporate Skins into CHM
output help files yet?
I know that it is possible using the work-around that has
kindly been provided by RoboWizard - however this is something
people have been asking for for as long as I have been using
RoboHelp - at least 6 years - and probably long before that!
It was logged numerous times (by myself at least) as an
enhancement request via the provided method and still (as far as I
can see - although I am currently using v6 still) there appears to
be no sign of this being a feature of the product.
Does anyone have any updates/progress reports on this?
Thanks muchly

Thanks for that - you were quick off the mark! Read my post
and responded even before I had a chance to correct the triple post
mistake!
I wonder whether it is worth adding a separate post
requesting the option to delete unwanted posts (of your own of
course) from the forums - rather than just providing the facility
for users to edit them :o)

Converting .chm files to pdf files using robohelp

Can we convert .chm files to pdf files using robohelp plz?
any help regarding this would be appreciated.
kohsa

Welcome to the forum.
Wrong workflow. The RH project that created the CHM can
produce other outputs. What you do is create a printed output as
described in the Printed Documentation article on my site. Don't be
put off by the length of the article. Producing the output is
simple but the article explains pretty much everything in detail.
In theory you can output direct to PDF but most people find
there are some tweaks they want to make in Word first, better page
breaks and so on. You can also create the PDF from Word.

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

Problems generating WebHelp output using RoboHelp X5

Hello,
I have been using RoboHelp X5, build 606 since last 2 weeks. I am facing problems with the generation of WebHelp output, when I generate and publish the project, it does not give me the Index and TOC. I have taken over the project from another author and when I compare the new Published Help folder with the previous author's work, I see some missing files. Could anyone from the group please help me resolve this issue?
Thanks!

Two possibilities from that information.
1] Is the D drive a partition on your hard disk or a network drive? RoboHelp projects must be run from your hard disk.
2] The more likely is that RH is not properly installed. When the previous author left, was RH uninstalled and reinstalled using your login? For X5 it must be installed using your login? Also you need local admin rights both to install and use it.
My guess is this is all to do with X5 not having been installed with your login and with you having local admin rights.
This will lead to another problem. X5 can no longer be activated. The solution to that is on my site. See Snippet 100.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
Follow me @petergrainge

Using robohelp server in lamp CMS

Hi: I'm working on websites in server 2008, dnn ce. I need to know if RH server will also work with our LAMP expressionengine site.
Thanks Chris

Hi:
The website is in most current versions of Ubuntu linux, apache, mysql, apache php and expressionengine cms www.expressionengine.com Your help is greatly appreciated.
Chris
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 2010 02:52:42 -0600
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Using robohelp server in lamp CMS
Hi Chris. Can you tell us what the "LAMP expression engine site" is?
Read the http://notcolin.wordpress.com/ for a tips, tricks and musings on the Technical Communication Suite products.
Follow the RoboColum(n) on http://twitter.com/robocolumn
>

RH 7 - How can I get .swf movies to work inside CHM output on Windows 7

Hi RHelpers,
I'm using RoboHelp Html (RH 7, latest patch) on my Win 7 64-bit machine to provide a HtmlHelp (CHM) output.
Now that we're close to releasing, I've been doing some testing, and I've noticed that my SWF movie files do not play inside of Windows 7 when viewing them inside of the CHM file. It keeps asking to install the Adobe Flash Player. But I've already clicked Yes several times to that message, and it still doesn't play the file. I've even manually downloaded and installed it as an administrator, restarted my system and still no go. It just shows a red X in the container where the movie should be playing.
However, viewing the same topic inside of RH's preview window (or inside a browser) seems to work fine. Also, I've copied and pasted the problem CHM onto a virtual machine running 32-bit Vista, and the movies display fine there. This tells me it's something to do with how how compiled files are handled in 64-bit environments.
Has anyone else experienced this? Any solutions out there?

I see the answer here:
http://forums.adobe.com/thread/781427?tstart=2
Also I verified that our software does use the 32-bit hh.exe so I'm only seeing this when running the help by itself, outside of our software. That's good news.

How can I specify the default tab in a CHM Output?

My company uses CHM-based help for some of its products. We build the CHM files from RoboHelp 9, and while these CHM files don't really have a full Index attached to them, the Index tab shows up in the output anyway. Unfortunately, we are suddenly seeing that when the CHM file is launched from our program, the Index tab is displayed by default. We'd rather have the Contents tab be the default look, especially considering that the Index does not exist.
I have poked around into how you can specify a default tab for a CHM file, and the only information I have found suggests that using a CHM file creates a file (HH.dat) that specifies which tab should be displayed on a user-by-user basis, and that the last tab displayed when you close the CHM should be the first one displayed when you re-open it. While this is true if you open the CHM independent from the product, when you launch it from our program, it's all Index, all the time.
So, my question is: How can I specify the default tab for a CHM file? Or, failing that, how can I excise the Index tab from my CHM output.

Hi there
This will be something up to your application developer to resolve. When s/he issues the call to open the CHM, there are parameters that may be used to always open with the desired tab "in front".
Point your developer to the link below and advise that s/he is most likely interested in the section titled: Programming Tips.
Click here to view
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

Creating Context Sensitive Webhelp Using Robohelp 9

I want to create a Context sensitive Webhelp - one help topic for one page/function for web application. I'm using Robohelp 9 with Team Foundation Server 2012. I also have MSSCCI provider installed. I will be using unique ID (Map ID) or unique window names for mapping.
Below are the details about what I have and my requirements:
I have multiple module projects in Robohelp 9 integrated with Team Foundation Server 2012. I want to merge these projects to create one tree structure which will display all the functions same as application.
Which are the files that I need to give to developer to integrate Web Help?
What are the steps for linking and generating Webhelp in merged projevct?
Can we do merging of ToC in merged project and extract the ToC (.hhc file) and use it in all modules projects just like merging chms and extracting ToC?
What is the simplest way to do create the Webhelp?
Can we use a single Robohelp project for large number of topics to avoid merging?
Please suggest as soon as possible.

First take a look at Merged Help on my site. It gives detailed information about creating merged webhelp.
Can you use a single project for a large number of topics? Define large. It's a mix of topics and graphics. My experience is Rh can, not will, get slow around 4/5000 topics with a some graphics.
You give the generated help and tell them to put ALL the files on the server.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Robohelp 9 Chinese output

Hi,
I am working on a Chinese language help file. I have an issue while generating chm output, using the Robohelp source files. I am using Robohelp 9.
If a file name is in Chinese font, in the chm output the content of the htm file is not displayed. Output is as follows:
       This program cannot display the webpage
But if I change the file name to English, the content(Chinese) is displayed in hte chm file, as in the source htm files.
Please let me know, how to solve this issue. Thanks in advance.
NOTE: I used the same source files and generated a Web Help output, which has come out well.

Hi,
The info from the above link is useful. But it is not related to my question. Hence, I am giving a detailed picture of my problem, once again.
If the htm source file name is in Chinese font, the chm output of the htm file is not displayed. Output is as follows:
Here you can see that my system is not able to recognise the chinese characters. Even in the left side TOC column the file names are displayed as question marks (????) in place of chinese characters.
But if I change the htm file name to English, the content(Chinese) is displayed as in the source htm file.
For example see the following image:
Here the Chinese content is displayed as in the htm source file for the topic, whose file name is changed to English. For example, the output of the topic Test (marked with a red arrow), is displayed as in the above image.
NOTE: I used the same source files and generated a Web Help output, which has come out well. The content both in the TOC and reading pane, is displayed as in the HTM source files of RoboHelp.
Also note that the Operating System language, in my system is US (English).
Please let me know, how to solve this issue.    Thanks in advance.

Using RoboHelp to Create Microsoft Help Viewer 1.0

I use RoboHelp 8 and have been asked to create a Help system in Microsoft Help Viewer 1.0 output. Is this possible using RoboHelp?
The product is being developed in Visual Studio and they do not want the Help system to be in CHM format.
Thank you.

Hi, dsarig (& Peter),
I've been charged with the same task - create an application's help system in Help Viewer 1.0 format, and not a Help 1.0 or 2.0 format. From my research I've determine the following:
The basic steps to creating a Help Viewer 1.x format is as follows:
Create your help system (or "help file") in well-formed, xhtml page format (this is preferred because xhtml best supports the Unicode characterset and the file is validated against improper tag-nesting issues).
Encrypt (zip) the help system into a standard .zip file using any standard tool (e.g., Winzip), then rename the extension from .zip to .mshc.
Open the .mshc file in your Help Viewer, which will decrypt and display your help system properly.
That's about it.
I'm also working on creating a digitally signed .CAB file, I'll post my findings if you're interested in that, too.
Best regards,
RoboHelp 9.0 | VS2010

.chm Output with Windows 7

Hello All,
This is an existing discussion over on the Word forum, I'm moving it over to this one at Peter Grainge's suggestion.
I maintain a large help system in Robohelp for Word that is generated in .chm output. Some users in the organization have been upgraded to Windows 7, and they cannot view the help in the program that the help resides in. The program is on a Citrix server.
Peter has an article on his site that suggests changing the end user's registry is the way to fix this. Does anyone know if this is still the case or have any suggestions? Or does .chm not work with Windows 7?
I appreciate any insight.

Hi again
So it would seem you have your answer. You said the .CHM format works fine in Windows 7. What's left is to resolve why things break when viewing via Citrix. And it wouldn't surprise me to see that you maybe need to tweak the registry to relax some restriction somewhere. Perhaps Windows 7 is seeing Citrix as Vista and XP see a network for CHM deployment.
As for the .HLP and it not working in Vista, they still do. 16 bit HLP should work straight off without issue. 32 bit works after you download the viewer from Microsoft. I'd bet Windows 7 is the same way.
You might find a Citrix forum and ask about the .CHM and Windows 7. Perhaps another user there will have encountered the situation and may advise.
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

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

Using RoboHelp to create online tutorials?

Our company currently uses RoboHelp to create our Help
Systems. As a training developer, who has used a course authoring
software package for the past five years, I was wondering if
RoboHelp would be a good environment to develop training tutorials.
I love the fact that you can search and index the help systems and
thought the potential may be there to search for information within
tutorials as well.
I know Captivate is the software simulation product, however
a lot of our training material is either mainly text, or numerous
screen shots showing an individual how to use an application.
As I am new to RoboHelp, does anyone have any advice?
Thanks in advance.

Like Colum, welcome to the Forums!
(The following assumes the WebHelp Pro scenario you outlined)
>>>1. How do I set the window to have the right
frame display initially, without the left index frame? I want to
leave the index frame so that the user can access it if neccesary.
1. Make sure WebHelp Pro is your primary layout.
2. Create a new Window, call it OnePane and select the
tickbox in Window properties for One Pane and click OK. (This means
the Navigation pane (Contents, Index, Search, etc.) are hidden when
first launched.
3. Bring up the WebHelp Pro single source layout wizard.
4. Tick the box: Show navigation pane link in topics (this is
what allows the user to opt to see the Index and navigation pane if
they want.
5. Be sure to select "OnePane" as your default window you
just created and complete the wizard to publish.
6. Caveat: There is a shortcoming when you view locally from
the authoring machine. You will not be able to see the effects of
your changes. These can only viewed in a web browser pointed to
your actual WebHelp Pro site.
7. Publish to the RoboEngine server to view all the changes
you made and notice the "Show" link that allows the user to reveal
the navigation pane.
>>>2. Our Help System is in HTML, but I am thinking
of using WebHelp Pro (from a dedicated server). When I View Primary
Layout, the index frame and button at the top of the form do not
display. I get the yellow box located just below the Internet
Explorer toolbar saying 'To help protect your security, Internet
Explorer has resticted this file from showing active content that
could access your computer. Click here to for options....'. That
could be a real pain for 1200 users. Is there a way to if off for
RoboHelp WebHelp Pro?
I believe you may be encountering something that is only seen
by you because you're viewing it locally. When published, the user
would not see this. To remove this annoying message, go to Internet
Options > Advanced > scroll down to Security and tick the box
"Allow active content to run on My Computer." (Also, for more info,
do a search in the forums for "Mark of the Web")
>>>3. Can I create my own skin?
Sure. Use the WebHelp skin editor as you normally would. Give
the skin a name and use it when you publish.
Hope this helps.
John

The WebHelp doesn't open in Chrome using Robohelp word X5

Hello All,
I am using Robohelp X5 (very old version) to generate webhelp. They seem to work fine in all the browsers except Chrome. When i click on the help the blank pop up opens.. It does not load the content. Infact i downloaded the new version of whver.js file from Peter Grainge Snippets section. I am afraid that was for Robohelp 7... However i replaced the whver.js file generated the new output and uploaded them. Even then the Webhelp in chrome is not working..
I can see only 2 blank windows which just says "about blank" on top...
Any suggestions will be appreciated...

RoboHelp does not support Chrome, even the current version. You could see if your help works with the current version by using the trial but do not load it on your production machine as you will likely encounter problems if you revert to X5. If it does not work, you're out of luck.
See www.grainge.org for RoboHelp and Authoring tips
@petergrainge

Using RoboHelp 7 CHM Output on a Server

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for